Pen name: O. Henry
Date of birth and death:1862.9.11-1910.
Title: A famous American critical realism writer, one of the three great short story masters in the world.
Life:
On September 1862, 1 1, O. Henry, one of the most famous American short story writers, was born in Green Sboro, North Carolina, USA. He was praised by critics as a Manhattan Prize essayist and the father of modern American short stories. He comes from a family of doctors in Green Sboro, North Carolina, USA. Father is a doctor. His original name was William Sydney Porter. He doesn't have much education. /kloc-started working as an apprentice in a pharmacy at the age of 0/5. At the age of 20, due to health reasons, he went to a ranch in Texas as a cattle herder for two years and accumulated personal experience in living in the west. Since then, he has worked in different jobs in Texas, including as a cashier at Austin Bank. He also runs a humorous weekly called Rolling Stone and publishes humorous stories and anecdotes in a daily newspaper in Houston. 1887, Henry got married and gave birth to a daughter. Just when his life was quite stable, something happened that changed his fate. 1896, Austin bank accused him of misappropriating funds during his tenure. He fled to Honduras to escape trial. 1897 was arrested and imprisoned for going home to visit his dying wife and sentenced to five years in prison. He works as a pharmacist in prison. When he worked in a bank, he had experience in writing. After working as a pharmacist in the prison clinic, he began to write seriously. He began to write short stories under the pseudonym of O. Henry and published them in Mai Kr magazine. 190 1 was released early for "good behavior" and came to new york to specialize in writing.
O Henry has written more than 300 short stories in about ten years, which are included in Cabbage and the King (1904) [its only long story, the author tries to paint a broad picture through four or five parallel clues, which has its own unique writing style. On the other hand, the internal relationship between chapters is not close enough, and each chapter has its own independent content], 4 million (1906), the heart of the west (1907), the voice of the city (1908) and the rolling stone (65438+). He made the atmosphere of the streets, small restaurants and shabby apartments very realistic, so he was called "the poet laureate of Manhattan". He once wrote many short stories about the life of a liar. The author tries to show that many people are high-level liars and successful liars in respectable upper society. O Henry's observation and analysis of society and life are not profound, and some of his works are superficial, but he is in a difficult life, often sharing joys and sorrows with frustrated little people, and can express their complicated feelings with ingenious artistic techniques. His works are novel in conception, humorous in language and often unexpected in ending. It is also called "Humorous Encyclopedia of American Life" because it describes many characters and is full of interest in life. Therefore, his best short stories, such as love ceremony, police and hymns, furniture room, Maggie's gift, the last leaf and so on. , can be included in the world's best short stories.
His writing style is vivid, and he is good at using puns, falsetto, homophonic, old classics, and full of fun. He is called "Smile with Tears". He also described, created and reproduced the atmosphere with precise details, especially the atmosphere of nightlife in metropolis.
O Henry is also famous for being good at ending, which is called "O Henry ending" in American literature. He is good at dramatically designing plots, paving the way, and sketching contradictions. Finally, at the end, he suddenly changes the psychological status of the characters, or suddenly reverses the fate of the protagonist, which makes readers feel suddenly enlightened, both unexpected and reasonable, and can't help but marvel at it. There is a unique artistic style called "tearful smile". At the end, O Henry condensed all the souls of the novel, allowing readers to unconsciously enter the maze carefully set by the author in a seemingly dull and humorous description, until finally, like a lightning bolt, everything hidden before was illuminated, as if playing hide-and-seek with readers, or playing a blind alley, giving readers the last surprise. Other short story writers have tried this unexpected ending before O Henry. But O 'Henry used it more frequently, naturally and skillfully.
Describing little people is the most striking content in O Henry's short stories, which contains profound humanitarian spirit. O Henry has lived at the bottom of society for a long time and knows the hardships of the lower class. At the same time, he personally felt how heartless the laws formulated by the ruling class were to the poor. Therefore, he put infinite sympathy on the side of the poor. In his works, the poor have a pure and beautiful heart, kind and kind character and sincere and deep love. However, they are miserable, weak, isolated, hungry and homeless, and are often ruthlessly swallowed up by society. This unfair phenomenon is particularly harsh against the background of the prosperous social scene, which implies the author's indignation.
O Henry has brought a new breath to American short stories, so his works have a long-standing reputation and world influence. Since 19 18, the United States has awarded the "O. Henry Memorial Award" every year to reward the best short stories, which shows its excellent reputation.
In new york, due to the publication of a large number of excellent works, he gained fame and fortune. He is not only extravagant, but also fond of gambling and drinking. The fatigue of writing and the unrestrained life have seriously damaged his health. 1907, O 'Henry remarried. Unfortunately, the second marriage was not happy for him. On June 3rd 19 10, he was ill. Two days later, on June 5th, he died of liver cirrhosis at the age of 48.
Judging from the nature of the subject matter, O Henry's works can be roughly divided into three categories. One is to describe life in the western United States; One is about life in some big cities in the United States; One is aimed at life in Latin America. These different themes are obviously closely related to the author's different experiences in several major life periods. Among the three types of works, there is no doubt that the works describing urban life have the largest number and the greatest significance.
The contradiction of O Henry's thoughts and the weakness of his works have a great relationship with his creative environment. Even when he has become famous and widely welcomed by readers, his life is still often in poverty. He once said bluntly, "I write for bread."