Traveller_Levin's Blog

Snow

Ann Beattie

Ann Beattie (1947~)，出生於美國華盛頓D.C.。1972年，她在The Western Humanities Review,發表第一篇短篇小說"A Rose for Judy Garland's Casket"，1973年於The Atlantic Monthly發表第二個短篇，並獲得該刊年度一等獎。1974年起於英語世界短篇小說重鎮The New Yorker陸續發表作品，被譽為“新一代唯一的名作家”、“是當今美國小說界最值得慶賀的聲音”，其聲譽主要來自短篇小說。Ann Beattie以通俗易懂，活潑流暢的語言，新穎、簡約、冷靜、獨具一格的寫作風格，加上靈巧的反諷筆法，深刻反映1980年代之思緒氛圍，評者甚至稱1980年代為Ann Beattie的年代。當時，其文名鼎盛到家喻戶曉的程度，唯少數幾位作家如Norman Mailer、Susan Sontag及Joan Didion差堪比擬。迄今Ann Beattie共計出版9本短篇小說集和8本長篇小說。獲頒Rea短篇小說獎及PEN/Malamud獎，2004年榮膺美國藝術與人文學院院士。

I remember the cold night you brought in a pile of logs and a chipmunk1 jumped off as you lowered your arms. "What do you think you're doing in here?" you said, as it ran through the living room. It went through the library and stopped at the front door as though it knew the house well. This would be difficult for anyone to believe, except perhaps as the subject of a poem2. Our first week in the house was spent scraping3, finding some of the house's secrets, like wallpaper underneath wallpaper. In the kitchen, a pattern of white-gold trellises4 supported purple grapes as big and round as ping-pong balls. When we painted the walls yellow, I thought of the bits of grape that remained underneath and imagined the vine popping through, the way some plants can tenaciously push through anything.5 The day of the big snow, when you had to shovel the walk and couldn't find your cap and asked me how to wind a towel so that it would stay on your head6—you, in the white towel turban, like a crazy king of snow. People liked the idea of our being together, leaving the city for the country. So many people visited, and the fireplace made all of them want to tell amazing stories7: the child who happened to be standing on the right corner when the door of the ice cream truck came open and hundreds of popsicles crashed out8; the man standing on the beach, sand sparkling in the sun, one bit glinting more than the rest, stooping to find a diamond ring9. Did they talk about amazing things because they thought we'd turn into one of them? Now I think they probably guessed it wouldn't work.10 It was as hopeless as giving a child a matched cup and saucer. Remember the night out on the lawn, knee deep in snow, chins pointed at the sky as the wind whirled down all that whiteness? It seemed that the world had been turned upside down, and we were looking into an enormous field of Queen Anne's lace11. Later, headlights off, our car was the first to ride through the newly fallen snow. The world outside the car looked solarized. 12

Ash

by Roddy Doyle May 24, 2010

Roddy Doyle  (1958 – )愛爾蘭小說作家、戲劇作家、電影編劇。已出版10本小說、7本童書、7個電視影集劇本還有許多短篇小說。他的幾本作品拍成電影十分叫座，1993年以小說Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.（中譯：童年往事）奪下曼‧布克獎（the Man Booker Prize），被譽為愛爾蘭當代最傑出小說家。以哈利‧波特系列出名的女作家ＪＫ‧羅琳在接受亞馬遜網路書店專訪時提到活著的作家當中，她最喜歡Roddy Doyle。

Roddy Doyle的創作一般取材於都柏林的市井生活，通過描寫小人物的悲歡離合，來反映社會的變遷。他在作品當中大量使用俚語及愛爾蘭式英語的對話，且擅長用戲謔的筆調製造黑色幽默效果，採用非情節化的敘述結構，顯現魔幻現實的獨特手法。他使用文字及方言深具個人獨特風格與魅力，近年來獲得極高評價與矚目。

