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村上春树谈《企鹅日本短篇小说集》
Haruki Murakami Introduces the Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories
导读
这是村上春树为《企鹅日本短篇小说集》写的导读,在 Hacker News 上引发了读者分享日本短篇阅读经验、书单和推荐请求的讨论。对写作者来说,这场讨论值得一读的地方在于:短篇是练习“风格”的最佳体裁;不同文化中“含蓄”与“明说”的分寸会直接影响读者能否读懂你的故事。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
把短篇当成“风格练习”:同一个题材换一种叙述腔调、视角或节奏重写一遍,像芥川那样每篇都试一种写法。
- 02
先读选集,再读全集:选集能让你快速见识多位作家的写法,遇到喜欢的作者再深读他的全部作品。
- 03
“以心传心”式的含蓄依赖读者与作者共享的文化背景;如果你的读者不了解这个背景,关键信息还是要说清楚。
- 04
读者常常顺着“我喜欢的作家”寻找下一位作者,所以写推荐、书单或导读时,给出具体的作品名和理由最有用。
HN 评论精选
芥川的短篇是“风格练习”,读选集能快速见识多种写法。
说来真巧:我前几周刚读完芥川龙之介的《地狱变》。我手头还有另外两本日本作家的短篇集。我对20世纪初(以及当代,除了村上)的日本文学几乎一无所知,但逛书展时(特别推荐纽伯里图书馆那场)我会专门找外国短篇集。也得承认,我挑书有时是看书的“外形”:这本日本短篇集是旧平装本,插画很好看。我手头的几本:1)芥川龙之介短篇集,小岛孝译,桑田正和插图,1962年——芥川以《罗生门》闻名,但这10篇都极好,除了《地狱变》,还有《阿富的贞操》,这些小说堪称“风格练习”。2)谷崎润一郎《七个日本故事》,霍华德·希伯特译,1963年,《纹身》和《盲人的故事》最让我着迷。3)远藤周作《远藤五篇》,1994年。
Jun8查看英文原文
Talk about serendipity: I finished reading Ryunosuke Akutagawa's story "The Hell Screen" just a couple of weeks ago! I also have two other short story collections (see below) by Japanese authors. I have no knowledge of early 20th century (or current, except Murakami) Japanese literature; however, when I go to book sales (I particularly recommend the excellent one by Newberry Library) I look for foreign sort story collections. I also have to admit that my selections are also somewhat governed by the physical characteristics of the books: this Japanese short story collection, which was an old paperbacks, had great illustrative art. Here are the story collections that I have: 1) Akutagawa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABnosuke_Akutagawa), Japanese Short Stories, translated by Takashi Kojima, beautifully illustrated by Masakazu Kuwata, Charles Tuttle Company, 1962. Akutagawa is mostly knows as the author of Rashomon, but all 10 of these stories are excellent. I mentioned "The Hell Screen" above, also want to mention "Otomi's Virginity". These stories are exercises in style . 2) Junichiro Tanizaki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jun%27ichir%C5%8D_Tanizaki), Seven Japanese Tales, translated by Howard Hibbert, Berkley Publishing, 1963. Here, "The Tattoer" and " A Blind Man's Tale" were my favorites, really spellbinding stories. 3] Shusaku Endo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%ABsaku_End%C5%8D), Five by Endo, translated by Van Gessel, New Directions, 1994
含蓄表达依赖共享的文化默契,对不熟悉这套默契的读者要另想办法。
我有个理论:日本人的幽默感其实比西方人精致得多。比如《座头市》这类电影其实是在讽刺西方人——主角是个盲武士,却总知道别人在干什么并说出来。这本意是表现他对西方人 ultra-perceptive(极其敏锐),但我觉得它其实是个闹剧。西方人总要把话说白,因为我们不懂“以心传心”。
kuwze查看英文原文
I have a theory that Japanese sense of humor is actually a lot more sophisticated than that of the west. In particular, I think movies like Zatoichi satirize westerners. It's a movie where the main character, who is a blind samurai, is shown to constantly know what people are doing and talk about it. It is supposed to show him as being ultra-perceptive to westerners, but in reality I think it was just a farce. Westerners always have to have things said explicitly, because we lack the ability to understand ishin-denshin.
读者常从“喜欢的作家”出发寻找下一本,具体书单是作者与读者之间的桥梁。
我是村上春树的铁杆粉丝,一直很难找到其他会喜欢的日本作家。很高兴他也有类似的感受,我很期待读这些作家的故事。有人能推荐其他日本作家吗?
matt_the_bass查看英文原文
I’m a huge fan of Haruki Murakami and have been struggling to find other Japanese authors I might enjoy. I’m glad to hear he has some similar feelings. I’m looking forward to reading these other authors stories. Can anyone recommend other Japanese authors?
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