《都柏林人》书评

随手记下的

1 《姐妹们》宗教、信仰及其幻灭，冷漠，呆滞2 《偶遇》少年与老年，人生各个阶段的断裂，潜藏在心中的变态3 《阿拉比》爱的虚妄，虚荣心，冲动4 《伊芙琳》爱的虚妄，自己与责任的冲突，责任与感情，意志力之不可避免的软弱5 《车赛以后》虚荣，庸俗，“欢乐”的虚伪，市侩的拜物教6 《两个浪子》年轻的荒诞，空虚，卑俗，漠不关心，人与人相互的欺骗与蔑视，寻求意义7 《寄寓》爱的虚妄，市侩的婚姻与欲望，阴谋，生活的空虚本质8 《一朵浮云》人的改变，友情中的虚荣与真相，贫富之间的矛盾心态，自负与自恋，自视清高与理想9 《无独有偶》麻木，异化，沉沦到不能自拔，令人悲哀的恶性循环10 《土》可爱的人们的无奈的生命，泪水中响起爱尔兰民歌11 《悲痛的往事》孤独，精神与爱与什么是爱，自责，中年人对于人生的检视12 《纪念日，在委员会办公室》爱尔兰的政治，理想与现实，历史与现在，崇高与委琐13 《母亲》虚伪，市侩，吝啬与贪婪，卑俗14 《圣恩》宗教的虚伪，咬伤舌头也许象征在宗教性的社会环境压力下的失语，爱尔兰的宗教，严肃与无聊15 《死者》爱的真实与虚妄，欢乐的真与假，人与人的真诚与逢场作戏，庸俗，冷漠，无聊，尴尬，情面，死亡，死亡与爱，死亡与所有人（作为必然，作为苦，作为罪的罚，作为仅仅是一个结束），死亡与生

“The Dead”

“The Dead”What I have done and left undone hardly mattered. Success is unimportant and failure amounts to nothing. Life is insignificant and death of little consequence.------------- William Somerset Maugham"The Dead" is the final short story in the 1914 collection Dubliners by James Joyce. It is the longest story in the collection and is often considered the best of Joyce's shorter works. At 15,672 words it has also been considered a novella. The story centers on Gabriel Conroy on the night of the Morkan sisters' annual dance and dinner in the first week of January, 1904, perhaps the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6). Typical of the stories in Dubliners, "The Dead" develops toward a moment of painful self-awareness; Joyce described this as an epiphany. The narrative generally concentrates on Gabriel's insecurities, his social awkwardness, and the defensive way he copes with his discomfort. The story culminates at the point when Gabriel discovers that, through years of marriage, there was much he never knew of his wife's past.Upon arriving at the party with his wife, Gabriel makes an unfunny joke about the maid's marriage prospects, after which he fidgets, adjusts his clothing, and offers her money as a holiday present. Not long after that, he gets flustered again when his wife pokes fun at him over a conversation they had earlier, in which he had suggested buying a pair of galoshes for the bad weather. With such episodes, Gabriel is depicted as particularly pathetic. Similarly, Gabriel is unsure about quoting a poem from the poet Robert Browning when he is giving his dinner address, as he is afraid to be seen as pretentious. But at the same time, Gabriel considers himself above the others when he considers that the audience would not understand the words he uses.Later in the evening, when giving the traditional holiday toast in front of the guests, Gabriel overcompensates for some of his earlier statements to his evening dancing partner Miss Ivors, who is an Irish nationalist. His talk relies heavily on conventions, and he praises the virtues of the Irish people and idealizes the past in a way that feels contrived and disingenuous (especially considering what the past will mean to him once he hears his wife's story).When preparing to leave the party, Gabriel sees his wife, Gretta, on the stairs, absorbed in thought. He stares at her for a moment before he recognizes her as his wife. He then imagines her as the model in a painting called "Distant Music". Her distracted, wistful mood arouses sexual interest in him. He tries indirectly to confront her about it after the party in the hotel room he has reserved for them, but he finds her unresponsive. Trying to make ironic, half-suggestive comments to his wife, Gabriel learns that she was feeling nostalgic after having heard Mr. D'Arcy singing The Lass of Aughrim at the party.Upon being pressed further, Gretta tells Gabriel that the song had reminded her of the time when she was a young girl in Galway, when she had been in love with a young boy named Michael Furey. At the time, Gretta was being kept at her grandmother's home before she was to be sent off to a convent in Dublin. Michael, being terribly sick, was ordered to remain bedridden and was unable to see her. Despite being