杜然的blog——i'm blinded by blackness

这两天读英国作家Ian McEwan2007年的新作《On Chesil Beach》。

知道Ian McEwan是在两年前，当时他刚出版了小说《Saturday》。朋友说，那会儿好多伦敦人就在小说中出现的那些地方读这本书。后来，碰见一本Ian McEwan的作品就买一本，竟也搜集得大概齐。英国文坛进入2000年之后，风头最劲、最有实力的作家，恐怕就是Ian McEwan。今年好莱坞的热门电影《赎罪》(Atonement)就是根据他的同名小说改编的。

极喜欢《On Chesil Beach》开头第一句话：

They were young, educated, and both virgins on this, their wedding night, and they lived in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible.

这个开头，在我看来，绝对可以和纳博科夫的《洛丽塔》的开头以及狄更斯《双城记》的开头相提并论。

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.

洛丽塔，我的生命之光，我欲念之火，我的罪恶，我的灵魂。洛－丽－塔：舌尖向上，分三步，从上颚往下轻轻落在牙齿上。洛。丽。塔。

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it ws the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.

这是一个最好的时代，这是一个最坏的时代；这是一个智慧的年代，这是一个愚蠢的年代；这是一个光明的季节，这是一个黑暗的季节；这是希望之春，这是失望之冬；人们面前应有尽有，人们面前一无所有；人们正踏上天堂之路，人们正走向地狱之门。

说到英国文坛，突然想起哈佛大学文学理论家哈罗德·布鲁姆说的一个八卦，他说斯蒂芬·金在反文学的《纽约时报周日书评》上发表了一篇关于《哈利·波特》的评论，声称学着去读《哈利·波特》会使你进而要去读斯蒂芬·金的小说。关于大言不惭，再也没有比这个更生动的例子了。

更正：哈罗德·布鲁姆现在是耶鲁大学教授，曾经任教哈佛大学。