Abstract

The Friend (2018), the seventh novel of Sigrid Nunez, won the 2018 National Book Award for Fiction. It not only tells a touching story about the human-canine bond between the narrator and a huge Great Dane but also involves much meditation on writing as a profession and the universal concerns of humanity. Looking back at her writing career, Nunez talks about her beliefs as a writer, her observation of the contemporary literary scene, her evaluation of the status of fiction in the current era, her teaching experiences in writing programs, and her personal story as a child of immigrants and a former assistant to Susan Sontag. According to Nunez, a life of solitude is conducive to writing books, and experiences of frustration are normal for a writer. However, she maintains that writing should be seen as a vocation instead of a means of self-advancement. With respect to new trends in literary culture, Nunez believes the house of fiction does have many rooms, and the definition of a novel has become much broader.

中文翻译：

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西格丽德·努涅斯（Sigrid Nunez）关于作家的生平

摘要

朋友（2018）是西格丽德·努涅斯（Sigrid Nunez）的第七本小说，获得了2018年国家小说奖。它不仅讲述了叙述者与一个巨大的大丹狗之间的人与犬之间的联系，而且还涉及到作为职业的写作以及人类普遍关注的沉思。在回顾自己的写作生涯时，努涅斯谈到了自己作为作家的信念，对当代文学界的观察，对当今时代小说现状的评价，她在写作程序中的教学经验以及她小时候的个人故事。移民和苏珊·桑塔格（Susan Sontag）的前助手。努涅斯认为，孤独的生活有利于写书，而沮丧的经历对于作家而言是正常的。但是，她坚持认为写作应该被视为一种职业，而不是一种自我提升的手段。