Ernest J. Gaines has been incredibly generous in giving interviews over the years (see for instance Gaudet and Wooten, and Lowe). He has been equally forthright in acknowledging authors whose works have mentored him. Ernest Hemingway, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Anton Chekov, and James Joyce are among the writers whom he has admired. Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, however, is the book that Gaines has called his bible. It is the book that he used daily when in 1963 he completed his first published novel, Catherine Carmier. Gaines's efforts to write his first novel began when as a homesick adolescent in California he attempted to capture the Louisiana he knew and loved. He focused on the place he knew and the fissures that existed in that small community that had been home. He wrote the story of a Creole girl (a mixed race young woman of black and French heritage) and the young black man who fell in love with her. He typed this first manuscript, "The Little Stream," and submitted it to a New York publisher who returned it, rejected. Gaines burned the first effort, but never forgot the story and recalled it some fifteen years later when he wrote Catherine Carmier. Gaines notes that James Meredith's entrance into the University of Mississippi in 1962 "change[d] my life forever" (qtd. in Young xi). He decided at that time to return to Louisiana for an extended visit in January 1963. In an undated speech, Gaines explains, "I told myself then that in order for me to ever write that book I would have to take the same chances in Louisiana that Jim Meredith was taking in Mississippi.... I do feel that the six months I spent in Louisiana definitely saved my writing and quite possibly my life" (qtd. in Simpson 31). The two events were the impetus for his return to California and completion of Catherine Carmier. Gaines states in multiple interviews that he had given himself ten years to succeed at his craft. In 1962, still without a novel and discouraged with the condition of race relations in America, he had planned to leave for Mexico with friends. Financially unable to make the move, he returned to his home in Louisiana for a six month visit. There he absorbed his home once again: the moss draped oaks, the bayous and swamps, rivers and streams, the Louisiana food. He experienced the "Louisiana thing that drives" him while facing once again the racism prevalent in his home state (Simpson 30-31). He lived this Louisiana life while reflecting on the stalwart strength of James Meredith enduring the indignities hurled at him, a black man at a white university in the still-segregated south. Returning to California in the summer of 1963, he began work on the story he had started years before and never quite abandoned. With Turgenev's Fathers and Sons as his bible, Gaines completed his first novel six months later. Catherine Cannier was published in 1964. Although it was not a financial success, it did confirm for Gaines his vocation as a writer and led to his ultimate success in the literary world. Gaines grew up in the Baptist tradition of rural black Louisiana. That he calls Fathers and Sons his bible demands attention. Close and parallel readings of Catherine Cannier and Fathers and Sons give the reader insight into both books. This article explores the commonality of the two novels as well as the ways in which Gaines deviates from his bible to assert his own voice and that of his people. It looks at similarities in the use of time and characters, structure and setting, and examines the thematic similarities and differences in the two works. Gaines was separated by one hundred years and five thousand miles from Turgenev when he wrote his novel. He was reading in translation a book that described unfamiliar traditions. Yet it is not surprising that he chose Turgenev and this particular book as his guide. He had read Turgenev before and had been especially moved by the author's depiction of the Russian peasant class. …

中文翻译：

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与欧内斯特·盖恩斯（Ernest J. Gaines）一起阅读伊万·屠格涅夫（Ivan Turgenev）：分析父亲和儿子和凯瑟琳·卡米尔（Catherine Carmier）

多年来，欧内斯特·盖恩斯（Ernest J. Gaines）慷慨大方地接受采访（例如，见Gaudet，Wooten和Lowe）。他同样坦率地承认那些指导他的作品的作者。他敬佩的作家包括欧内斯特·海明威，尤多拉·韦尔蒂，威廉·福克纳，安东·切科夫和詹姆斯·乔伊斯。然而，伊万·屠格涅夫（Ivan Turgenev）的《父与子》是盖恩斯称为他的圣经的书。这是他每天在1963年完成第一本小说《凯瑟琳·卡米尔》时使用的书。盖因斯写他的第一本小说的努力始于加利福尼亚州一个想家的青少年时期，他试图俘获他所认识和喜爱的路易斯安那州。他专注于他所知道的地方以及那个曾经在家的小社区中存在的裂痕。他写了一个克里奥尔女孩的故事（黑人和法国血统的混合种族年轻女子），一个年轻的黑人爱上了她。他输入了第一份手稿“ The Little Stream”，然后将其提交给纽约的出版商，该出版商将其退还了，但被拒绝了。盖恩斯竭尽全力，但从未忘记这个故事，并在十五年后写凯瑟琳·卡米尔（Catherine Carmier）时回忆起了这个故事。盖恩斯指出，詹姆斯·梅瑞迪斯（James Meredith）于1962年进入密西西比大学，“永远改变了我的一生”（qtd。in Young xi）。他当时决定在1963年1月返回路易斯安那州进行更长时间的访问。盖因斯在未注明日期的讲话中解释说：“那时我告诉自己，要想写这本书，我必须在路易斯安那州承担同样的机会。吉姆·梅雷迪思（Jim Meredith）正在密西西比州进军... 他过着路易斯安那州的这一生，同时还回想着詹姆斯·梅瑞迪斯（James Meredith）顽强的毅力，忍受了他的侮辱，他是仍然偏僻的南部一所白人大学的黑人。1963年夏天，他回到加利福尼亚，开始讲述他几年前开始但从未被完全抛弃的故事。盖恩斯以屠格涅夫的《父与子》为圣经，六个月后完成了他的第一本小说。凯瑟琳·坎尼尔（Catherine Cannier）于1964年出版。尽管这不是一笔经济上的成功，但它确实证实了盖恩斯（Gaines）作为作家的职业，并导致了他在文学界的最终成功。盖因人在农村黑人路易斯安那州的浸信会传统中长大。他称父亲和儿子为他的圣经，需要引起注意。凯瑟琳·坎尼尔（Catherine Cannier）和《父与子》（Par父与子）的平行阅读使读者对这两本书有深刻的了解。本文探讨了两部小说的共同点，以及盖恩斯背离他的圣经来主张自己和他的人民的声音的方式。它着眼于时间和角色使用，结构和设置上的相似性，并研究了这两部作品的主题相似性和差异性。当屠格涅夫写小说时，盖恩斯与屠格涅夫相距一百零五千英里。他正在翻译中读一本描述陌生传统的书。然而，毫不奇怪，他选择了Turgenev和这本特别的书作为他的指南。他以前读过《屠格涅夫》，对作者对俄罗斯农民阶级的描述尤其感动。… 当屠格涅夫写小说时，盖恩斯与屠格涅夫相距一百零五千英里。他正在翻译中读一本描述陌生传统的书。然而，毫不奇怪，他选择了《屠格涅夫》和这本特别的书作为他的指南。他以前读过《屠格涅夫》，对作者对俄罗斯农民阶级的描述尤其感动。… 当屠格涅夫写小说时，盖恩斯与屠格涅夫相距一百零五千英里。他正在翻译中读一本描述陌生传统的书。然而，毫不奇怪，他选择了《屠格涅夫》和这本特别的书作为他的指南。他以前读过《屠格涅夫》，对作者对俄罗斯农民阶级的描述尤其感动。…