So you don't have to be a critic; you have to be strong; but you know what? You can be the average man, because this is a story about the average man.

所以你不需要当一个批评家;,但是你要坚强，知道么？,你可以是平常人,因为这是一个平常人的故事。

耶鲁公开课 - 1945年后的美国小说课程节选

It is not about finding the average man--which you are--also in the novel, there staring back at you.

也不是寻找小说里和你一样的，也在回头凝视你的平常人。

耶鲁公开课 - 1945年后的美国小说课程节选

This monumental novel about 20 hours in the life of an average man can be read and appreciated like any other great novel once its framework and form are visualized, just as we can enjoy Hamlet without solving all the problems which agitate the critics and scholars."

这部不朽的小说是关于一个,平常人生命中的二十个小时,在它的框架和形式显现出来的时候,它就能像其他伟大小说一样被阅读和欣赏，就像我们欣赏《哈姆雷特》那样,不用解决那些激发批评家和学者讨论的问题“

耶鲁公开课 - 1945年后的美国小说课程节选