出版与作家生涯2021robertcaro.com编辑精选
罗伯特·卡罗与库尔特·冯内古特互访对谈（1999）
Robert Caro and Kurt Vonnegut interview each other (1999)
导读
这是 1999 年罗伯特·卡罗与库尔特·冯内古特互相采访的记录。卡罗是《权力经纪人》《林登·约翰逊时代》的作者，以近乎偏执的调查研究著称；冯内古特则是小说家。对写作者来说，这次对谈的价值在于两位风格迥异的作家如何谈写作动机、结构与真相。评论区集中在卡罗的作品本身，讨论他如何靠人物复杂性、庞大的一手材料和访谈撑起叙事。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
把人物写成既凶狠狡黠又极其能干的复合体，比写成单一反派更有说服力。
- 02
想要写出有分量的非虚构，先问自己：主人公是否留下了大量文字记录、是否交游广泛、是否还有愿意开口的知情人。
- 03
材料的丰沛来自长年累月的访谈与档案工作，写作前的调查深度决定了成稿的天花板。
- 04
舍得删：连简·雅各布斯这样的整章都能砍掉，说明结构服从整体而非局部精彩。
HN 评论精选
好传记的前提是传主留有大量档案、人脉广、且有众多愿意开口的知情人。
我刚听完《林登·约翰逊时代》的有声书，断断续续听了 14 个月。这套书不只是写一个名人，更是写一个留下海量文字记录、极其善于社交、又英年早逝的人。因此有很多人记得约翰逊，最终愿意讲出他年轻时那些不光彩的故事。仅凭这一点，它作为一部文学性或调查性的人物肖像就已足够出色；它还覆盖了 20 世纪美国的中心政治进程，那只是额外的好处。
zachrose查看英文原文
I recently finished the audiobooks for The Years of Lyndon Johnson. It was 14 months of on-and-off routine listening. The thing about these books is not only that they're about a famous person, but that they also are about a person that left a huge paper trail, was extremely social, and died young, leaving lots of people who remembered Johnson and were eventually willing to tell the unflattering stories of his youth. In this way it would stand alone as an incredible literary or investigative portrait of a person. The fact that it covers the central political developments of the United States in the 20th Century is just icing on the cake.
写作的底气来自可长期积累、可被他人复用的原始材料；连成稿被砍掉的部分都可能是宝藏。
《纽约时报》上月报道卡罗把档案捐给了纽约历史学会。他很在意这些材料能否被后续研究使用：学会主席 Mirrer 承诺快速整理、设立常设轮展、并在专门阅览区向未来学者开放，这几句“魔法般的话”打动了卡罗——他做研究时常被告知某某人的档案不可查阅。难以想象里面有多少宝藏：他那些小传每篇背后恐怕都有一本书量的访谈与研究；他曾遗憾没有关于摩西导师 Belle Moskowitz 的好书；《权力经纪人》里简·雅各布斯那一章也被砍掉了。他一生做过数千次访谈。
hypersoar查看英文原文
The New York Times had an article last month about his donation of his archives archives to the New York Historical Society: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/nyregion/robert-caro-archives.html It was very important to him that they be accessible for further research: Louise Mirrer, the president of the historical society, made a generous offer and said a few magical words that clinched the deal. At a dinner with the Caros a few nights later, she elaborated: The papers would be processed quickly, made part of a permanent, rotating Caro exhibit and be easily available to future scholars in a dedicated study area — a stipulation dear to a man who had been told too often in his research that so-and-so’s papers were unavailable. I can't begin to imagine how much treasure there is to be found in there. Each of his mini-biographies (readers will know what I'm talking about)* probably have a book each worth of interviews and research behind them. I read once that he lamented the lack of any good books on Robert Moses's mentor, Belle Moskowitz; he might posthumously bring such a work to light. He had to cut his chapter on Jane Jacobs from the Power Broker. If that didn't make it, I can only imagine what else didn't. He's conducted thousands of interviews in his lifetime. There are large swaths of the history of government in 20th-Century America that will be preserved thanks to him. * For the record, my personal favorite is Al Smith.
让人物兼具能力与阴暗面，并让读者的判断随叙事推进被不断修正，是长篇叙事的张力来源。
《权力经纪人》我读了不到一半，非常抓人。我作为纽约人（很可能就住在他建的住宅里）尤其有感触。我还没读到他彻底腐化的部分；就目前看，他凶残、狡猾、善于欺骗，却也能干得离谱。任何在委员会里空转、听惯了“这事办不成”的借口的人，大概都会被摩西那种把事情办成的能力吸引。后面这个印象会怎么被修正，值得期待。卡罗指责摩西故意压低桥梁高度以排斥公交与穷人，这一说法也受到质疑。我觉得有趣的是，这位被卡罗称为“奥尔巴尼最好的法案起草人”的人，能写出赋予自己远超投票政客预期的权力的法案。
hardwaregeek查看英文原文
I'm a little less than halfway through The Power Broker. It's a riveting read, especially as a New Yorker (quite possibly living in housing built by him!). I suppose I haven't quite gotten to the part where Moses goes full corrupt. From what I've read so far, he seemed utterly vicious, sneaky and deceptive, but also ridiculously competent. Anybody who's had to sit in committees and meetings spinning their wheels, hearing excuses on why stuff can't be done, will likely find something appealing about Moses' sheer ability to get shit done. It'll be interesting to see how that opinion gets revised as the book goes on. One area that appears to have come under attack is Caro's accusation that Moses deliberately lowered the bridge heights: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-09/robert-moses-and-his-racist-parkway-explained I found it particularly amusing how Moses—"the best bill drafter in Albany" as Caro dubs him—was able to write bills that gave him far more power than the politicians who passed them expected. Indeed one part where he referenced a niche definition of appropriation in an old 19th century bill felt almost akin to return oriented programming!
长期沉浸式阅读一位作家的全部作品，会持续塑造写作者看世界的方式。
很高兴看到卡罗的读者聚在一起，虽然人不多。我八年前读了《权力经纪人》，之后读完了他的其他所有书；它们对我世界观的影响之大，实在惊人。
omosubi查看英文原文
I love seeing the Caro fans all gathered together, however few the numbers are. I read power broker about 8 years ago and have since read all his other books and it's wild the degree to which they influence my view of the world.
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