sick, when it came time for her to leave Galway, Michael travelled through the rain to Gretta's window, and although he got to speak with her again, he ended up dying within the week.The remainder of the text delves into Gabriel's thoughts after he hears this story, exploring his shifting views on himself, his wife, the past, on the living and the dead. It is ambiguous whether the epiphany is just an artistic and emotional moment or whether Gabriel will ever manage to escape his smallness and insecurity.Such synopsis above about The dead is taken from Wikipedia.AnalysisIn the dead, Gabriel Conroy’s restrained behavior and his reputation mark him a man of authority and caution, but two encounters with women at the party challenge his confidence, thus leading to his unmeasured response and loss of control later.When he sees Gretta transfixed by the music at the end of the party, Gabriel yearns intensely to have control of her strange feelings. Though Gabriel remembers their romantic courtship and is overcome with attraction for Gretta, this attraction is rooted not in love but strangely in his desire to control her.At the hotel, Gabriel grows irritated by Gretta’s behavior. She does not seem to share his romantic inclinations, and in fact bursts into tears. Then Gretta confesses that he was thinking a former lover who died after waiting outsider of her window in the cold when she was lost in the song from the party. And then Gretta later falls asleep, but Gabriel remains awake, disturbed by Gretta’s new information.After Gretta fall asleep, Gabriel curls up on the bed, and his final encounter with her confess ultimately make his unease culminates in his tense and at the same time forces him to confront his stony view of the world as well as contemplate his own morality. He has never been “master” and he now that another man preceded him in Gretta’s life. He feels sadness rather than simply jealousy because Michel Furey once felt an aching love that himself has never known and maybe never experienced.Reflecting on his own life, he felt that life is short and far from his control. And those who leave the world like Michael Furey, with great passion, in fact live more fully than people like himself.“Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried.” We maybe a shadow of whoever but ourselves in the world and cannot find out what make ourselves unique , living in a world in which the living and the death met, truth and lies mixed and sincerity and hypocrisy collide. Once we may thought that life can be divided to past of the dead and the present of the living, and the later must be of more importance. Now you will recognize that such division is of no significance. As we look outside the window we imagine what covering the ancestors’ grave will someday just as it covers those people still living, as well as the entire world. One by one , we were all becoming shade. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.And what is death? Michael Furey’s is dead at 17 but he is still living in somewhere in his lover’s heart. And as for us, we will eventually join the death and will not be remembered without changes deeply in our souls and spirits. But we still have time and chance to change our attitude and embrace life and our dreams, luckily. Deadening routines we may faces everyday like the horse that circles around and around the mill in Gabriel’s anecdote, these Dubliners settle into an expected routine at this party. We are unable to break from the routines we know, so we live life without new experience and eventually numb to the world. We must no longer live in the past and should embrace the present. Both the dead and the living should no longer unit in frozen paralysis. Free our minds and live unfettered by deadening routines, the paralysis cannot last forever as well as the unusual snow in Ireland in the novel.

