Luis國際資訊事務所

The King of Horror─Stephen King 恐怖小說大師──史蒂芬．金

The master of horror, Stephen King, is famous throughout the world. In 1973, he released Carrie, a novel about a girl with deadly telekinetic powers. His first book was an immediate success and led to King's career as a popular novelist. Since then, he has had over 100 pieces published, many of which have been adapted into movies. The Shining, Christine, Cujo, Carrie, Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile are just a few of his well-known works.

　　King's imagination is such that as readers turn the pages, they find themselves lost in King's world. Christine, a thrilling chiller about a car possessed by an evil spirit that brings death and destruction to all who get close, is a prime example of King's talent. Vampires coming alive in a modern-day setting are at the heart of Salem's Lot, a tale that sends chills up people's spines. Yet despite these far-fetched plots, what makes King's stories so effective is that he manages to make what he writes believable.

　　King draws upon experiences and observations from his everyday life, things we can all relate to, to weave the world of his main characters. Most of his works are set in ordinary towns with ordinary people going about their ordinary lives. By doing this, King makes readers ask the question, "What if?" In life, there is a very fine line between reality and fantasy, fact and fiction. King's extraordinary gift is his ability to distort this picture and to make the impossible plausible.

　恐怖小說大師史蒂芬‧金全球知名。1973年，他出版了《魔女嘉麗》。這本小說是關於一個擁有致命超能力的少女，她能夠憑意志自由移動物體。這第一本小說一鳴驚人並使他成為炙手可熱的小說家。自那時起，他已有100多本著作被發行，其中許多還改編成電影。其中知名的有《鬼店》、《克莉絲汀魅力》、《狂犬庫丘》、《魔女嘉麗》、《刺激一九九五》和《綠色奇蹟》，而這些只是其中幾部。

　　史蒂芬‧金具有天馬行空般的想像力，讀者一翻開他的書本，就深深著迷於他的世界。《克莉絲汀魅力》這部驚悚小說描述一輛被惡靈控制的汽車，只要有人接近就會帶來死亡和毀滅，這是史蒂芬過人天賦的代表作。吸血鬼在現代復活的情節則出現在令人毛骨悚然的《午夜行屍》中。這些情節雖然脫離現實，然其故事之所以動人就在於他成功地讓作品具有信服力。

　　史蒂芬‧金利用日常生活的體驗和觀察，以一些我們都能體會的事來編織主角的世界。他大部分的作品背景都是設定在普通的城鎮中，那裡有過著普通生活的普通人。這樣一來，史蒂芬‧金讓他的讀者開始想：『假如……怎麼辦？』生活中，真實和虛幻、事實和虛構的界線十分細微。史蒂芬‧金過人的天賦在於他能扭轉現實，化不可能為可能。

單字:

1. release vt. 發行

2. telekinetic a. 憑意志移動物體的

3. redemption n. 救贖，贖罪

4. chiller n. 驚悚小說

5. possess vt. 擁有

6. far-fetched a. 牽強的；不可信的

7. effective a. 引人注意的；有效果的

8. observation n. 觀察

9. weave vt. 編織；編造（故事）

10. extraordinary a. 不凡的；奇特的

11. distort vt. 扭曲，曲解

12. plausible a. 可信的

片語:

1.be adapted into...　 　改編成……

2.be lost in... 　　迷失∕沉浸於……

3.send chills up/down one's spine　　令某人毛骨悚然

4.manage to V　　設法（做到）……

5.draw on/upon...　 　利用……

6.relate to...　 　認同……；體會……

from 常春藤解析英語雜誌