好 我们开始吧
Okay, let’s begin.
谁想先说?
Who wants to start?
好 布兰妮 你先说
Yes, Brittany, kick it off.
我对文本没有想法
I don’t have a thought on the reading,
我只是对白板上的词有意见
I just think that that word on the board is wrong.
《人造黑鬼》 弗兰纳里·奥康纳著
我满确定”黑鬼”没有写错
Well, I think it still has two G’s in it last I checked.
这并不好笑
It’s not funny.
我们不该成天盯着”黒鬼”一词看
We shouldn’t have to stare at the N-word all day.
听着
Uh, listen,
这是一门关于美国南方的文学课
this is a class on the literature of the American south.
你们会遇到老套的思想和粗俗的语言
You’re going to encounter some archaic thoughts, coarse language,
但大家都是成人 相信你们可以理解
but we’re all adults here and I think we can understand it
这些作品的背景脉络
within the context in which it’s written.
我只是认为那个词很冒犯人
Well, I just find that word really offensive.
恕我直言 布兰妮
With all due respect, Brittany,
连我都不在意了 我相信你也可以
I got over it, I’m pretty sure you can too.
没必要吧
Well, I don’t see why.
好吧
Right.
好 还有人对文本有别的想法吗?
Now, does anyone else have any thoughts on the reading?
这让你的某些学生感到不舒服
Well, it made some of your students uncomfortable.
他们何时变得如此脆弱?
When did they all become so goddamn delicate?
那并不是单一事件 -什么?
This wasn’t an isolated incident. What?
上个月 你问某个学生 他家人是否曾是纳粹
Last month you asked a student if his family had been Nazis.
我的确有这么做 他是德国人啊
Yeah, I did, he’s German,
我们当时在读《反美阴谋》
we were reading The Plot Against America
相信我 看他坐立不安的样子 他家人一定是
and trust me, by the way he was squirming, they were.
老天啊
Oh, my God.
莫克 你是位才华洋溢的作家 我们很荣幸能聘请你来
Um, Monk, you are a very talented writer, we’re fortunate to have you here.
什么? -他有好几年没出书了
What? He hasn’t published in years.
从你上次出书后 我已经写了三本小说
I have written three novels since the last time you published.
你说得没错 而你写作的速度
Yeah, this is true, and the speed with which you write
再次证明好事多磨
only proves that good things take time.
去死啦 莫克 -别激动 曼帝
Oh, go to hell, Monk. -Relax, Mandy.
对啊 别激动 曼帝
Yeah, relax, Mandy.
总之 我的新书会由回音出版社出书
And anyway, my new book is with Echo
我的经纪人说他们非常期待
and my agent says they’re very excited about it.
真是令人开心的消息
Oh, that’s great to hear.
那本书在讲什么? -别再拖了 李奥?
What’s it about? -Can we stop stalling, Leo?
听着 莫克
Listen, Monk,
我们希望你能休息一阵子
we’d like to give you a break.
“休息”是什么意思? -去放个假吧
What do you mean, break? Just some time off.
强制放假
Mandatory time off.
反正你也要去波士顿 参加读书节 不是吗?
It’s just, you’re already going to Boston for the festival, right?
你何不待久一点? -因为我恨波士顿 我老家就在那里
Why don’t you just stay there for–Because I hate Boston, my family’s there.
你需要放松 你太紧绷了 老兄
Well, you need some time to relax. You’re on edge, man.
你以为跟家人相处
You’re under the impression that time spent
就能让压力消失吗?
with my family will take the edge off.
我没事 -才怪
I’m fine. -You’re not fine.
我上周看到你在车里哭 他还揍了方向盘
I saw you crying in your car last week. He punched the steering wheel.
哇 若你少花点时间监视我
Oh, wow. You know, if you spent less time spying on me,
你也许可以多写一打书
you could probably write a dozen more novels
放在机场跟那些颈枕和饼干一起卖♥♥
that people buy at airports with their neck pillows and Cheez-Its.
你走心了 要杠上了吗 烂人?
Oh, here we go. Okay. You want to go, dirty doggy?
好 祝你在波士顿玩得开心
Okay, well, enjoy Boston.
你可以去机场买♥♥我的书
You can… you can get my book at the airport.
也祝你跟回音合作愉快
Oh, and, good luck with Echo.
♪ You turned my house ♪
♪ Into a home ♪
♪ You made me feel love ♪
♪ I’m not alone ♪
♪ And unafraid ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Of time to come ♪
♪ Proved… ♪
♪ Then you taught me how ♪
♪ What it means ♪
♪ Can we wake Each and every morning Inside a dream? ♪
美国小说
喂?
Hello?
欢迎回来 回家的感觉如何?
Welcome back. How’s it feel to be home?
很棒
Great.
已有穿着波士顿棕熊队运动衫的家伙 问我是否自以为高人一等?
