March 4,2007

昆恩於小說創作以外的貢獻/謎熊

“Ellery Queen is the American detective story.”-Anthony Boucher

◇前言

  提起艾勒里.昆恩這個名字,只要是愛讀推理小說的朋友大概都不會陌生,他筆下著名的『悲劇系列』及『國名系列』更是推理迷們所津津樂道的傑作。昆恩的推理小說誠然好看,不過他對整個推理文學的貢獻並不只在小說的創作而已,在其他相關領域昆恩的表現也是同樣的傑出,現在就讓我們來一窺昆恩在小說創作以外的一些重要成就吧。

◇學術性著作

 ◎推理史學

  《Queen's Quorum》是艾勒里.昆恩從短篇小說的觀點來看推理小說歷史洪流的一部推理史學作品,在1951年第一次出版的時候,這本書選出了106本對推理小說發展具有重要指標的短篇推理小說集,而在1967年附有補遺篇的新版中這個數目增加成為125本,從推理小說鼻祖愛倫坡(Edgar Allan Poe) 的《Tales》(1845)開始,一直到Harry Kemelman的尼奇.威爾特教授探案《九英里的步行》(The Nine Mile Walk)(1967)為止,這本鉅著清清楚楚地將推理小說發展演變的軌跡呈現在讀者的眼前。以現代推理迷的角度來看,這本書雖然已經有點過時,不過仍不失為一本有用的參考書。
  另外值得一提的是,這本書向來被許多推理藏書家或古董書收集者視為『藏書寶典』,某些舊書店(多半為推理小說專賣店)甚至還有一塊專區,上面就清楚地標示著「Queen's Quorum Area」,不過坦白說,要將這本書內所列125本書全部收集齊全困難度還相當高呢!

 ◎文獻目錄(Bibliography)

  在1942年間,艾勒里.昆恩曾經編過一本短篇小說的目錄書《The Detective Short Story: A Bibliography》,這本書對1942年以前的短篇小說集做了一番精心整理,以作者姓名字母順序逐一列出當時所有已問世的的推理短篇集,以當時的時代背景而言,這本書所費的心力及書的規模都蠻可觀的,不過就今日的眼光來看,這本書可能就沒那麼了不起了,何況書內的資料也跟不上時代的腳步了。

 ◎隨筆劄記


  《In the Queens' Parlor, And Other Leaves From Editors' Notebook》是昆恩在1957年發表的一本隨筆劄記,這些劄記的來源多半為EQMM的編輯手記。這本書總共收錄了五十則形形色色的文章,有十分嚴肅討論推理小說取名藝術的〈Anatomy of Titles〉,也有十分有趣又帶點弔詭的〈The Great O-E Theory〉,綜觀起來,這本書很清楚地傳達了昆恩對推理小說的想法及其創作的態度,讀者也可以從這本書看到昆恩不一樣的面貌。

◇出版事業

 ◎雜誌(Magazine)

  -Mystery League
  眾所周知的,艾勒里.昆恩創辦了『艾勒里.昆恩推理雜誌』(Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine,簡稱EQMM),可是比較鮮為人知的是在EQMM創辦之前,這對好搭檔就曾辦過另一份小型的推理刊物,這個名叫『Mystery League』的刊物壽命其實非常短暫,從1933年10月到1934年元月為止,只有曇花一現地在市場上出現了四個月就消失無蹤了。儘管這是一本失敗的刊物,還是有一些名家的作品刊登於其內,這其中包括了賽兒絲(Dorothy Sayers)、漢密特(Dashiell Hammett)及昆恩本人的作品在內。

