comic novel

英作家雅各森 奪曼布克獎

* 2010-10-14
* 中國時報
* 【林欣誼／綜合外電報導】

　英語文壇重量級文學獎曼布克獎昨天公布，由英國作家雅各森（Howard Jacobson）《The Finkler Question》奪冠。書中英國的猶太人經歷為題，描述三個朋友的故事，評審主席摩遜（Andrew Motion）讚揚這是「幽默、機智、既憂傷又細膩無比的作品。」

　今年六十八歲的雅各森著有十多部小說，是英國著名作家，目前任教於劍橋大學。他曾自比為「猶太版珍.奧斯汀」，因為他從小就夢想當作家，九歲時床邊掛的偶像照片正是英國文學名家艾略特以及珍.奧斯汀。他的英文寫作則是融入「猶太人的思考方式」，得獎作《The Finkler Question》試圖探討「猶太人」如何被型塑成現在的印象。

　《The Finkler Question》在英國被歸為「滑稽小說」（comic novel），這也是第一部獲得曼布克獎的滑稽小說。

A comic novel is a work of fiction in which the writer seeks to amuse the reader, sometimes with subtlety and as part of a carefully woven narrative; sometimes, above all other considerations.

Notable comic novel authors

One of the most notable British comic novelists is P. G. Wodehouse, whose work follows on from that of Jerome K. Jerome and George & Weedon Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody. Nor can Saki's work be ignored, although his career was cut short by World War I. A. G. Macdonell and G. K. Chesterton also produced flights of whimsy that delighted their reading audiences in their day. Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, was a notable mid-18th century work in the genre. Other, more contemporary UK authors of this kind include Tom Sharpe, Kingsley Amis, Terry Pratchett, Richard Gordon, Ian Ross, Douglas Adams, Evelyn Waugh, Eric Sykes, Leslie Thomas, Stephen Fry, Mike Harding, Joseph Connolly, and Ben Elton.

Notable American comic novelists include Hunter S. Thompson, John Kennedy Toole, Robert Clark Young, James Wilcox, Carl Hiaasen, Joseph Heller, Peter De Vries, Flannery O'Connor, and Terry Southern.

Notable comic novels

• A Fine Madness
• Captain Pantoja and the Special Service
• London Fields (novel)

comic

[形]

1 喜劇の, 喜劇的な；喜劇を演じる［書く］（⇔tragic）

a comic writer
喜劇作家.

2 人を笑わせるための, こっけいな

a comic skit
こっけいな寸劇

comic relief
（まじめな話の中の）息抜きの笑い.

━━[名]

1 喜劇俳優；コメディアン.

2 ((米))漫画雑誌［新聞］；喜劇［漫画］映画；（テレビの）アニメーション漫画.

3 ((〜s))（4こま以上の）続き漫画(comic strips). ▼cartoonは通例1コマの政治漫画.

4 ((the 〜))（文学・人生などの）喜劇的要素（⇔the tragic）.