cge

第一次返台假結束時，我帶了兩本書回部內，意外的是，兩本書我都已經看完了。值更真是看書的好時機啊。

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I THOUGHT MY FATHER WAS GOD



保羅奧斯特(Paul Auster)在NPR主持廣播節目時，發起了一個全民寫作計畫，讓聽眾寫下自己的故事，然後從中選出幾則在節目中唸出來。而挑選的標準是：看起來像是小說情節的真實故事。

這本書也就是上180則真實的小說所匯集而成的。看的時候，情緒會隨著每個故事起伏，體會美國一般老百姓的喜怒哀樂，以及生命種種的巧合與意外。看完後，又藉著這一個個真實故事，拼湊出一個褪去五光十色的美國社會，那感覺跟HBO影集六呎風雲所傳達的傳統美國家庭有點相似。抑鬱的很扎實。

我覺得這本書頗適合給想試著看原文書的人，因為這些故事的篇幅都不長，多數都沒超過3頁，往往在讀到快沒耐性的時候，故事也就結尾了。而且裡面的故事眾多且各自獨立，所以就算有看不懂的，或不想看的主題，直接跳過去也無所謂，不用故事會銜接不上。真是好啊！

Sometimes the first persons in novels are the onlookers, instead of the leading characters. They are like reporters, gathering lots of information, then writing a story. They are just narrators. What they try to tell us is where we should focus on.

That is what I learned that form ‘In the Country of Last Things’ and ‘Leviathan’.

‘In the Country of Last Things’ takes the form of Anna Blume's letter to home. She come to the city in order to find her big brother. However, the key point was not if she found her brother or not, but how horrible and hopeless the city was. That gives us a chance to re-think whether the city we live in is as terrible and hopeless as the one in ‘In the Country of Last Things’.

As for ‘Leviathan’ is the other example. I do not care the life and the marriage of Peter (the first person in this book), but I care about his friend, Sachs.

Sometimes the first persons in novels are the onlookers, instead of the leading characters. They are like reporters, gathering lots of information, then writing a story. They are just narrators. What they try to tell us is where we should focus on.

That is what I learned that form ‘In the Country of Last Things’ and ‘Leviathan’.

‘In the Country of Last Things’ takes the form of Anna Blume's letter to home. She come to the city in order to find her big brother. However, the key point was not if she found her brother or not, but how horrible and hopeless the city was. That gives us a chance to re-think whether the city we live in is as terrible and hopeless as the one in ‘In the Country of Last Things’.

As for ‘Leviathan’ is the other example. I do not care the life and the marriage of Peter (the first person in this book), but I care about his friend, Sachs.

Sachs was a writer with talent. He also had his viewpoint of responsibility of human beings. After a serial of catastrophes, he recognized he should do something more important than writing books (In my opinion, writing is only his interest. He does not care about that very much). He wanted to arouse the consciousness of Americans. The way he achieved his mission was not to write articles, but, more radically, to explode the models of the Statue of Liberty in different states.

And finally he blew himself up! I think that is not an accident. He meant to do it. Maybe he was desperate of living in such a dirty country. Maybe he wanted to be the last Statue of Liberty in his plan of exploding.

Sidney, after recovering from a fatal ill, started trying to be a writer again.

Writing novels is good to Sid. He took his life and his thoughts as his resources and wrote them down. These processes of writing gave him a chance to survey his marriage. And eventually he found some horrible facts he never knew.

A lot of reviews take the note which Sid brought for writing as a crucial part in Oracle Night, but this viewpoint does not make much sense to me.

The note did not help Sid to explore the secrets of the marriage. It was merely a symbol for a period of time in which Sid found something weird but still did not take actions to think what the problem was. The time the note was tossed represented Sid said goodbye to those unconscious old days and tried to construct what happened among he, his wife and their friend.

Oracle Night is a story about cheats and choices. The "oracle", I think, means what Sid thought was true. What would he do after knowing the affaire between his wife and his friend? I don't know. But I think it's would be another story.

