영어로 읽는 고전 _ 맥스 브랜드의 밤의 기수
맥스 브랜드의 "밤의 기수"는 20세기 초, 약 1920년경에 쓰여진 소설입니다. 이 이야기는 고도로 교육받고 내성적인 의사인 랜들 번이 미국 서부 개척지의 거친 삶을 헤쳐 나가는 과정을 중심으로 전개됩니다. 그가 자신의 환자인 늙은 조 컴버랜드와 관련된 특이한 도전들과 씨름하면서, 서사는 번, 케이트 컴버랜드, 그리고 휘슬링 댄이라고 알려진 수수께끼 같은 인물의 상호작용을 통해 사랑, 상실, 인간 관계의 복잡성이라는 주제를 소개합니다.
"밤의 기수"의 도입부는 우리에게 랜들 번을 소개합니다. 그는 뛰어나지만 허약한 의사로, 깊은 지성과 개척지 생활의 거친 현실에 대한 실질적인 경험 부족이 특징입니다. 그가 엘크헤드 마을에 정착하면서, 그는 아버지가 중병에 걸린 케이트 컴버랜드로부터 긴급한 호출을 받습니다. 의사의 초기 망설임은 상황의 심각성과 그것에 묶인 감정적 무게를 느끼면서 사라집니다.
케이트를 따라 황야로 들어가면서, 번은 늙은 조의 쇠퇴를 둘러싼 수수께끼 같은 상황에 휘말리게 됩니다. 이는 휘슬링 댄이라는 이름의 신비로운 남자와의 이상한 연결로 특징지어지며, 이 인물은 지역 전설과 서스펜스로 둘러싸여 있습니다. 심리적 긴장의 흥미진진한 이야기를 위한 무대가 마련되며, 이는 개척지 생활의 강렬한 아름다움과 가혹한 현실이 교차합니다.
Classics Read in English _ The Night Horseman by Max Brand
Max Brand's "The Night Horseman" is a novel from the early 20th century, written around 1920. The narrative centers on Randall Byrne, a highly educated and introspective doctor who must navigate the rugged life of the American frontier. As he confronts unusual challenges related to his patient, old Joe Cumberland, the story introduces themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human connection through the interactions between Byrne, Kate Cumberland, and the enigmatic figure known as Whistling Dan.
The opening of "The Night Horseman" introduces Randall Byrne, a brilliant but physically frail doctor characterized by his profound intellect and lack of practical experience in the harsh realities of frontier life. Upon settling in the town of Elkhead, he receives an urgent summons from Kate Cumberland, whose father is gravely ill. The doctor's initial hesitation vanishes as he perceives the gravity of the situation and the emotional weight attached to it.
Following Kate into the wilderness, Byrne becomes entangled in the mysterious circumstances surrounding old Joe's decline, marked by a strange connection to a mysterious man named Whistling Dan, a figure wrapped in local legend and suspense. The stage is set for a compelling tale of psychological tension, interwoven with the stark beauty and harsh realities of life on the frontier.
Among the contents
At the age of six Randall Byrne could name and bound every state in the Union and give the date of its admission; at nine he was conversant with Homeric Greek and Caesar; at twelve he read Aristophanes with perfect understanding of the allusions of the day and divided his leisure between Ovid and Horace; at fifteen, wearied by the simplicity of Old English and Thirteenth Century Italian, he dipped into the history of Philosophy and passed from that, naturally, into calculus and the higher mathematics; at eighteen he took an A.B. from Harvard and while idling away a pleasant summer with Hebrew and Sanscrit he delved lightly into biology and its kindred sciences, having reached the conclusion that Truth is greater than Goodness or Beauty, because it comprises both, and the whole is greater than any of its parts; at twenty-one he pocketed his Ph.D. and was touched with the fever of his first practical enthusiasm—surgery. At twenty-four he was an M.D. and a distinguished diagnostician, though he preferred work in his laboratory in his endeavor to resolve the elements into simpler forms; also he published at this time a work on anthropology whose circulation was limited to two hundred copies, and he received in return two hundred letters of congratulation from great men who had tried to read his book; at twenty-seven he collapsed one fine spring day on the floor of his laboratory. That afternoon he was carried into the presence of a great physician who was also a very vulgar man. The great physician felt his pulse and looked into his dim eyes.
서평(Book Review)
맥스 브랜드의 "밤의 기수"는 문명과 야생 사이의 경계를 탐구하는 매력적인 서부 소설이다. 지적이지만 실용적 경험이 부족한 의사 랜들 번과 신비로운 인물 휘슬링 댄의 대비를 통해, 이 작품은 인간 본성의 이중성과 사회적 제약에서 벗어난 자유의 의미를 깊이 있게 조명한다. 컴버랜드 가의 비밀과 얽힌 복잡한 인간관계는 심리적 긴장감을 더하며, 브랜드는 서부의 거친 풍경을 단순한 배경이 아닌 인물들의 내면을 반영하는 상징적 장치로 활용한다. 결국 이 소설은 의학적 논리와 설명할 수 없는 자연의 힘 사이의 대립을 통해, 인간이 완전히 이해하거나 통제할 수 없는 삶의 신비에 대한 경외감을 불러일으킨다.
Max Brand's "The Night Horseman" is a captivating Western novel that explores the boundaries between civilization and wilderness. Through the contrast between Randall Byrne, an intellectual doctor lacking practical experience, and the enigmatic figure Whistling Dan, this work deeply illuminates the duality of human nature and the meaning of freedom beyond societal constraints. The complex human relationships entangled with the Cumberland family's secrets add psychological tension, while Brand utilizes the rugged Western landscape not merely as a backdrop but as a symbolic device reflecting the characters' inner worlds. Ultimately, this novel evokes a sense of awe for life's mysteries through the opposition between medical logic and inexplicable natural forces, reminding us of aspects of existence that humans cannot fully understand or control.
