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When it was announced that Patrick Modiano had won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Oct. 9, the Swedish Academy had not yet managed to reach the writer himself to tell him the news. As The Telegraph put it, “It was a curious case of missing personhood in an author whose career had been spent in search of others, within the confines(界限)of a single city. ”
Though the 69-year-old French author has had a successful writing career, only six of his books have been translated into English.
One reason for this might be that “Modiano’s storylines are as slim as the books themselves”, said the BBC.
While most of Modiano’s works don’t run for hundreds of pages, they explore serious subjects. The author’s signature themes are Germany’s occupation during World WarⅡ and the evolution of Paris over the past century.
Modiano’s life has been greatly affected by Nazi Germany’s occupation during the war, and his family’s connections to it. According to New York-based newspaper Forward, his father survived the war dishonorably. When Paris’ Jews were rounded up for deportation(驱逐)to concentration camps, the businessman did not join them but spent the time making money from deals with Nazis on the black market. “The novelist has a duty to record the traces of the people who have vanished, the people who were made to disappear, ”French writer Clémence Boulouque, also an expert in Jewish Studies, told The New Yorker magazine.
In his more than three dozen novels, Modiano has returned again and again to the same themes: Jewishness, the Nazi occupation, and loss of identity.
Paris is another recurring(重复的)theme in Modiano’s works. Most of his novels are set in the city, from the rich parts of downtown Paris to more remote suburbs where the characters try to live anonymous and protected lives.
Anne Ghisoli, the director of Librairie Gallimard, a bookstore in Paris, concluded, “Modiano is a master of writing on memory and occupation, which haunt(萦绕)and inform his works. He is a chronicler(年代记录者)of Paris, its streets, its past, and its present. ”
【文章大意】本文介绍了2014年诺贝尔文学奖获得者Patrick Modiano以及他的作品。
1. According to the article, Patrick Modiano ________ .
A. likes to involve his memories in his writing
B. usually writes stories with complicated storylines
C. is so popular that most of his works have been translated into English
D. didn’t suffer much during World WarⅡ because his father was a successful businessman
【解析】选A。文中提到, 第二次世界大战对Patrick Modiano的生活和作品都有很大的影响, 所以A正确。根据“Modiano’s storylines are as slim as the books themselves”可以判断B有误。文中可知, Modiano写了至少几十本小说, 但是只有六本被翻译成了英文, 所以C有误。根据“Modiano’s life has been greatly affected by Nazi Germany’s occupation during the war, and his family’s connections to it”这句话, 以及文中提到Modiano的父亲在第二次世界大战中的行为不太光彩, 他跟纳粹分子做生意, 尤其从“his father survived the war dishonorably”这句话来看, 父亲的行为应该给他带来了羞耻感, 所以D也不对。
2. The underlined word “vanished” in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to ________ .
A. gone B. survived
C. connected D. immigrated
【解析】选A。词义猜测题。根据下文补充的那句“the people who were made to disappear”可以猜到, 该词的意思应该跟disappear相近。
3. What themes has Patrick Modiano often covered in his books?
a. Paris b. loss of identity
c. ghosts and fantasy d. the Nazi occupation
e. adventures
A. abc B. bce C. abd D. cde
【解析】选C。细节理解题。根据“The author’s signature themes are Germany’s occupation during World Warand the evolution of Paris over the past century”和“In his more than three dozen novels, Modiano has returned again and again to the same themes: Jewishness, the Nazi occupation, and loss of identity”及“Paris is another recurring theme in Modiano’s works”可以得此答案。