Timbuktu（註1）指的是地圖上消失的地方，也就是死後的世界。

這是一個實驗性質濃厚的作品，書裡的英雄是一隻聽得懂英文的狗，牠叫Mr. Bones。在第一任主人Willy死後，流離失所，遇到了他第二任主人，一個叫Henry的孤單華裔男孩，但因Henry家不准養狗，導致他們必須以克難的方式，遮遮掩掩地維持相互依賴的關係（Henry需要有傾吐陪伴的對象；Mr. Bones需要主人的關愛及提供食物）。儘管環境惡劣，一切見不得光，但Mr. Bones仍抱持著低廉的願望，認為要是真的就此安定下來，任何物質上的任何物質上的窮困就都可以沒有所謂。但在被Henry的爸發現這一切後，Mr. Bones又開始流離失所…

Timbuktu這本書說的是「尋找」，尋找生命中最初也唯一的信仰。

渴望與人類建立關係的Mr. Bones，在牠與主人死別後，不止希望能找到一個能真心對待主人，而且這新主人最好就是另一個Willy。所以在新關係稍微穩定下來後，Mr. Bones總是會有意無意地想起Willy，甚至是夢到他。是的，每當Mr. Bones進入不同的環境，就會夢到Willy，這些夢貫穿了Mr. Bones最後的人生。Willy在牠的心中的地位從未改變，是牠永遠的主人，所以當牠在夢境中知道牠將能到Timbuktu與繼續有Willy相伴，竟走上了高速公路。

看完了全書，心理有點矛盾，不知該為Mr. Bones寧死相伴的忠誠所感動，還是該為牠一次次遇人不淑而感傷。牠的三個主人，包括Willy在內，都是處於弱勢的一方，都是受制的對象。潦倒的無名詩人，受制於成就名利導向的社會，永遠抬不起頭；男孩Henry及之後的Polly與Alice不是孩子就是無工作的女性，都受到家中霸權所掌控。由於主人的力量薄弱，從未能對牠保證什麼，Mr. Bones一直無法得到牠所想要的安定的關係。我想這也是牠最後會想提前離開世間而到Timbuktu的原因。

The Brooklyn Follies是以得癌症的Nathan為第一人稱，他在跟老婆鬧翻後，選擇搬到Brooklyn等死。他女兒Rachel無法忍受父親消極行為，與他激烈爭執，吵Nathan與前妻荒唐的婚姻，也吵他漫無目的得過且過的等死態度。結果爭吵奏效了，但指的不是他願意回去修補那木已成灰的婚姻，而是生活態度的部分。Nathan忽然想找些是來做，好讓自己的精神生活不至於匱乏，於是他決定用文字記錄當下的生活，但因為擔心把寫作這件事看得太嚴肅，特地把書名取為The Book of Human Folly，所寫的題材也以各式各樣的愚蠢或令人發噱的生活事件為主。而之後的故事便由遇到那個他曾看重的外甥Tom開始…

"When you're depressed, write comedy," Auster says.

這句話讓我能更貼近作者所傳達的內容。主人翁Nathan Glass的生活不只有follies，還有很多人性的拉扯及各種快樂歡愉。但Nathan卻相當正向地盡量只著眼於有趣的部分，希望當在人生終點回首時，能輕鬆地笑談一切風雨。

在後來Nathan病發，從昏厥中醒來時，他除了安撫他的新歡（年紀相仿的寡婦），就是繼續豐富The Book of Human Folly。他忽然感受到文字的生命力量之無限，他在想，要是他的女兒甚至他的後代讀到這些關於他自己的故事有會有怎樣的感覺。諸如此類的想法像漩渦，越發強烈，最後他決定成立自傳公司。

雖然我們多半是尋常百姓Mr. So & So，但仍舊有屬於我們的故事，若我們不去試著留下點什麼，一切的痕跡就都煙消雲散了。

說說其他的。

西新聞焦點 綜合編譯◎羅珊珊

有「西班牙的諾貝爾獎」之稱的阿斯圖里亞斯王子獎（Spain's Princeof Asturias Prize）5月31日宣布，其中備受矚目的文學獎由美國作家保羅．奧斯特（Paul Auster）摘下桂冠，彌補了去年未能奪魁的遺憾。

現年59歲的保羅．奧斯特，身兼小說家、詩人、劇作家等多重身分， 著名作品包括、《幻影書》（Book of Illusions）、《孤獨及其所創造的》(Invention of Solitude)、《昏頭先生》（Mr. Vertigo）等等，曾撰寫電影劇本如王穎所導的《煙》，也獨立執導《綠寶機密》（Lulu on the Bridge）。曾於70年代定居法國的奧斯特，早年作品深受法國詩人及劇作家影響，返美後再以《紐約三部曲》（The New York Trilogy）重量級作品同樣獲得國內好評。曾以《機緣樂章》（The Music ofChance）入圍國際筆會福克納文學獎，1993年則以《巨獸》（Leviathan）獲法國麥迪西文學獎。