Teenage Wasteland

Anne Tyler (1941~)，出生於美國明尼蘇達州，畢業於杜克大學，繼續在哥倫比亞大學攻讀俄羅斯文學，取得碩士學位，之後遷居於Maryland州的Baltimore。其第9部小說Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant 及第10部小說The Accidental Tourist分別於1983年及1986年入圍普立茲小說獎，The Accidental Tourist備受佳評，於1988年拍成非常成功的電影。Anne Tyler的第11部小說Breathing Lessonst於1989年奪得普立茲小說獎，迄至2012年她已出版19部長篇小說。

Anne Tyler的小說大多以Baltimore為背景，以精細的對話描寫、生動之人物形象刻畫、婉約細膩的文筆以及娓娓動人的情節，反映美國現代家庭種種喜怒哀樂之生活面相，深深打動讀者的心靈。在美國她的作品被譽為女性小說的巔峰之作，也享有美國家庭小說鼻祖的稱號。。

Edgemont Drive

by E. L. Doctorow

E. L. Doctorow (1931~) 生於紐約市。美國當代一流小說家，以其獨特之歷史性長篇小說著名。父母是移民美國的俄羅斯猶太人第二代，酷愛書本與音樂。大學就讀於俄亥俄州的Kenyon學院，主修哲學，並於大學劇場演出。後入哥倫比亞大學研究院攻讀英國戲劇一年，值二次大戰徵召入伍。退伍金後，在電影公司當審稿員，出版第一部長篇Welcome to Hard Times，之後轉入出版界擔任編輯，出版第二部長篇Big As Life。1971年出版第三部長篇The Book of Daniel，獲得古根海姆獎。1975年第四部長篇Ragtime問世，這部作品熔事實與虛構於一爐的風格在美國文壇引起轟動，美國評論界授予“全國圖書評論界獎”，承認E. L. Doctorow為打破傳統小說寫作模式大膽創新的傑出作家。如今，Ragtime已成為美國70年代的代表作品之一，被列入美國大學文學課程的必讀書目。本短篇作品收錄於2004年出版之Sweet Land Stories，為其中之佳作。

What kind of car was it?

Rumors About Me

Yasutaka Tsutsui

Yasutaka Tsutsui 筒井康隆1934年生於日本大阪。中學時代，經常翹課，愛看電影，並熱衷於漫畫創作。大學主修文學系心理學專業，後又轉入美術史專業。在學期間經常加入劇團演出話劇。畢業後，參加日活電影公司的演員選拔落選。當過幾年的工薪族，同時經營過設計事務所。

筒井康隆創作數量驚人，風格豐富多變。迄今出版將近80部小說及許多童話繪本、漫畫、戲曲，多部作品改編成電視劇與電影。其小說早年以科幻推理聞名，被譽為「日本後設小說（metafiction）大師」。作品多帶有無厘頭的諷刺隱喻，以及暴露人類本性的黑色幽默，並將兩者推展到淋瀝盡致。他擅長以充滿隱喻、反諷的辛辣筆調描繪出荒誕不羈的瘋狂世界。與小松左京、星新一並稱為日本三大科幻作家。

Wish Fulfillment

By Mary Gaitskill

Mary Gaitskill 生於1954年，美國作家。出版兩本長篇小說及三本短篇小說集。1998年獲美國筆會/福克納獎提名、2002年古根漢基金會研究獎金。長篇小說Veronica入圍2005年美國“國家書卷獎”決選。小說與散文散見《紐約客》雜誌（New Yorker）、《哈潑雜誌》（Harper's Magazine）及《老爺雜誌》（Esquire）。其作品典型主題是女性對內心衝突的處理，普遍吸收「禁忌」相關元素，比如賣淫、毒癮以及性虐待。

底下這篇作品靈感來自音速青春樂團Sonic Youth的一首歌Wish Fulfillment，作品當中時間與空間、思緒與感官知覺巧妙鋪疊。現實、超現實、童話幻想、人性慾望交錯迷離。其文字與意象表現曲折、美麗、詭異、優雅，令人讚嘆。