大师的小书

（2011年5月号《书城》杂志。转载请注明出处。）有人说：“打开世界地图，并不等于周游了世界。”文学也一样，说再多的“浪漫主义”、“古典主义”、“雪莱”、“托尔斯泰”也没有用。文学是要一本一本读着，一个巷子一个巷子走下来的，谁也代替不了。退一步讲，嚼别人吐出来的甘蔗渣有什么乐趣！那些耸人听闻而又不知所云的概念和名词，给予我们的只不过是榨干了汁汁水水的所谓“文学常识”。听得越多，越围绕作品形成一个符咒，几乎变成卡夫卡的“城堡”，使人无法进入。这真是一个有趣的悖论——评论读得越多，越是不想读原作。“名著就是谁都知道却人人不想去看的书。 ”可谓一语道破。沸沸嚣嚣的评论有时还真是一场无预谋的骗局。之前基于不知从哪儿听来的粗浅印象，我一直对乔伊斯怀有深刻的偏见。对大名鼎鼎的意识流、如雷贯耳的现代主义，从来都是望而生畏、敬而远之的，总觉得它们无外乎华而不实的文学实验，只是捉弄人的花纹和漩涡。直到我在课堂上看到《阿拉比》那篇小文——这就是乔伊斯！窘迫而敏感的人呵！他的东西总莫名其妙地勾起人的回忆。很神奇的小说，它不把你勾进它的故事里，相反，它拉你回溯你自己的世界——家中的木桌，小孩子的嬉闹，向晚的灯光，昨日和远方，那里民情淳朴，心地洁白。令人不胜感慨。我从来没看到过写初恋写得如此干净的文字。那份感情宛若神明，似乎捧着它就足以睥睨万物。歌德说：“我爱你，与你何涉？”文中说的大抵就是这个吧。小家伙的女神甚至不具备一个名字，只说是“曼根的姐姐”。可他会在沉沉的雨夜躲在黑漆漆的后客厅里悸动得难以自持，颤抖着喃喃自语：“啊，爱！啊，爱！” 多么纯粹！屠格涅夫也有一篇《初恋》，可是相比之下是大孩子了，更为注重青春的躁动和奔突的荷尔蒙的力量。小说最后是一场幻灭。爱情（确切的说，这里还只是单恋）的魔力让人骄傲得不自量力，让人错以为拿着那柄宝剑可以无往不胜，甚至能跟整个世界对峙。经过漫长的、惴惴不安的期待，又几经波折，终于千难万险地来到了“阿拉比”。可是等待他的那个“阿拉比”是打烊后荒凉阒寂而又陌生疏离的“阿拉比”，他手足无措了，萌生出一种巨大的失落感。对他来说，长廊尽头传来的熄灯的喊声就像是在灰姑娘心头敲打的十二点钟声——所有的辉煌和梦幻陡然消失了，内心无限怅惘。这种怅惘与其说是他对那个“魅人的阿拉比” 的不满，不如说是他长途跋涉的疲累，是朝圣前的兴奋所必然带来的淡淡绝望。小男孩与成人世界。这就是《阿拉比》结尾处的图式。那个似乎神秘而不可解的王国横亘在他面前，他怎么敌得过那个世界呢？！他困惑地向里张望着。打败他的不是现实，而是突然的自省。事实上，他的极乐和至痛都发生在自己的内心。爱恋也好，苦痛也罢，自始至终都是内在的、不为人知的，甚至可以说是想象性的。让他受折磨的并不是外部的境遇，而是一直梦着的他忽然发现自己其实是在做梦。单单这种醒来就已经让他惊愕得不得了了。刚二十出头的乔伊斯在这个故事上拿捏得如此到位，竟能把感情刻画得这么细腻、这么有质感！真是令人钦佩讶异。《阿拉比》可以称得上是乔伊斯短篇小说集《都柏林人》中最好的作品之一。我一直认为，小说家在短篇中才见功力。读这个集子，总觉清气逼人，让人想起初冬有太阳的早晨，路两旁草叶上的白霜。生命旋归宁静，隐隐约约的忧伤像矮房子上方停得安安稳稳的雾。他笔下的人物好像都在出神，几乎有点像睡着了一样，每个人都很安耽，于是灵魂的些微搅动皆成波澜。诗人的美德是节制。成功的写作都有着一种看似不经意的自控力。《都柏林人》都像是小酒馆里听来的故事，他给它们罩上了一层昏黄的光晕。除了少数几篇（如《无独有偶》、《母亲》）略有些闹热，叙述基本上都是不动声色的，又每每于结尾处有惊人的扭转，让你在漫不经心中魂悸魄动。即使是这种猝不及防的天启式的灵光乍现（乔伊斯自己称作“epiphany”）也并不浓烈，照样是安安静静的。