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@bintou 2020-09-24T11:13:35.000000Z 字数 3721 阅读 1525

短评《THE CATCHER IN THE RYE》

书评


前言

我知道,许多人不喜欢《THE CATCHER IN THE RYE》。太正常了,其实《麦田里的守望者》这个标题的翻译就是让人误解。翻开整本书,全篇都是粗言秽语、絮絮叨叨、各种对现实的不满等等,整篇无非就是一个不良少年逃学记而已,Not a big deal!更何况如果译者序或出版前言中包括“本书揭露了资本主义社会腐朽的精神文明本质”等尖锐深刻的解读,读者不喜欢就太正常了。我首次读的时候也不喜欢,因为那时我很正常。

以下试图以几个未经充份论证的“事实”来说明这部作品的优越性,通过讨论来帮助大家认识这部作品。

事实1. 相关主题下的最佳作品

如果你感到疑惑,为何这部小说大名鼎鼎,得到了无数的好评,能成为经典?要说列举理由的话也许很难,但是要说一个事实的话,似乎就比较简单,而难以反驳。这么说吧,在人类的文学史中,有哪一本小说讲“青春”、“教育”能如这本那么深刻、感人、有力?浅薄如我,我真找不到在这方面可以与之匹敌的小说。故此,它自有其应有的地位。

不要拿它与《红楼梦》、《战争与和平》、《生存与命运》、《魔山》、《百年孤独》等经典去比,没有可比性。不过,即使不考虑该小说的题材、背景等因素,两大特点也会让它屹立于世界文学之林:现实感、诗意

事实2. 主人公性格特征的普遍性及特殊性

客观地说,主人公Holden当然有非常令人可喜的优点,甚至可以说极具人格魅力。尽管如此,从最肤浅的认识上看,他确实就是一个让人讨厌的小混混,其鲜明特点就是:满嘴的污言秽语,一肚子的怨气,对任何事物都表示不满。

然而,考虑整本小说的主题:青春。难道这个世界上的年轻人不都是对现实充满了不满的一个群体吗?青春期的叛逆比比皆是,何必大惊小怪。既然如此,极力渲染一下Holden的各种不满、怨气,只不过是对现实的一种艺术性表达而已啊。

也许你读到这里会站出来抗议,“我就是一个年轻人,我就没有类似Holden的那种怨气!”那我只能恭喜你,好孩子!其次,我也只能遗憾地说,你没有Holden的怨气,也就缺少了Holden的善良。善良、忧郁、悲天悯人就是Holden的性格上的特殊性。这种普遍性与特殊性共同塑造了一个血肉丰满的中学生形象。

事实3. 主人公性格特征的多样性与融合性消解了所谓的对立性

作者通过故事表达了其对青春期叛逆的态度与策略。其中这一段被广为引用:

What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.

多数读者将其解读为,“教育者应该对青春期的孩子保持一种守望者(Catcher)的态度”。但是请读者不要忘记,说这句话的人,或者说保持这种理想的人就是主人公Holden。而这个Holden在故事中就是那个“要掉下山崖”的小孩。因此,“教育者”与“被教育者”没有对立起来,“拯救者”与“被拯救者”没有对立起来,而是巧妙地融为一体。这样的融合在全书当中多次出现,实属非常巧妙的表现艺术。

主人公Holden体现出若干矛盾的性格,我称为矛盾的融合。也许大家都记得Holden满嘴喷脏话,可是大家是否记得Holden在他妹妹的学校看到“F**k you”这种脏字时的反应呢?首先他想:

It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they'd wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them--all cockeyed, naturally--what it meant, and how they'd all think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days.

然后呢?这个满嘴脏话的孩子对脏字也无法容忍,他要消灭“脏字”,他又一次成为战斗者:

But I rubbed it out anyway, finally.

之后在博物馆帮助两位逃学的小朋友参观木乃伊的那一段,Holden又发现了一个可怕的“F**k you”,他觉醒了:

That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose.

准确地说,他早在妹妹的学校就明白了:

It's hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the "Fuck you" signs in the world. It's impossible.

Holden这个需要被拯救的孩子一直在扮演拯救世界者的角色,虽然他的“战斗”总以失败告终,他无助,他知道不可能,他只是固执地选择抗争。最终他没能离家出走,说不清是因为妹妹这个天使拯救了他,还是因为他需要拯救妹妹从而拯救了自己。没有对立,只有融合。

事实4. “守望”是一种高超而又独特的教学理念

“守望”态度在全书中通过不同的场景进行了多次的阐释。除了上文给出的引文,还包括,Holden出逃的晚上在出租车上与司机关于鸭子与鱼的讨论:

"If you was a fish, Mother Nature'd take care of you, wouldn't she? Right? You don't think them fish just die when it gets to be winter, do ya?"

又比如这一段,Holden与其前任教师在晚上关于某位同学的一次对话:

I mean you can't help it sometimes. What I think is, you're supposed to leave somebody alone if he's at least being interesting and he's getting all excited about something.

还包括在游乐场中妹妹玩旋转木马时Holden的思考:

All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them.

这些对话都与“守望”的理念一致,可视为不同角度的阐释。更往大了说,这也与在中国古典中所谓的“无为之教”异曲同工。作为一名教学工作者,对此深以为然也!“无为”并非无所作为,每一位教学者都尽其所能地做自己的工作,其应有这样的觉悟:对某些事物保持不作为。在小说的最后,作者的这一段劝喻,可作为对“教育”的一个重要注解。

Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them--if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.

小结

2017年5月底重读此作品,有感而匆匆写下以上短评。二十年的从教生涯告诉我,认真地教诲学生最终就是认真地教诲自己,所谓对学生的救赎无非就是对自己对救赎。不是否认教学、教育对学生的影响,而是需要强调这种教育的“相对性”。当这种“教育”与“被教育”完美融合,那么:It's history. It's poetry.

麦田里的守望者

2017.06.04晚起草
2017.06.05晚修改

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