小说与文学2021thewalrus.ca
威廉·吉布森是文学天才
William Gibson is a literary genius
导读
这篇《为什么威廉·吉布森是文学天才》探讨吉布森的文字为何独特:他描写感官体验(如时差感)精确到让人仿佛亲身经历艺术,并把品牌名与商业语汇有意地渗入叙述声音。对写作者来说,这是一个关于"句子层面功夫"与"用消费世界的语言写消费世界"的案例。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
把抽象的身体感受(如时差、疲惫)铺陈一整页去写,用具体细节让读者"体验"而非"知道"。
- 02
让每个词都为目标服务,而不是留给读者任意解读——密度比留白更能成就风格。
- 03
品牌名和商业语汇可以进入叙述声音,但必须是有意为之的世界观渗透,而非无意识的堆砌。
- 04
开篇第一句值得反复打磨:一句好比喻("天空是电视机调至死频道的颜色")就能抓住读者。
- 05
留出无所事事、发呆的时刻,观察力往往来自不带相机、不赶产出的漫游。
HN 评论精选
不带相机、允许自己发呆,是观察力与素材的来源。
这大概是我最喜欢的吉布森作品。十八年来每次旅行它都回响在我脑中:"第二天,离家还不算远,但开始意识到边旅行边写博客、泡网吧大概不是更新日志的好办法。不过反过来想,我不带相机旅行,或许因此能看到更多东西。在书展巡游这种奇特的移动鱼缸里,我唯一会用笔记本电脑的时间,正是我独自坐着发呆的时间。我怀疑那些时刻有某种关键作用。"这是他写《模式识别》巡游期间发在博客上的。他的博客仍是我读过最"吉布森"的东西,强烈推荐。
ethbr0查看英文原文
Perhaps my favorite piece of Gibson. It's echoed with me every time I travel for... 18 years now? "Tuesday, February 04, 2003 OUT AND ABOUT, WITHOUT A LAPTOP Day two, still not very far from home but starting to see that blogging on the fly and in internet cafes is probably not the best way to keep this updated. Though on the other hand I suspect I get to see more things because I don't travel with a camera. In the peculiar mobile fishbowl of a book tour, the only time I'd have to use a laptop would be the time I have to sit alone, staring blankly into space. I suspect that those moments serve some vital function." Written on his blog [0] while he was touring for Pattern Recognition(?). His blog is still the most Gibson thing I've read, and I cannot recommend it enough. Edit: Because I'd be doing a disservice if I didn't mention it. If you're a Gibson fan, read "New Rose Hotel" [1] and watch the film [2]. [0] http://williamgibsonblog.blogspot.com/2003/02/?m=1 [1] http://www.lib.ru/GIBSON/hotel.txt [2] https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0133122/
句子可以自成艺术,每个词都为整体服务而非任人解读。
我喜欢读吉布森,他的文笔极出色。在《模式识别》里,他用了一页半的篇幅描写时差感,写得如此精彩,让你觉得自己刚刚经历了一件艺术品。可惜我觉得他的情节和故事总是撑不住。我会永远把他当作艺术家,值得细品。我一直觉得这比所谓"纯文学"更高级:每个字都是加进整体的一小块,而不是留给读者随意解读。
UI_at_80x24查看英文原文
I love reading Gibson. His prose is brilliant. In his book "Pattern Recognition" he spends the first page and half describing jet-lag in such brilliant manner that you feel like you just experienced art. Unfortunately I feel his plot/stories never seem to hold up. I will always consider him an artist. Something to savor. I've always felt that it was superior to true 'literature' in that each word is a morsel that adds to the whole and not up to the interpretation of the reader.
品牌与商业腔调可以是刻意营造的叙述声音,关键在自觉。
我觉得吉布森很有趣,但读他的小说时常有种置身产品展厅的感觉。他异常频繁地提到品牌名,一种商业腔调不断渗进他的文笔。我记得某本小说(忘了哪本)写到某人床单的"高支数"。我从没想过这词会出现在产品说明之外。我不认为他书里真有什么植入广告,但读起来像有。(读回复后补充:我同意所有回复,我理解他所召唤的那个痴迷品牌的世界;但我可能低估了他,没体会到他是如何有意让这个宇宙的某些面向感染作者的声音。下次读他的书我会记着这点。我也确实喜欢他详细写某些我没听说过的东西时带来的沉浸感,比如迈巴赫汽车。)
leephillips查看英文原文
I find Gibson entertaining, but I often get the feeling, reading his novels, that I’m in a product showroom. He mentions brand names strangely often, and a commercial style of speech is constantly leaking into his prose. I remember a description (I don’t remember which novel) mentioning the “high thread count” of the sheets on someone’s bed. I never expected to see that phrase outside of a product description. I doubt that there’s actual product placement in his books, but it feels like it. EDIT after reading replies: I agree with all the replies. I understood the brand-obsessed nature of the world he’s invoking. I may, however, have underestimated him, and not appreciated how he deliberately allows aspects of this universe to infect the authorial voice. Next time I read one of his books I’ll keep this in mind. I also sometimes enjoy the immersion into particular products, when Gibson goes into details about something I’d never heard of, such as Maybach automobiles.
一个惊艳的开篇比喻足以锁定读者。
"港口上方的天空是电视机调至死频道的颜色。"写作没有比这更好的了。从这一句起,我过去是、将来也永远是吉布森的粉丝。不过他后期的作品没那么惊艳了,我觉得。
mattowen_uk查看英文原文
"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." Writing doesn't get any better than this. From this line onwards I was and always will be a Gibson fan. His latter works are less impressive though, I think.
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