  -EQMM(Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
  對歐美推理文壇而言,影響力最大的一份推理刊物大概非EQMM莫屬了,這份由艾勒里.昆恩創辦的雜誌成立於1941年的秋天,剛開始的時候為季刊性質,出版了四期以後,於1942年五月改為雙月刊,而後又在1946年元月正式變為月刊。早期的雜誌比較類似小說選集,收錄的作品多半在別處刊載過,不過慢慢地新作不斷出現,許多新銳作家在推理有獎徵文的誘因之下紛紛投稿到雜誌社去,也使得後來的EQMM成為名副其實的一個推理小說創作園地。
  那麼到底EQMM成功的訣竅在那兒呢?這主要是因為它有一位眼光非常獨到的主編-昆恩的分身之一Frederic Dannay ,從1941年創刊到他過世這段長達四十多年的時光,這位超級主編經由辦雜誌的管道而發掘了不少優秀的編輯及寫作人才(代表人物為Edward D. Hoch及Anthony Boucher),對於一些名不見經傳的新人Dannay也很樂意提拔(最典型的例子就是寫媽媽探案的James Yaffe,這位作家1943年初次在昆恩推理雜誌上發表他處女作時年齡只有十五歲)。
  除此之外,另一個使EQMM攀上雜誌高峰的是昆恩有獎徵文(Queen Awards)的舉辦,這項昆恩有獎徵文從1945年起至1957年為止,一共辦了十三屆。1945年初次徵稿時總共收到了838篇稿子,連日後成為大文豪的福克納都參加了,不過他只得了第二名而已。這項昆恩有獎徵文事實上對歐美推理小說的創作有推波助瀾的功效,它也連帶造就了許多推理小說的生力軍,這些生力軍如Roy Vickers 或Stanley Ellin 等人日後更將推理小說的創作推向高峰。

 ◎文選集(Anthology)

  由於Frederic Dannay 本身非常喜愛收集短篇小說,所以經由他編出來的短篇推理文選數量非常可觀,在這裡我只簡單介紹幾本具指標性意義的作品,其餘的請諸位參考附錄。

  -Challenge to the Reader
  1938年出版的《向讀者挑戰》(Challenge to the Reader) 是昆恩所編的第一本選集,因為在此之前沒有人做過類似嚐試的推理短篇文選集,所以這本書名帶有昆恩創作精髓的選集事實上是一個實驗性質的產品。

  -101 Years' Entertainment
  1941年,昆恩出版了一本頁數厚達995頁的推理文選《101 Years' Entertainment》,這部文選在推理小說史上地位不低,在同類型的推理文選中它更是一個重要的里程碑。它為何這麼引人注目?從這本書的副標題《The Great Detective Stories -1841-1941》我們可以看出些許端倪;這部文選擁有二大特色,其一是時間範圍長達101年(從1841年愛倫坡的〈莫爾格街兇殺案〉開始一直選到1941年為止),而這段時間剛好涵蓋了整個推理小說的歷史(從當時的角度來看),就完整性而言,這部選集是第一個做到的;除了這點之外,這本書的另一個特色是作品水準十分整齊,所選的五十部作品都稱得上是精品中的精品,黃金時期的重要推理作家差不多在這本書中都可以找得到。

◇廣播及電影

 ◎廣播劇本(Radio Plays)

  昆恩這對表兄弟對廣播劇一向情有獨鍾,他們的夢想在1939年六月十八日終於實現,CBS在這天播出了他們所寫的推理廣播劇本〈The Adventure of The Gum-Chewing Millionaire〉,從這天開始,在往後的九年光景內(1939-1948),昆恩寫了不少膾炙人口的廣播劇本,有許多劇本甚至在改編後成為昆恩的探案了。
  值得一提的是,昆恩的推理廣播劇有一個非常特殊的地方,那就是「挑戰聽眾」(Challenge To The Listener) ,在揭開故事謎團之前,廣播會中斷幾分鐘,這段時間就是留給聽眾去找出真相,這個賣點事實上也曾造成一股轟動。

 ◎電影編劇(Film Screenplay)

  在三○年代的末期,昆恩曾在好萊塢當過一陣子的編劇,這段在哥倫比亞、米高梅及派拉蒙片廠工作的時間,昆恩寫了不少迎合好萊塢口味的劇本,也連帶使得昆恩在這個時期的推理創作帶著很深好萊塢色彩的影子。

◇其他創作

 ◎自傳體小說(Autobiographical Fiction)

  推理迷們應該都很清楚,艾勒里.昆恩這個筆名其實上是一對表兄弟的合稱,這對好搭檔其中之一的表弟Frederic Dannay(兩人同為1905年生,但Manfred Lee稍長九個月)曾在1953年用原名Daniel Nathan寫了一本自傳體的小說《The Golden Summer》。這部小說描述一位十歲小朋友(其實就是Dannay本人)暑假的所見所聞,故事本身的背景設在1915年的夏天,不論從任何的角度來看,這都是一本不折不扣的作者自述。小說本身的內容趣味盎然,從其中我們也能清楚地看到Frederic Dannay 與文學(尤其是詩)的最早接觸。

 ◎罪案實錄(True Crime)

