このページはフレーム対応ブラウザ用に作成されています。下のリンクは非フレーム使用ページですのでそちらをご覧ください。
この記事をプリントする
エリザベス・ワーツェル
最近アメリカで話題になっている女性作家、エリザベス・ワーツェルが新刊のプロモーションのために、雅子さんの大学の書店にやってきました。なにかと批判されることが多い作家ですが、雅子さんは彼女の講演を聞いて、違った感想を持ちました。
Elizabeth Wurtzel
By MASAKO YAMADA
I initially heard about Elizabeth Wurtzel several years ago, when she wrote her first novel "Prozac Nation." It was a novel that was heralded as a successor to Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar." I had read, and enjoyed, "The Bell Jar" as a teenager, but I wasn't particularly interested in reading another loose autobiography about a beautiful, brilliant, suicidal young woman. So I didn't read this book.
Now that I've heard her speak, however, I have to admit that I'm interested in what she has written. Wurtzel has recently been in the headlines again for her new book, "Bitch," and as part of her promotion tour, she came to the Boston University bookstore.
Having just read a two-page article on Wurtzel in Newsweek, I was eager to hear her speak. Perhaps I wanted to be trendy. Or, perhaps, I wanted to be a part of the group of critics that have condemned her. I haven't read either of her books. But I had heard so much about her self-absorbed style of writing, her unabashed use of her sex appeal, her drug addiction and her extraordinary gifts (Harvard student, staff member for The New Yorker, writer of a best-selling novel, model-like looks), that I assumed she had no substance underneath all the hype. Perhaps I wanted to believe this.
I can't claim anything about her writing skills, but I must say that I found her fascinating as a speaker. She didn't lecture us, but rather read passages from her book and gave us little explanations on how she felt about them. It was like listening to a friend gossip.
Some might claim that opinions alone aren't enough to write a book (especially a literary or an academic book), but I found her gossip interesting. She spoke of many hot females who have been in the news — Nicole Simpson, Amy Fisher, Alanis Morissette, Hillary Clinton — and about what makes them intriguing.
I didn't find her so-called self-absorption offensive at all. If anything, I liked that she explicitly laid down many of her comments as opinion, not as fact. She said, "I think it's fine if Hillary wants to support Bill, but I don't understand why people think she's this new feminist first lady. She's the same. All first ladies have dealt with children's issues.
"First ladies don't get paid. I don't think future first men will quit their jobs to have teas." Although it looks like a bitter comment on paper, it sounded reasonable in person. I think it has something to do with her very open way of speaking.
She heavily criticized a book called "The Rules" (a popular dating manual that gives women time-tested advice, such as, "Never call a man first," and "Make him pay for everything."). But she acknowledged that the rules are probably sound advice for a certain type of woman who wants an engagement ring from a certain type of man.
Her open character carried over to the question and answer period as well. Interestingly, most of the audience members were women, but one of the first people to ask her a question was a man. He told her that he had loved her first book and an article she'd written in George, but that he felt a bit uncomfortable saying so, given her critical tone toward men. She very casually asked him if he had a girlfriend, and he sheepishly answered, "No." I doubt he wanted to reveal that much about himself (especially since he was the one asking the question), but it was as if he were forced to tell the truth.
She later went on to say that the editor of that George article was the guy to whom she lost her virginity. I was amazed by the openness of this talk and I think the audience members were too. Cynics might say that we were all being manipulated by a charismatic, attractive woman — but I think we were moved by something more vulnerable, and more real.
I initially heard about Elizabeth Wurtzel several years ago, when she wrote her first novel "Prozac Nation." It was a novel that was heralded as a successor to Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar." I had read, and enjoyed, "The Bell Jar" as a teenager, but I wasn't particularly interested in reading another loose autobiography about a beautiful, brilliant, suicidal young woman. So I didn't read this book.
Now that I've heard her speak, however, I have to admit that I'm interested in what she has written. Wurtzel has recently been in the headlines again for her new book, "Bitch," and as part of her promotion tour, she came to the Boston University bookstore.
Having just read a two-page article on Wurtzel in Newsweek, I was eager to hear her speak. Perhaps I wanted to be trendy. Or, perhaps, I wanted to be a part of the group of critics that have condemned her. I haven't read either of her books. But I had heard so much about her self-absorbed style of writing, her unabashed use of her sex appeal, her drug addiction and her extraordinary gifts (Harvard student, staff member for The New Yorker, writer of a best-selling novel, model-like looks), that I assumed she had no substance underneath all the hype. Perhaps I wanted to believe this.