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood (1939-)生於加拿大首都渥太華，幼時，隨父親到加拿大各地進行森林昆蟲學研究，八年級才正式就學，已廣泛閱讀神話、童話、寓言及漫畫。六歲開始寫作，十六歲立定志向成為專業作家。獲多倫多大學文學學士、麻省拉德克利夫學院的文學碩士及哈佛大學博士學位。先後任教於數所知名大學，期間亦做過收銀員、餐廳服務生、市場研究員及電影編劇等工作。迄今已出版21本詩集、14本長篇小說、9本短篇小說集以及童書與文學評論。她獲獎無數，包括加拿大總督文學獎、英聯邦文學獎、義大利普雷米歐·蒙德羅獎、哈佛大學百年獎章、《悉尼時報》文學傑出獎、法國政府文學藝術勳章、曼．布克獎。被尊崇為當代最傑出作家之一，素有“加拿大文學女王”之稱。

Margaret Atwood寫作風格驚人地多樣，其小說敘述模式看似傳統小說，但在文本結構、敘事安排、文類並置的表現手法，卻製造出後現代的虛實、矛盾、質疑的感覺。作品結尾常模稜兩可，留給讀者許多自己想像空間。靈活運用象徵的技巧在傳統寫實主義與未來科幻小說間游走，讓讀者在意識到其諷刺、批評的嚴肅議題同時，亦沉浸在其有趣且豐富的文字創作中。

The Cold Outside

by John Burnside October 29, 2007

John Burnside  (1955 – ) 蘇格蘭作家。他曾於劍橋文理學院研讀歐美思潮與文學。原擔任電腦軟體工程師，1996年後成為自由作家，目前於St Andrews大學教授創作、文學、生態學及美國詩。先後出版14本詩集和9本短篇小說選集，無論現代詩或短篇小說皆屢獲重要文學獎項。其2011年詩集Black Cat Bone同時獲頒T. S. Eliot 詩作獎及 Forward詩作獎。2013年出版最新短篇小說選集Something Like Happy亦有極高之文學評價。

When the cancer came back, I wasn’t surprised. I was upset1 for Caroline, knowing she’d have to be told eventually, and I was bothered about how Sall would take it, after last time2. I was even sorry for Malky, because finding reliable drivers was difficult, and he’d always been a good boss. Still, I wasn’t surprised, not when they told me. I’d been expecting something to go wrong since the summer, when Sall and I had talked about flying over to Montreal to see Caroline and meet her new boyfriend, then given up on the idea. Sall knew I was keen3, of course: Caroline had always been Daddy’s little girl, and, ever since she’d left, it had been an effort to hide how empty the house felt without her—an effort I’d sometimes failed to make. Sall probably knew as well as I did that I was on borrowed time4, so to begin with she had gone through all the motions5 of planning the trip, but then she’d started talking about how expensive it was and how tiring it would be for me, having to drive over to Glasgow, then sit on the plane for seven hours, and then, after all that, there was immigration and customs, which took forever6. The way she spoke, it was as if she’d made the journey herself, but she hadn’t. She’d never even left Scotland, and all that talk about the Montreal customs was just stuff she’d picked up from Caroline, who’d been back three times in the six years since she got the job in Montreal. Not long before her last visit, though, she had met this new boyfriend and had started making a big thing about7 how it was our turn to go over there.

Vast Hell

by Guillermo Martínez

Guillermo Martínez  (1962 – ) 出生於阿根廷的Bahía Blanca。自布宜諾斯艾利斯大學獲得數理邏輯博士學位，曾於牛津大學數學系進行後博士班工作兩年，除數理邏輯外對哲學亦有相當程度的涉獵，他同時是位知名的長篇小說、散文、短篇小說作家。他兩部長篇小說都被翻譯成多國語言且拍成電影。短篇小說Vast Hell於2009年4月27日刊載於美國紐約客雜誌，繼Jorge Luis Borges之後，作品刊載於紐約客雜誌的第二位阿根廷作家。