这样写小说真可谓炉火纯青，直入化境。我甚至不想分析他的技法，因为它们总是与叙述融为一体，隐秘得几近让你感觉不到。至于《都柏林人》的主题，众口一词，都说是揭露都柏林人的麻痹（出于乔伊斯1906年5月5日致葛兰特•理查兹的信中提及的“moral paralysis”）。这就像鲁迅揭露国民劣根性一样几乎成为定式。于是，评论铺天盖地地认为这部短篇小说集反映的就是都柏林人的冷漠僵化、麻木无知、腐败怯懦、虚伪狡诈、市侩乏味、阴沉无趣、精神空虚……似乎天底下所有的缺点都被都柏林人拣了去。我倒觉得这种评论未免有点太道德感了，忽视了其他声音。（这种“道德感”是简单的，它用的语言是仿佛事不关己似的、贴标签式的评断。）这些定论将先入为主的意见强加于读者，无意中给作品判了死刑。不客气地说，大伙都自觉不自觉地被乔伊斯给误导了。他真的写的是都柏林吗？现实世界实际上一无是处，如果缺失了心灵的参与。他教给大家的是这样一种对生活的审视，而这种审视是全人类的。如果说他是“用一种处心积虑的卑琐的文体来描写” ，那他也是要把人们从卑琐之中解救出来。在他那里，心灵和现实是不协和的，你走你的，我走我的。内心世界丰富而深邃，洞穴似的，人生就此无限展开。压根没什么好与坏，只要你以一颗赤子之心坦诚面对就是了。读乔伊斯的《都柏林人》，不由得感叹，历史无不是重复。相隔一个世纪了，这本小书读上去还是那么贴近，总有某种境遇让人感到似曾相识。可以说，我们的现实生活跟书中的小人物没有丝毫隔阂，有时甚至就是他们的翻版。这种随处可得的熟悉感能给我们莫大的慰藉。因为文学说到底是一种沟通，是穿越千山万水，说一声“我懂”。《姐妹们》、《偶遇》、《阿拉比》写认认真真的小孩子，世界向他们张开。《伊芙琳》写面临抉择时的极度紧张。结尾处大开大合，空空茫茫的未知，到底何去何从？人仿若是命运的惊涛骇浪中一棵无依的芦苇，被某种不可控的非理性的东西席卷裹挟。而《车赛以后》那一句“天亮了！” 简直就像上帝的审判，停不下来的、让人精疲力竭的舞鞋应声而断。《无独有偶》中抄合同的小职员的生存状态让人想起马克思所说的“人的异化”。卡夫卡笔下也有类似的境况，但笔触截然不同，更逆来顺受些。《悲痛的往事》极为打动我，那个对自己无比严苛的人被“人生的盛宴” 排斥在外，唯有永世的孤独。《死者》从啰啰嗦嗦的舞会写起，开始险些看不下去。直读到文末，所有的细节汇成涨落不一的潮水，那么撼人心魄，下雨的夜晚那个站在花园里为爱而死的年轻人，仿佛我也瞧见了。小说结尾，“整个爱尔兰都在下雪。” 那么静谧，那么博大，那么悲悯……乔伊斯很坏，咕咕哝哝的，把什么都说得朦朦胧胧，让你自己去探寻。在我看来，文学最大的乐趣就在于发现，有些主题太过显明的篇什（如《圣恩》、《纪念日，在委员会办公室》）反而算不上上乘之作。爱尔兰的国都在乔伊斯笔下就像个贫瘠萧索、了无生趣的小镇，无所事事的少年游来荡去。都柏林真的就那么不可救药吗？这个叛离故土的浪子当时让家乡人伤透了心。然而有趣的是，现在乔伊斯这个名字却几乎成为爱尔兰的代言，每年6月16日向他致敬的“布鲁姆日”（Bloomsday，出自乔伊斯代表作《尤利西斯》）也成了都柏林的狂欢盛会，其隆重程度丝毫不亚于国庆日。乔伊斯对都柏林是有感情的，所以他才会那么厌恶它。所谓“爱之深，责之切”嘛。事实上，没有人能摆脱故乡的影子，无论走多远。故乡就像胎记一样，因不可抹去而痛恨。乔伊斯眼里有泪光，也有怀旧的伤感，可他还是用《都柏林人》和他的祖国说了再见。 那个诗人船长康拉德的出发是驶向神秘之域，是穿越时空之旅。而乔伊斯的出发只是离开。去哪？不知道，也不在乎。外面就好，要去闯荡。就像《偶遇》中对远方的渴望——“可是我想，一直呆在家里不可能有真正冒险的经历，非到国外去不行。” 