I can't claim anything about her writing skills, but I must say that I found her fascinating as a speaker. She didn't lecture us, but rather read passages from her book and gave us little explanations on how she felt about them. It was like listening to a friend gossip.
Some might claim that opinions alone aren't enough to write a book (especially a literary or an academic book), but I found her gossip interesting. She spoke of many hot females who have been in the news — Nicole Simpson, Amy Fisher, Alanis Morissette, Hillary Clinton — and about what makes them intriguing.
I didn't find her so-called self-absorption offensive at all. If anything, I liked that she explicitly laid down many of her comments as opinion, not as fact. She said, "I think it's fine if Hillary wants to support Bill, but I don't understand why people think she's this new feminist first lady. She's the same. All first ladies have dealt with children's issues.
"First ladies don't get paid. I don't think future first men will quit their jobs to have teas." Although it looks like a bitter comment on paper, it sounded reasonable in person. I think it has something to do with her very open way of speaking.
She heavily criticized a book called "The Rules" (a popular dating manual that gives women time-tested advice, such as, "Never call a man first," and "Make him pay for everything."). But she acknowledged that the rules are probably sound advice for a certain type of woman who wants an engagement ring from a certain type of man.
Her open character carried over to the question and answer period as well. Interestingly, most of the audience members were women, but one of the first people to ask her a question was a man. He told her that he had loved her first book and an article she'd written in George, but that he felt a bit uncomfortable saying so, given her critical tone toward men. She very casually asked him if he had a girlfriend, and he sheepishly answered, "No." I doubt he wanted to reveal that much about himself (especially since he was the one asking the question), but it was as if he were forced to tell the truth.
She later went on to say that the editor of that George article was the guy to whom she lost her virginity. I was amazed by the openness of this talk and I think the audience members were too. Cynics might say that we were all being manipulated by a charismatic, attractive woman — but I think we were moved by something more vulnerable, and more real.
Shukan ST: May 22, 1998
(C) All rights reserved
- initially
- 最初に
- "Prozac Nation"
- 『プロザック・ネーション』(うつ病と闘った体験をつづった自伝的な処女作)
- was heralded
- 喧伝された
- successor to 〜
- 〜 に続くもの
- Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar"
- 19米の詩人シルビア・プラス(1932ー63)の自伝的小説『自殺志願』。(大学在学中の自殺未遂の経験などがつづられている)
- loose autobiography
- 散漫な筆致でつづられた自伝
- suicidal
- 自殺志向の
- (has)been in the headlines
- マスコミに大きく取り上げられている
- "Bitch"
- 『ビッチ——悪女礼賛』
- article
- 記事
- was eager to 〜
- とても 〜 したかった
- critics
- 評論家
- have condemned
- 酷評している
- self-absorbed
- 自分のことばかりにとらわれた
- unabashed
- 恥かし気のない
- drug addicition
- 麻薬中毒症
- extraordinary gifts
- 非凡な才能
- assumed
- 決め込んだ
- had no substance underneath all the hype
- 大騒ぎされているわりには中身がない
- fascinating
- 魅力的な
- lecture
- 講義する
- passages
- 数節
- literary or an academic book
- 文芸書か学術書
- hot
- 話題の
- Nicole Simpson
- 元アメリカンフットボールのスターで俳優の O.J. Simpson の妻。1994年に男友達とに殺害された。容疑者とされた O.J. Simpson は無罪の判決を受けた
- Amy Fisher
- 1992年に不倫相手の妻を銃撃した女性。5年から15年の刑で服役中
- Alanis Morissette
- カナダ人歌手。1995年にリリースされたアルバム『Jagged Little Pill』は自伝的な内容が盛り込まれており、話題となった
- intriguing
- 興味をそそる
- offensive
- 不快な
- If anything
- どちらかといえば
- explicitly
- はっきりと
- have dealt with 〜
- 〜 に取り組んできた
- issues
- 問題
- don't get paid
- 給料をもらわない
- first men
- 女性の大統領の夫
- quit
- 辞める
- reasonable
- 穏当で筋がとおった
- in person
- 本人から直接聞くと
- "The Rules"
- 理想の男性の心を捕らえるための35の rule を挙げたベストセラー
- time-tested advice
- 長年の経験をふまえた忠告
- acknowledged
- 認めた
- George
- 1995年に J.F. Kennedy Jr. が創刊した月刊誌
- sheepishly
- 気恥ずかし気
- reveal
- 明らかにする
- editor
- 編集者
- virginity
- 処女
- Cynics
- 皮肉屋
- (were)being manipulated by 〜
- 〜 に操られていた
- charismatic
- カリスマ的な
- vulnerable
- 傷つきやすい