A small town is a vast hell. 1

The Neighborhood

Aimee Bender

Aimee Bender 1969年生於洛杉磯。現於南加州大學教授創作，以超現實寫作風格聞名，常被歸類為美國魔幻寫實作家。自述師承安徒生童話及格林童話。於某次訪談中，被問到最想推薦給大家的一本小說，她說是村上春樹的發條鳥年代記。她於2010年出版的長篇小說The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake(檸檬蛋糕的特種憂傷)，與《追風箏的孩子》同獲美國圖書館協會ALEX獎，一出版便躍登《紐約時報》、《獨立書商協會》、《洛杉磯時報》等暢銷榜，更獲選美國獨立書商協會當月選書、南加州獨立書商協會最佳小說獎。

The barking does not stop even though neighbors have been throwing dog bones1 out their upstairs windows for awhile now. Everyone is afraid to leave their house and go see. It is a ragged bark2 and the word rabies3 has come up in over ten kitchens in the last hour, people looking it up in their never-before-used encyclopedias, searching down the page, index finger skating over the gloss, finding the words froth and lather4, shivering with fear, closing the book on the finger, looking out the window.5

Dogs can break through windows. Dogs don't care about alarms. If this dog wants, he can bite his way into any skin, make lather rise like a car wash.

Yesterday’s Garbage

by Jon Hassler

Jon Hassler (1933.3.30~2008.3.20) 生於美國明尼蘇達州Minneapolis市，1955年於聖約翰大學取得英文學士學位，先後在明尼蘇達州三所中學教書。1960年於北達科他州立大學取得英文碩士學位，繼續於中學教書直到1965年，才轉任教於Bemidji州立大學、Brainerd社區大學，最後成為聖約翰大學駐校作家及客座教授。Jon Hassler總計出版過12本長篇小說及2本短篇小說集，其短篇小說創作甚早，但成名若干年之後才得以出版。

The best grade of garbage in this city comes from the Hillcrest neighborhood, and on Thursdays when I make my run1 through the alleys of Hillcrest, my wife, Caledonia, rides beside me in the truck, admiring all those fancy2 backyards. Caledonia seldom climbs down out of the cab. She trusts me to inspect the garbage.

I know her taste. It’s jewelry and reading matter3. Now by jewelry I don’t mean diamonds and rubies. You won’t find precious stones in people’s garbage. I’m talking about the bigger, cheaper pieces—the kind a woman can pin on her coat. Last Thursday I came across two4. One was a big-eyed owl sitting on a silver moon crescent. One of the owl’s rhinestone eyes was missing, but we have scads5 of rhinestones in a box at home. We found one about the right size and glued it in the socket, and Caledonia wore it to bingo, where four people said how nice it looked. The other piece I found was a fancy letter of the alphabet, all complicated with curlicues6. Caledonia thought it might be a capital C, but at the wrestling matches Saturday night somebody told her it looked more like an E, so now she wears it upside-down and it looks great. It doesn’t look like anything.

Life is Sweet at Kumansenu

by Abioseh Nicol

Abioseh Nicol (1924.9.14~1994.9.20) 為西非獅子山國Sierra Leon的學者、外交官、內科醫師、作家及詩人，被譽為獅子山國最富學養的公民。1924年出生於獅子山國首都自由城 Freetown，小學就讀於奈及利亞Nigeria，於英國劍橋大學獲得博士學位。

1960年擔任自由城名校 Fourah Bay大學的首位本土校長，1969年被任命為獅子山國派駐聯合國的常務代表。1972年擔任聯合國副祕書長及聯合國訓練研究所所長。1987~1991於美國加州大學及南卡羅里納大學擔任國際研究的訪問教授。退休後定居於英國倫敦直到1994年去世。

The sea and the wet sand to one side of it; green tropical forest on the other; above it, the slow, tumbling clouds. The clean, round, blinding disk of sun and the blue sky covered and surrounded the small African village, Kumansenu.1