还有《一朵浮云》里小钱德勒的抱怨：“毫无疑问，要想发迹，必须远走高飞。在都柏林，你什么也干不成。” 以及《死者》中加布里埃尔脱口而出的“我的祖国已经让我厌烦了，厌烦了！” 如果说康拉德的出发是生机勃勃的，那么乔伊斯的出发只能说是茫然无措的。《一朵浮云》中，小钱德勒梦想着从伦敦凯旋的老朋友能给他一个出口，却惊讶地发现那不过是个呛人的烟囱。原来外面也是茫然，也是虚空。康拉德可以兴冲冲地奔向另一个世界，而在乔伊斯这里，世界只有一个呀。剧作家易卜生强调在日常生活中理想的坚持，而乔伊斯却说，若要葆有理想，必须离开世俗熏染的日常。天主教，财富，政治，宴会，家庭，爱情，婚姻，独身……他轻轻否决了这一切。因为人一旦投入生活的洪流，会立马被淹没。文学是不可复原的，或者说，文学不可通过非文学的途径复原。我们大可以就《都柏林人》的情节梗概侃侃而谈，说上几百遍，然而它的魅力绝不局限于那个干巴巴的故事上。从某种意义上讲，任何解读都是一种误读，因为失去了它原始的新鲜和生命。洋洋洒洒，给乔伊斯的《都柏林人》写了一首长长的抒情诗，可还是心生惶恐，觉得写得再长，也只不过一种以偏概全的抽离和遮蔽。

我只来谈《阿拉比》

和许多准备阅读乔伊斯著名短篇小说集《都柏林人》[Dubliners] 的人一样，我的首选是《阿拉比》(Araby)。摄氏33度闷热的晨，在冷气充溢的KFC的角落，一口气读完了《阿拉比》原版。很自然地就想说点什么。小说鉴赏一般都可以从叙事视角、背景氛围、情节结构、人物塑造以及主题思想等多方面展开，这属于专业文学批评的范畴。学术是很严肃的事情，当然这也带来一个弊端，过分脱离群众。脑袋里带有太多的这个主题，那个主义对普通欣赏者来说会令他们患得患失，从而被剥夺很多感性的体验。因此，只要不是学术分析，我们为什么不在一个阳光的午后，呷一杯咖啡，随性所致地重拾纯粹的阅读乐趣呢？而《阿拉比》必定会轻展双翼带你重回那个纯真年代…… 简单地说，《阿拉比》描写的是一个男孩青春期的爱情幻想曲，他经历了守候、希望到绝望的过程。看上去挺美，最终却是海市蜃楼。出于青春期的躁动，男孩迷上了曼根的姐姐，喜欢打量着她，Her dress swung as she moved her body and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side. 那个舞动的精灵！想起在川外读书的时候领教了重庆一个俗语，打望。嘿嘿，外籍交流学生什么四川话都不会，唯独对这个情有独钟。打望到了一个什么程度呢？特别是在吃中午饭的时候，男生寝室由于正对去食堂的必经之路，几乎所有男舍都有"自愿者"站在阳台上，彼此会心地微笑，看女生飘过的身影；更有甚者，大声地喊出某女生的芳名，女生当然不会回应，不过我知道她们心里其实很受用，还有人拿出了高倍望远镜! 打望显然太初级了。对于男孩来说，When she came out…my heart leaped. I kept her brown figure always in my eye. …But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires. …Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance. … My eyes were often full of tears (I couldn’t tell why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom. 这种感觉叫"漫山遍野"，everytime and everywhere. 