영어로 읽는 고전 _ 부스 타킹턴의 바람둥이
부스 타킹턴의 "플러트"는 20세기 초에 쓰여진 소설입니다. 이야기는 수년간의 해외 생활 후 고향으로 돌아온 발렌타인 코를리스라는 젊은 남성을 따라갑니다. 그의 도착은 로맨틱한 복잡성을 다시 불러일으키며, 특히 아름다운 코라 매디슨과 그녀의 인지된 애정과 관련하여 그는 지역 사회 모임에서 관심의 중심에 서게 됩니다.
소설의 시작에서 우리는 무더운 여름날 코를리스 거리를 산책하는 발렌타인 코를리스를 만나게 됩니다. 그는 고향의 변화에 대해 생각하며, 특히 어린 시절의 경쟁과 관련된 과거의 사건들을 회상하고 기억을 불러일으키는 친숙한 얼굴들을 마주칩니다.
곧이어 그는 매디슨 가정을 방문하여 코라와 그녀의 여동생 로라를 만납니다. 그들의 대조적인 성격과 상호작용은 새롭게 떠오르는 로맨틱한 긴장감의 무대를 마련하며, 코라는 특히 코를리스의 매력에 사로잡힙니다. 첫 장은 장소에 대한 풍부한 감각, 인물 역학, 그리고 소설 전체에 걸쳐 의심할 여지 없이 펼쳐질 매력과 사회적 관찰의 주제를 확립합니다.
Classics Read in English _ The Flirt by Booth Tarkington
In Booth Tarkington's early 20th-century novel "The Flirt," we encounter Valentine Corliss, a worldly gentleman who returns to his midwestern hometown after spending considerable time abroad. His reappearance stirs dormant social dynamics and introduces romantic complications within the community, particularly involving the captivating Cora Madison, whose attention he quickly secures.
The narrative opens on a sweltering summer afternoon as Corliss walks contemplatively down his namesake street, taking note of how his childhood environment has transformed during his absence. His meandering thoughts drift to memories of youthful rivalries and shared experiences, providing readers with subtle insights into his character and history.
The story gains momentum when Corliss pays a visit to the Madison household, where he encounters the beautiful and flirtatious Cora alongside her more reserved sister, Laura. The sisters' contrasting personalities immediately establish a fascinating dynamic?Laura's quiet depth serving as a foil to Cora's magnetic charm and social ambition. During this initial meeting, Cora demonstrates a particular interest in Corliss, clearly captivated by his sophisticated demeanor and cosmopolitan experiences.
Tarkington masterfully constructs this opening chapter to establish not only a vivid sense of place and time but also the interpersonal tensions that will drive the narrative forward. The initial interactions between characters lay the groundwork for exploring themes of attraction, social perception, authenticity, and the complexities of human connection that undoubtedly develop as the story progresses through the social landscape of early 20th-century American life.
Among the contents
Valentine Corliss walked up Corliss Street the hottest afternoon of that hot August, a year ago, wearing a suit of white serge which attracted a little attention from those observers who were able to observe anything except the heat. The coat was shaped delicately; it outlined the wearer, and, fitting him as women’s clothes fit women, suggested an effeminacy not an attribute of the tall Corliss. The effeminacy belonged all to the tailor, an artist plying far from Corliss Street, for the coat would have encountered a hundred of its fellows at Trouville or Ostende this very day. Corliss Street is the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, the Park Lane, the Fifth Avenue, of Capitol City, that smoky illuminant of our great central levels, but although it esteems itself an established cosmopolitan thoroughfare, it is still provincial enough to be watchful; and even in its torrid languor took some note of the alien garment.
Mr. Corliss, treading for the first time in seventeen years the pavements of this namesake of his grandfather, mildly repaid its interest in himself.