阿斯圖里亞斯王子獎的評審團盛讚保羅．奧斯特的作品「結合了北美及歐洲傳統文學的精華，並融合進富電影感的元素。而關於我們這個時代個體和群體的困境，他提出了極具分量的美學思考和價值觀，深深吸引了許多年輕讀者。」主辦單位也稱其「創造了一個由機緣及尋求自我認同所架構起來的文學宇宙，現實和幻想則在其中交相滲入人們的每日生活」。

今年阿斯圖里亞斯王子獎堂堂進入第26屆，照樣頒發了包括文學、科學、文化、社會等八大類獎項，其他藝術類的的得獎者正是西班牙名導阿莫多瓦，各可獲得5萬歐元（約合新台幣200萬元）的獎金及由大師米羅所設計的雕塑獎座一座。保羅．奧斯特表示他屆時將飛至西班牙阿斯圖里亞斯的省會奧維耶多，接受菲利普王子的榮耀頒獎。

(轉錄自：自由時報 2006/06/08)

奧奇文的聖誕故事
作者：保羅奧斯特
我從奧奇文那兒聽到這個故事。由於奧奇在故事裡沒有什麼豐功偉業，或至少沒有像他所希望的表現，所以他要求我不可以在故事裡使用他的真名。除此之外，故事中的所有事件包括掉了的錢包及失明婦女及聖誕晚餐等，都是原封不動地照他告訴我的來寫。

奧奇和我知道彼此的存在已經快十一年了。他在布魯克林市區的寇特街上擺櫃賣雪茄，因為只有那家店有賣我喜歡抽的荷蘭雪茄，所以我還滿常往那兒跑。有很長一段時間，我沒有特別注意奧奇文。他是個跟我沒交情的矮個兒，身穿帽T，賣我雪茄、雜誌，也是個會亂來、打諢科的人物，總是會嘲弄天氣、警察、或華盛頓的那些政客，而聊的內容差不多就這些。

但在多前年的某天，他順手翻閱店內的雜誌時，偶然地看到了一篇關於我某本書的書評。他因為書評上刊載的照片而認出我就是那個作者，從此以後，我們的關係有了改變。對奧奇而言我不再只是他的顧客之一，而是個有頭有臉的名人。雖然一般人是不太會去理睬那些書阿作家的事情，但偏偏奧奇自認為是個藝文人士。這會兒他識破了我身份，他擁抱我，就像在抱同夥、知己、同袍那樣。老實說，我是覺得還滿尷尬的。然後，幾乎無可避免地，他開始問我要不要看看他的相片。出於他的熱切及好意，我似乎沒有任何拒絕的餘地。

天曉得我會期待看到怎樣的相片。最起碼，不會是奧奇隔天拿給我的那種。他在店家後狹小無窗的房間內，打開紙盒拿出了十二本有編號的相簿。他說，這是他畢生工作，每天花在這上頭的時間不會超過五分鐘。過去十二年的每日清晨，他都會準時在七點，站在亞特蘭大街與柯林頓街的街角，對相同的景物拍下一張單色相片。這樣也已經累積了超過上千張的相片。每本相簿都代表著不同的年份，而所有相片由一月一日到十二月三十一日依序排列，每張相片下都謹慎地拍攝日期。

當我隨手翻閱這些相簿，開始細看奧奇的作品時，我不知道該要有怎樣的想法。我直覺反應認為這是我見過最怪異最奇特的事情。所有的照片都一模一樣。整個相本裡反覆出現一張張索然無味的相同照片，一樣的街道一樣的建築出現一次又一次，無味的影像頑固地反覆出現。我不知該對奧奇說什麼，所以我不斷翻著相本，還虛假地點點頭表示欣賞。奧奇一臉安詳，帶著笑容看著我，但在他好幾次看到我一直在翻頁，他忽然打斷我，對我說：「你看得太快了。你不慢下來是無法領略其中的奧妙。」

1. 這故事起初是刊載在1990年聖誕節的紐約時報上。
2. Paul Auster在2004年的聖誕節有在廣播節目中完整地讀完整個故事，有興趣的人可以點網路來源在這裡
3. 網路來源在這裡
4. 嫌看英文太麻煩，這裡有我翻譯的。

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Auggie Wren's Christmas Story
By Paul Auster


I heard this story from Auggie Wren. Since Auggie doesn't come off too well in it, at least not as well as he'd like to, he's asked me not to use his real name. Other than that, the whole business about the lost wallet and the blind woman and the Christmas dinner is just as he told it to me.