Already had a guy in a Bruins jersey ask me if I think I’m better than him.
那代表好运
That’s good luck here.
是波士顿版本的好运
That’s Boston’s version of a ladybug landing on you.
有什么新消息吗?
Any news?
回音的帕特里克不想要这本书 但谁在乎?
Patrick at Echo is passing. But who fucking cares?
他是个老酒鬼
He’s an old alcoholic.
那是他拒绝的第九本书吗?
What is that? Nine now? -He says,
他说：”这本书写得不错
“This book is finely crafted
角色的发展完整 词汇丰富
with fully developed characters and rich language,
但我不懂他改写
but one is lost to understand what this reworking of
艾斯奇勒斯的《波斯人》 与非裔美国人的经验有何关联”
Aeschylus’ The Persians has to do with the African-American experience?”
就是这样
There it is.
他们想要黑人的书 -他们已经有黑人的书
They want a Black book. They have a Black book.
我是黑人 这是我的书
I’m Black, and it’s my book.
你懂我的意思
You know what I mean.
你是说他们要我写 关于警♥察♥杀死青少年
You mean they want me to write about a cop killing some teenager
或在多切斯特 抚养五个孩子的单亲妈妈
or a single mom in Dorchester raising five kids.
多切斯特现在已经很白了 但你说得没错
Dorchester is pretty white now. But yes.
老天 我根本不在乎种族
Jesus Christ. You know, I don’t even really believe in race.
但问题是 其他人都很在乎
Yeah. The problem is that everyone else does.
总之 祝你读书节愉快
Anyway, have fun at the book festival.
千万不要侮辱任何重要人物
And just don’t insult anyone important.
拜托
Please.
大众读书节 波士顿会议展览中心
从历史的观点写作 并不表示你不能写出
Writing from a historical perspective doesn’t mean that you can’t
与现代人有共鸣的作品
make work that doesn’t resonate with today’s audiences.
塞洛尼斯·艾里森
我认为对我们这些书呆子而言 《权力的游戏》证明了
Yeah, I think of things like Game of Thrones as proof that
这样的作品也能成功
nerds like us can still find great success.
很可惜的 今天的讨论只能到此为止
Unfortunately, we’re going to have to end it there.
感谢作家和与会者们共襄盛举
Thank you to our authors and thanks to all of you for attending.
是我的错觉 还是这读书节场子真的很小?
Is it just me, or was this small even for a book festival?
是真的 因为我们在跟辛塔拉比场子
Yeah, it’s because we’re up against Sintara.
谁?
Who?
辛塔拉·戈登 你没读过她的书吗?
Sintara Golden. You haven’t read her?
不知道 她写了什么书?
No, what’s her book called?
(《咱们在贫民窟的日子》 辛塔拉·戈登著
这本书红遍天下 报章杂♥志♥争相报道
Raves everywhere. The Post, Bookforum.
《伦敦书评》评论
The London Review of Books said,
“《咱们在贫民窟的日子》 是部令人心碎又发自肺腑的处♥女♥作”
“We’s Lives in Da Ghetto is a heartbreaking and visceral debut.”
我也听说有电视剧要改编她的作品
Plus a little birdie told me that perhaps there’s a TV adaptation in the works?
不予置评
No comment.
主要舞台
好吧 至少我试着问了
Okay, it was worth a shot.
你成为作家前的生活是什么样子呢?
Tell us, what was your life like before you were an author?
我在欧柏林读完大学后搬到纽约
Well, I did undergrad at Oberlin and moved to New York the day after graduation
毕业隔天我就搬了 几个月后
and a couple months later,
我在出版社当助理
I was an assistant at a publisher.
当助理的经验 是否影响了你日后的著作?
And did that assistant experience shape your writing?
当然 我是第一读者
Absolutely. Yeah, I was a first reader meaning
表示我会读完所有的稿子
I would read all the manuscripts in the slush pile
在一大叠稿子中挑出不错的作品
and send them up the ladder
继续往上送
if they were any good.
有些作品还不错 但大多稿子都差强人意
Some of them were great, most were not.
但有种感受令我难以忘怀
But the feeling I couldn’t shake was that
就是无论那些书有多棒
no matter how good the books were,
大部分都是纽约的白人男作家写的
most every submission was from some white dude from New York
他们当时正在经历离婚
going through a divorce,
没什么作品是关于我的族群
and too few of them were about my people.
这让我思考：”我们的故事呢? ”
And so I think, “Where are our stories?”
“代表我们的著作在哪里? ”
You know, “Where’s our representation?”
正因为这种匮乏 我的书也随之诞生
And it was from that lack that my book was born.
能帮我们读一段你的作品摘录吗?
Would you give us the pleasure of reading an excerpt?
谢谢
Thank you.
“哟 莎兰德
“‘Yo, Cheranda,
你这么匆忙要去哪里? ”
where you be goin’ in a hurry likes that?’
唐娜看我出门时问道