J.M. Barire
(1860/5/9-1937/6/19)
詹姆斯·巴里,英国小说家、剧作家。他生于英国东部苏格兰(现安格斯郡, Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland)农村一个织布工人之家。自幼酷爱读书写作。1882年在爱丁堡大学毕业后,在诺丁从事新闻工作两年。1985年(此时他已25岁),他移居伦敦,当自由投稿的新闻记者,开始创作反映苏格兰人生活的小说和剧本。1919-1922年任圣安德鲁斯大学校长。1928年当选为英国作家协会主席。1930-1937年受聘为爱丁堡大学名誉校长。他的小说属于“菜园派”,擅长以幽默和温情的笔调描述苏格兰农村的风土人情。最著名的是幻想剧《彼得·潘》(1904),另外尚有社会喜剧和熔幻想剧与社会喜剧于一炉的剧作多种。
描述其一生的传记片《不曾到达》正在拍摄中,计划在2003年上映。詹姆斯·巴里一角由约翰尼·德普出演。
他一生为孩子们写了许多童话故事和童话剧,而《彼得·潘》则是他的代表作,其影响最大。
巴里迁居伦敦后,住在肯辛顿公园附近,每天上下班都从那儿路过。一天,他看见有几个小孩子在草地上玩耍,他们用树枝盖小屋,用泥土做点心,还扮作童话中的仙女和海盗。这游戏吸引了那位黑胡子的作家。他站在一旁笑嘻嘻地看着。后来,一个胆大点的孩子问他愿不愿意跟他们一起玩,于是黑胡子作家高高兴兴地加入孩子们的游戏,一直玩到天黑。在回家的路上,巴里才发现原来这些孩子都是他的邻居,其中最活跃的那个男孩叫彼得。后来,孩子们从家长那里听说巴里是个作家,他正在写一个剧本,叫《彼得·潘》,便把他围住,要他讲《彼得·潘》的故事。等巴里讲完,他们才知道自己一个个都在故事里了。后来,巴里把这些小朋友都称为他创作的合作者。《彼得·潘》公演时,孩子们每人还分到五个便士的稿费呢!
《彼得·潘》在伦敦公演后,在观众中引起很大轰动。后来,又把它改为童话故事,并被译成多种文学传到国外。以彼得·潘故事为内容的连环画、纪念册、版画、邮票等风行欧美各国。自从《彼得·潘》被搬上银幕,每年圣诞节,西方各国都在电视上播放这个节目,作为献给孩子们的礼物。
作品列表:
The Little Minister (1891)
Sentimental Tommy (1896)
Margaret Ogilvy (1897)
Tommy and Grizel (1900)
Quality Street (stage play) (1901)
The Little White Bird (1902)
The Admirable Crichton (stage play) (1902)
Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up (stage play) (1904)
Peter and Wendy (novelisation) (1911)
Dear Brutus (stage play) (1917)
Mary Rose (stage play) (1920)
相关网站:
J. M. Barrie Society's Homepage
Born in Kirriemuir on 9 May 1860 in the house pictured here, James Mathew Barrie was the 9th child of a weaver. Even as a child, he wrote for the school magazine and drama group (in which he also acted). He took a Master of Arts degree at Edinburgh University and after a short spell with the Nottingham Journal he moved to London in 1885.
Barrie wrote for a number of papers and published his first book in 1887 and subsequent stories established his reputation and popularity. "Auld Licht Idylls" was a series of racy sketches of humble life in Kirriemuir (renamed 'Thrums' in the book, after the word in weaving for the ends of the warp threads). These stories began what was to become known, somewhat disparagingly, as the "Kailyard School" of Scottish fiction. A number of novels followed including "The Little Minister" and "Margaret Ogilvy", the latter a tender tribute to his mother.
But Barrie was now turning more to writing plays and even an opera (in collaboration with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, no less). In 1897 a stage version of "The Little Minister" was a great popular success and he went on to create many of his well known works such as "The Admirable Crichton" in 1902.
A story "The Little White Bird" published in 1902 had ideas which Barrie carried forward to his best known work "Peter Pan". This was first performed in 1904 and was followed by "Peter and Wendy" in 1911. Peter Pan is one of the great classics of the British stage which not only enthralls young people but holds the attention of adults too. Romantic and sentimental, the Peter Pan concept has been adapted in the latter half of the 20th century to innumerable pantomime versions over the festive season.
Many of Barrie's later plays are not performed much now, though "Dear Brutus" published in 1917 and of course "The Admirable Crichton" do get an airing.
Compared by some to Dickens and highly regarded, particularly during his lifetime, it is surprising that Barrie himself claimed that he might not have taken up writing if he had been taller! He was extremely concerned about his small stature (5 feet 1 inch) and seemed more comfortable in the company of children. He married an actress in 1894 but the marriage was dissolved in 1910. Barrie adopted the five orphaned sons of neighbours in Kensington London. He claimed that the character of Peter Pan was based on a composite picture of these five boys. One of the boys was killed in WW1 and another drowned in 1921, a tragedy from which Barrie never fully recovered.
Barrie was knighted in 1913 and became Rector of St Andrews University in the same year (delivering a notable address on "courage" at his inauguration). In 1928 he succeeded Thomas Hardy as President of the Society of Authors. He died in 1937 but, unlike many other literary greats, he is not buried at Westminster Abbey. At his own request, he is buried in his native Kirriemuir. Royalties from Peter Pan have been awarded in perpetuity to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children in London.
Barrie's birthplace in Kirriemuir is now in the care of the Scottish National Trust and nearby is a small adventure garden with reminders of Peter Pan, including a statue of the boy who never grew up. Also in Kirriemuir is a "camera obscura" (one of only three in Scotland) donated to his home town by J M Barrie. The camera obscura is located at the local cricket ground as Barrie was passionately interested in the game, but the camera also gives excellent views of the Angus glens. Barrie claimed that he played twice for the local cricket club - "The first time I scored one run, the second time I was not so lucky".