| 籍貫： | 都柏林 | ||
閱讀布萊姆·斯托剋 Bram Stoker在小说之家的作品!!! | |||
布莱姆·斯托克許多人，甚至整個西方文壇都將他看做是吸血鬼等恐怖題材的正宗始祖，可當我們第一次看到〈德庫拉〉的時候，想必讓人觸動最大的是其中人與吸血鬼悲傷的愛情故事，許多網頁是這樣介紹這故事的“拉姆.史托剋寫的小說面世一百年以來，已有無數電影電視版本，但極少忠於原著，哥普拉（筆者註：又譯作弗朗西斯·福特·柯波拉，最為人所熟知的作品是〈教父〉和〈現代啓示錄〉）决定要還他本來面目。達古拉伯爵原是羅馬尼亞大將軍，因誤傳死訊而令情人自殺，他以吸人血延續生命，嚮上帝報復。四百年後他遇上與情人一般模樣的少女，决定要不惜代價奪回所愛。本片的演出陣容可謂強大，除了男女主角外，更有基努 裏維斯、安東尼.霍普金斯、理查德.E.格蘭特等大明星出任配角。”可這樣的簡介基本上可以說是錯漏百出，有心的讀者可以找一找原書一讀。電影的版本（一般都翻譯為〈驚情四百年〉）很多，甚至可以說太多，所以搞混也是無可厚非。
布萊姆斯托剋出生於1847.11.8，德國都柏林人，在他二十多歲時當上了公務員，可這樣無聊的生活並不能滿足他，他喜歡戲劇，喜歡那些稀奇古怪卻又深觸人心的故事，不久後他開始為〈都柏林郵報〉寫戲劇品論，衹是沒有得到報酬，是義務工作而已。1876年他開始了27年的經紀人生涯，一直跟隨着當時著名演員亨利艾爾文留居倫敦等地。〈德庫拉〉完成於1897年，此後又寫出〈白衣女人〉（喜歡推理小說的朋友，這可與威爾基.柯林斯的〈白衣女人〉沒有什麽關係）等作品，共計17部，他死於 1912年。
Bram Stoker was born near Dublin on November 8, 1847, the third of seven children. An unidentified illness kept him virtually bedridden until age seven. Although he remained shy and bookish, in his adolescence Bram Stoker was anything but sickly. Perhaps to make amends for his earlier frailty, he was by this time developing into a fine athlete. At Trinity College, Dublin, he would conquer his shyness and be named University Athlete.
Young Bram had always dreamed of becoming a writer, but his father had safer plans. Yielding to the father's wishes, Bram followed him into a career as a civil servant in Dublin Castle. While climbing the civil service ladder, he wrote a dry tome entitled Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland. This book of rules, however, would not be published until 1879, by which time Stoker would be married, living in another country, and immersed in a new career.
During his eight-year stint in the civil service, Stoker continued to write stories, the first of which, a dream fantasy entitled "The Crystal Cup" (1872), was published by The London Society. A serialized four-part horror piece, entitled "The Chain of Destiny" followed three years later in the The Shamrock. He also found time to take unpaid positions as theatrical critic for Dublin's Evening Mail and, later, as editor of The Irish Echo.
In 1878, Henry Irving offered Stoker the job of actor-manager at London's Lyceum Theatre. Stoker promptly resigned the civil service, married Florence Balcombe and set off for his new life in London. Within a year, Florence had given birth to their only child, a son, Noel, but Stoker and his wife, though continuing to keep up appearances, are said to have become estranged.
Despite his heavy professional duties, Stoker somehow found the time to write fiction. His first book, Under the Sunset (1882), consisted of eight eerie fairy tales for children. His first full-length novel, The Snake's Pass, was published in 1890. That same year marks the beginning of Stoker's research for his masterwork, Dracula, which, would be published in 1897 to world-wide acclaim. Stoker wrote several short stories, novels and essays but his name is inextricably linked with Dracula.
Stoker continued to pursue a writing career until his death on April 20, 1912.