  無獨有偶地,昆恩的另一分身Manfred Lee 也曾根據雜誌提供的研究資料,在六○年代中期寫了兩本署名昆恩的罪案實錄,書名分別為《Ellery Queen's International Case Book》(1964)及《The Woman in the Case》(1966)的這二本書在當時並未造成任何轟動,以致於後來這兩本書被人提及的次數就相對減少許多。

◇附錄

  為了表示對昆恩的崇敬,我花了一些時間將文獻上所有能找到的昆恩選集表列於後,讀者們可以從這份龐大的書單中瞭解到昆恩對推理文學的貢獻絕非偶然。

 ◎文選集

☆Challenge to the Reader (1938)
☆101 Years' Entertainment: The Great Detective Stories 1841-1941 (1941)
☆Sporting Blood: The Great Sports Detective Stories (1942)
☆The Female of the Species: The Great Women Detectives and Criminals (1943)
☆The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes (1944)
☆Best Stories from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Consisting of the Best Stories Published in the First Five Years of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (1944)
☆Rogues' Gallery: The Great Criminals of Modern Fiction (1945)
☆To the Queen's Taste: The First Supplement to 101 Years' Entertainment (1946)
☆Murder By Experts (1947)
☆20th Century Detective Stories (1948)
☆The Literature of Crime: Stories by World-Famous Authors (1950)
☆Poetic Justice: 23 Stories of Crime, Mystery and Detection by World-Famous Poets from Geoffrey Chaucer to Dylan Thomas (1967)
☆Minimysteries: 70 Short-Short Stories of Crime, Mystery and Detection(1969)
☆Japanese Golden Dozen: The Detective Story World in Japan (1978)
☆Book of First Appearance, with Eleanor Sullivan (1982)
☆Lost Ladies, with Eleanor Sullivan (1983)
☆The Best of Ellery Queen (1983)
☆Lost Men, with Eleanor Sullivan (1983)
☆Prime Crimes, with Eleanor Sullivan (1984)
☆Memorable Characters, with Eleanor Sullivan (1984)
☆Crimes and Punishments, with Eleanor Sullivan (1984)

 ◎EQMM年度最佳小說選集

☆The Queen's Awards 1946 (1946)
☆The Queen's Awards 1947 (1947)
☆The Queen's Awards 1948 (1948)
☆The Queen's Awards 1949 (1949)
☆The Queen's Awards, Fifth Series (The Lady Killer and Other Stories) (1950)
☆The Queen's Awards, Sixth Series (The Enemy and and Other Stories) (1951)
☆The Queen's Awards, Seventh Series (The Lady Killer and Other Stories) (1952)
☆The Queen's Awards, Eighth Series (Born Killer and Other Stories) (1953)
☆Ellery Queen's Awards, Ninth Series (1954)
☆Ellery Queen's Awards, Tenth Series (1955)
☆Ellery Queen's Awards, Eleventh Series (1956)
☆Ellery Queen's Awards, Twelfth Series (1957)
☆Ellery Queen's Thirteenth Annual (1958)
☆Ellery Queen's 14th Mystery Annual (1959)
☆Ellery Queen's 15th Mystery Annual (1960)
☆Ellery Queen's 16th Mystery Annual (1961)
☆To Be Read Before Midnight (1962)
☆Ellery Queen's Mystery Mix#18 (1963)
☆Ellery Queen's Double Dozen (1964)
☆Ellery Queen's 20th Anniversary Annual (1965)
☆Ellery Queen's Crime Carousel (1966)
☆Ellery Queen's All-Star Lineup (1967)
☆Ellery Queen's Mystery Parade (1968)
☆Ellery Queen's Murder Menu (1969)
☆Ellery Queen's Grand Slam (1970)
☆Ellery Queen's Headliners (1971)
☆Ellery Queen's Mystery Bag (1972)
☆Ellery Queen's Crookbook (1974)
☆Ellery Queen's Murdercade (1975)
☆Ellery Queen's Crime Wave (1976)
☆Ellery Queen's Searches and Seizures (1977)
☆Ellery Queen's A Multitude of Sins (1978)
☆Ellery Queen's Circumstantial Evidence (1980)
☆Ellery Queen's Crime Cruise (1981)

 ◎EQMM有獎徵文最佳小說選集

☆The Golden 13: 13 First Prize Winners from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (1971)

 ◎EQMM短篇小說年度精選集(非年度最佳小說)