高中时，不可救药地喜欢上了一个外班的女孩。为了接近她，又怕她知道，于是故意将自行车停在她的旁边，放学回家便能自然而然地打一个照面。为了在高三的最后一个元旦节送出对她的祝福(也可以说是变相的表白)，我竟然"策划"了两周之久！不过计划还是失败了，停车棚人太多了，终于鼓起全部的勇气尾随她和同学晚自习回家，那路好长，那时间仿佛凝固，那颗心快要跳出来了。在只剩她一个人拐进小巷时，我骑车超过，轻呼她的名字，她回眸的一霎那，这个世界已经停止转动，而我竟然忘掉了背得滚瓜烂熟的心声，紧张地连简单的Happy New Year都不会了! 此后的第十天，十二月二十八日，我收到了她送给我的贺年卡，或许你不相信，一个人的时候我激动得都快哭了，哦，青春！而男孩说道，All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that i was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring,"O, love!O love!" 少年的爱慕虽然幼稚，但内心深处编织起一个充满理想和激情的梦，可以稀释浑浊的现实世界，抵御其对人的侵蚀作用，感官与外界隔绝，只有护身符一样的梦才能突破重围。这爱慕的力量似乎演变成了一股强大的宗教般的信念，释放出一种无坚不摧的心理能量。贝鲁奇主演的《西西里的美丽传说》在完美地诠释这种力量。 男孩终于和曼根姐姐说上了话，女孩告诉他将有一个阿拉比集市，男孩答应去集市给她稍件儿礼物。周六晚上，男孩终于等到健忘的叔父回到家才拿到一点钱乘火车去阿拉比集市。然而奇怪的是，这辆"专列"却空无一人。到了阿拉比，集市已临近打烊，男孩无聊、沮丧地呆了一会儿，I heard a voice call from one end of the gallery that the light was out. The upper part of the hall was now completely dark. Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eys burned with anguish and anger. 是梦就总有清醒的时候，本以为可圆梦的阿拉比，现实却将男孩从云端扯下来。他面前的阿拉比是昏暗的大厅，媚俗的挂灯，门卫般的水缸，听到的是硬币掉落在盘子里的声响，看到的是女售货员与男青年的调情景象。此前他当然没有《围城》中方鸿渐似的担心：写好信发出(给唐晓芙)，他总担心这信像火箭，到落地时，火已熄灭了，对方收到的只是一段枯炭。然而阿拉比给他带来的就是"一段枯炭"。《圣经》当中说 All is vanity. 那么现实中很多东西都是短暂的，人们必将"从尘土中来到尘土中去。"只有精神世界才具有永恒的意义和价值，小说结尾的男孩面对"黑暗"，迷失了精神指引的方向。从这个层面上讲，信仰价值存在着，但是它并不容易被捕捉到。理想破灭必然有很多客观的因素，然而主观上被称之为puppy love 的年少时爱慕被男孩误当作理想的，恒久的，宗教般的信念。其实人短暂的一生，我们无时无刻不在理想与现实中挣扎，即使在物欲横流的今天，人们也不会放弃精神指向犹如"紫萝花瞬息万变" 的苍穹，从失乐园到复乐园。最后还想说的是，初见"意识流"端倪的《都柏林人》让我们看到了一代文学宗师乔伊斯的无穷风采，其语言的运用完全可以用惊艳来形容。在1998年美国兰登书屋评选的20世纪100部最佳小说中，乔伊斯三部作品入围，而名动天下的《尤利西斯》更是独占鳌头。因此本博强烈建议大家阅读乔伊斯的原著，体会语言的原汁原味。这里提供《都柏林人》的英文版下载。