Auggie and I have known each other for close to eleven years now. He works behind the counter of a cigar store on Court Street in downtown Brooklyn, and since it's the only store that carries the little Dutch cigars I like to smoke, I go in there fairly often. For a long time, I didn't give much thought to Auggie Wren. He was the strange little man who wore a hooded blue sweatshirt and sold me cigars and magazines, the impish, wisecracking character who always had something funny to say about the weather, the Mets or the politicians in Washington, and that was the extent of it.

But then one day several years ago he happened to be looking through a magazine in the store, and he stumbled across a review of one of my books. He knew it was me because a photograph accompanied the review, and after that things changed between us. I was no longer just another customer to Auggie, I had become a distinguished person. Most people couldn't care less about books and writers, but it turned out that Auggie considered himself an artist. Now that he had cracked the secret of who I was, he embraced me as an ally, a confidant, a brother-in-arms. To tell the truth, I found it rather embarrassing. Then, almost inevitably, a moment came when he asked if I would be willing to look at his photographs. Given his enthusiasm and goodwill, there didn't seem any way I could turn him down.

God knows what I was expecting. At the very least, it wasn't what Auggie showed me the next day. In a small, windowless room at the back of the store, he opened a cardboard box and pulled out twelve identical photo albums. This was his life's work, he said, and it didn't take him more than five minutes a day to do it. Every morning for the past twelve years, he had stood on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Clinton Street at precisely seven o'clock and had taken a single color photograph of precisely the same view. The project now ran to more than four thousand photographs. Each album represented a different year, and all the pictures were laid out in sequence, from January 1 to December 31, with the dates carefully recorded under each one.

The Book of Illusions 是美國作家Paul Auster的第十部作品。也是他目前的顛峰之作。

故事是在大學授課的David Zimmer在妻兒墜機身亡後，整個人失了魂似的失去生活重心。一天無意在電視上看到Hector演的黑白喜劇默片，可能是為了逃避生離死別的痛苦，David興起了研究這個演員的念頭。他看完Hector被保存下來的所有作品，分析他的演技、他的幽默，還找出關於他的報導，試圖找出他的下落。就在書出版後，David收到了Frieda的來信。這Frieda正是人間蒸發多年的Hector之髮妻…

對書中的兩個主角Hector及David，illusions（幻影）的意義是有差異的。

對歷經人生風浪的Hector來說，與Frieda塵埃落定共結連理就是illusion。這點，Hector也是知道的，因為在情場上一次次重傷及誤會已經讓他無力再愛人，疲倦的他最後在Frieda主動的情況下開始了婚姻生活。他是不愛她的。因為相對於Hector與其他女人的活動相比，描述他與Frieda的相戀部分是少的，我只看到Frieda一頭熱地要跟她的救命恩人結婚（Hector在銀行裡為她擋了子彈），至於Hector，只是被動接受而已。

Hector將這看似安定的婚姻視為illusion。這可在他的雜記及農場名稱（Blue Stone Ranch）看得出來。因為這Blue Stone其實只是他過去在夜裡所看到的一口反光的痰。或許在朦朧中會讓人誤以為它閃著誘人的光，但它到底是口令人做噁的東西。他們的婚姻也是如此，帳面上來看，他與Frieda遠離塵囂在農場裡拍著自己最愛的電影，但只要稍微仔細點，便可看見這表面上的夫唱婦隨竟是件沒有靈魂的虛幻外衣。

至於David，他好不容易敞開心胸，愛上了Alma（她也住在Blue Stone Ranch。要求David趕在Hector死後，回到農莊把Hector與Frieda先前在農場裡看的影片看完，以證明她所寫的Hector傳記之真實性），見到在病榻上的Hector。之後搶在Hector去世後的24小時內，勉強地看完了一部短片 “The Inner Life of Martin Frost”（Hector曾要求在他死後的24小時內將他在農莊所拍的電影全都燒毀），之後又被Frieda無禮地趕出農場。