☆Ellery Queen's 1960 Anthology (1959)
☆Ellery Queen's 1961 Anthology (1960)
☆Ellery Queen's 1962 Anthology (1961)
☆Ellery Queen's 1963 Anthology (1962)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, 1963 Mid-Year Edition (1963)
☆Ellery Queen's 1964 Anthology (1963)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, 1964 Mid-Year Edition (1964)
☆Ellery Queen's 1965 Anthology (1964)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, 1965 Mid-Year Edition (1965)
☆Ellery Queen's 1966 Anthology (1965)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, 1966 Mid-Year Edition (1966)
☆Ellery Queen's 1967 Anthology (1966)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, 1967 Mid-Year Edition (1967)
☆Ellery Queen's 1968 Anthology (1967)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, 1968 Mid-Year Edition (1968)
☆Ellery Queen's 1969 Anthology (1968)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, 1969 Mid-Year Edition (1969)
☆Ellery Queen's 1970 Anthology (1969)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, 1970 Mid-Year Edition (1970)
☆Ellery Queen's 1971 Anthology (1970)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, Spring-Summer 1971 (1971)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, Fall-Winter 1971 (1971)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, Spring-Summer 1972 (1972)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, Fall-Winter 1972 (1972)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, Spring-Summer 1973 (1973)
☆Ellery Queen's Anthology, Fall-Winter 1973 (1973)
☆Ellery Queen's Christmas Hamper (1974)
☆Ellery Queen's Aces of Mystery (1975)
☆Ellery Queen's Master of Mystery (1975)
☆Ellery Queen's Giants of Mystery (1976)
☆Ellery Queen's Magicians of Mystery (1976)
☆Ellery Queen's Champions of Mystery (1977)
☆Ellery Queen's Faces of Mystery (1977)
☆Ellery Queen's Who's Who of Whodunits (1977)
☆Ellery Queen's Masks of Mystery (1977)
☆Ellery Queen's Napoleons of Mystery (1978)
☆Ellery Queen's The Supersleuths (1978)
☆Ellery Queen's Wings of Mystery (1979)
☆Ellery Queen's Scenes of the Crime (1979)
☆Ellery Queen's Veils of Mystery (1980)
☆Ellery Queen's Windows of Mystery (1981)
☆Ellery Queen's Doors to Mystery (1981)

 ◎EQMM短篇小說精選集

☆Ellery Queen's 12 (1964)
☆Ellery Queen's Lethal Black Book (1965)
☆Ellery Queen's Murder-In Spades! (1969)
☆Ellery Queen's Shoot the Works! (1969)
☆Ellery Queen's Mystery Jackpot (1970)
☆Ellery Queen's Best Bets (1972)
☆Ellery Queen's Secrets of Mystery (1979)
☆Ellery Queen's Eyes of Mystery (1981)
☆Ellery Queen's Eyewitnesses (1981)
☆Ellery Queen's Maze of Mysteries (1982)

 ◎昆恩主編,其他作家的短篇小說選集

☆The Adventures of Sam Spade and Other Stories, by Dashiell Hammett (1944)
☆The Continental Op, by Dashiell Hammett (1945)
☆The Return of the Continental Op, by Dashiell Hammett (1945)
☆Hammett Homicides, by Dashiell Hammett (1946)
☆Dead Yellow Women, by Dashiell Hammett (1947)
☆Nightmare Town, by Dashiell Hammett (1948)
☆The Creeping Siamese, by Dashiell Hammett (1950)
☆Woman in the Dark, by Dashiell Hammett (1952)
☆A Man Named Thin and Other Stories, by Dashiell Hammett (1962)
☆The Riddles of Hildegarde Withers, by Stuart Palmer (1947)
☆Dr. Fell, Detective, and Other Stories, by John Dickson Carr (1947)
☆The Department of Dead Ends, by Roy Vickers (1947)
☆The Case Book of Mr. Campion, by Margery Allingham (1947)
☆Cops and Robbers, by O. Henry (1948)
☆The Monkey Murder and Other Hildegarde Wither Stories, by Stuart Palmer (1950)
☆The Case of the Murderer's Bride and Other Stories, By Erle Stanley Gardner (1969)
☆P As In Police, by Lawrence Treat (1970)
☆The Spy and the Thief, by Edward D. Hoch (1971)
☆Amateur in Violence, by Michael Gilbert (1973)
☆Kindly Dig Your Grave and Other Stories, by Stanley Ellin (1975)
☆How to Trap a Crook ad 12 Other Stories, by Julian Symons (1977)

Posted by taiwanmystery at 樂多Roodo! │15:03 │回應(0)引用(0)文叢精選
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