夕陽影裏一歸舟
行而知天下，攝而錄我知，文而記我得，閱書閱人，皆為快事
露西深愛的丈夫去世了，悲傷難拔，但她用了240頁來講述她和前夫的故事。我在新年的拐角，一個冬天的夜裏，找到了久違的震撼。
“Strout is Munro No. 2!” 第二天我迫不及待地把我的新發現告訴好友。
說起門羅，當初讀書群掰門羅，十來位書友、幾小時都掰不透幾十頁。樸素的故事，卻藏著多少人世的悲歡和掙紮。不用心，便會讀而未讀。門羅的作品，成為我和許多讀者仰望的文學天花板。可惜，這位諾獎得主不再有新作，艾麗絲· 門羅已91高齡。其實早在2016年我就遇上伊麗莎白 · 斯特勞特（Elizabeth Strout），讀完My Name is Lucy Barton還寫了篇讀書筆記。那時我讀了個半熟。7年後，當我再遇斯特勞特，讀者和作家都更趨成熟。掩卷時，圓枘合圓鑿——似乎終於找到一位在我心裏可以替代門羅的作家。
My Name is Lucy Barton 是這個係列第一本，講露西。Oh William！為第三本，講威廉。威廉是露西的第一任丈夫。My Name is Lucy Barton 裏的露西時值青年，已和威廉在殿堂裏，卻沒講他倆的故事，母親和童年是主線。第三本裏的露西已老，她和威廉已不在同一個婚姻裏。兩書相似亦相襯, 都在大都市紐約。露西在喪偶的哀痛裏，接到威廉的電話說自己做夢，反複夢見去世的母親看著他。不是惡夢，但讓威廉輾轉難眠。露西也自幼失眠，因為童年的極度平困、家暴和父母冷漠。這邊是露西接受這個幾乎與生俱來的缺失，那邊有著小他21歲美妻的威廉向喪偶的露西拐彎抹角地傾述失眠之苦，作為讀者的你，有沒有刷刷記幾筆？後麵的故事，一樁接一樁，借老年露西之口，零而碎之，變成了雞毛一般的絮叨。其實普通人的生活，有幾多盛大壯闊？在後麵的波瀾裏，威廉不再提當初鄭重傾述的失眠，露西詢問之下，才說：“哦，消失了。” 每次他們在餐館裏吃飯，威廉總是先行離去，窗戶裏望著威廉離開的身影，露西痛徹心扉。“痛徹心扉”是我加的，斯特勞特寫這個細節，就是想告訴讀者威廉的不經意，日積月累給露西的傷害。何來“微不足道”呢？微中管窺，見事見人。英文也有一個類似說法：”The devil is in the details.” 威廉和露西見麵或者打電話時的沉默、遲疑、或者掛機的時機，甚至打不打電話，何時打，背後均是心潮湧動。都市裏的麻雀飛飛揚揚，落在一起的就那麽幾隻。他們的嘰喳，入誰耳？所以我說，不懂冷暖人情，便讀不懂斯特勞特。
斯特勞特是門羅第二，但又不同於門羅。門羅筆下入微，又吝嗇 ——每一情節、每個章句都有含義，含而不發，善用符號象征。斯特勞特不輸門羅，看似無意的一個回憶，她不點破，隻等有心讀者去意會。威廉吃個蛤蜊吃那麽久，全不顧孩子妻子等他，甚至把三人轟出門外。為什麽？因為那個蛤蜊就是威廉本人，這是我的理解。斯特勞特把這些細節撒得到處都是，就等讀者拾起，串起來拚成圖。她和門羅的另一個同處，就是用詞簡單，沒有華麗，也沒有犄角旮旯偏詞，令人想起海明威。這本書就像是露西在說話，稀稀拉拉，東一榔頭，西一錘子，突然一下砸中心窩。那天我夜半獨坐，越來越黑，露西和威廉兩人越墜越遠，之後，忽就暖了。斯特勞特的書，時常有一種神秘的力量：越讀，知道得越多，你明白得越少。走出迷宮的那一刻，你才會豁然開朗。
門羅從不點破，斯特勞特時有點破，甚至一而再，令我不耐其煩。這是兩位女作家的最大不同。威廉的褲子短幾寸，露出藍色襪子，書裏提到三遍。門羅不怎麽用對話，斯特勞特卻很擅長對話，三言兩語，就道出親疏或情愫。不信你自己試試，尤其和關係尷尬的人，每一句話都是兩人關係的鏡子。優秀文學家，就是人情世故的淩厲觀察者，他們自己必須有敏感纖細的知覺，才能體會，再付諸筆端。斯特勞特將主人翁們內心最深處的想法和細微的情感，那些人們經常隱去或者忽略的細節，呈現到讀者跟前，讓我時常忘記在讀小說。門羅的書是悲觀的，斯特勞特的書是樂觀的 —— 人神秘難解，盡管如此，我們還在愛，我們愛得執著不完美!
此書表麵講威廉，實則主角還是露西，露西不過借威廉反觀己心。露西還會再來，我已經等不及讀第四本書。這個係列你可以不連貫讀，甚至隻讀一本，把露西當成反複出現的人物而已，就跟巴爾紮克、左拉和納博科夫寫的書一樣，人物相關，卻又自成一體。在不同的人眼裏，不同的時期，我們又何嚐是同一個人？
就寫這麽多吧，難以言傳，等你同讀。
止筆於2023年1月5日， 1月16日二稿 盧恩湖懶人齋
附錄：
以下是我擬的幾個讀書問答，幫助理解和同讀之間探討。我的回答僅限我的理解，歡迎不同解讀：
1. 封麵上2隻鳥代表誰？Who are the two birds on the telephone wire, found on a cover image?
- Simple, Lucy and David. It was stated explicitly at 40% in the book. But is it really so? David died in the beginning of the book, no, before the book. William, Lucy’s second husband, had been in constant talk with Lucy. In a big city like New York, two lonely birds accompany each other, with slight distance. The birds are no doubt Lucy and William.
2. 書的敘述順序是什麽？喜歡嗎？In what order is the book narrated? Do you like it?
- Chronically, for the most part, occasionally flash back. Somehow the story sounds chaotic, random, in no particular logic. Of course, Strout did it with intension. I have no problem with the order, or no order. It implies an old woman’s thoughts and memory, soft, fond and loving. However, this style also diminishes the power of the story. The impact on reader’s emotion is indeed altered unfavorably, as some reviews indicate. A few times I found myself annoyed by the mumbling. It costs the book the Booker's Prize, I believe.
3. 描述下露西和凱瑟琳，可以把兩人進行比較。How do you describe Lucy and Catherine? Compare the two if you like.
- On the surface, they had a perfect relationship: no fights, kind to each other, caring especially from Catherine to Lucy like a mother, indulging with luxury gifts from the older in-law… the more I recall, the less I come up with acts from Lucy to Catherine. Lucy did say she loved Catherine, but give me the evidence! Sometimes the caring from Catherine was intimidating – placing her hands on Lucy’s arm and introducing to guests that Lucy came from nothing, it is not considered nice by any standards. Dragging the couple to vacation trips, while she inserted herself beside them playing the host, was frightening to Lucy. Lucy lost sleep, and even called her long-lost parents from a pay phone to ask what to do. Saying “I missed my parents” in a vacation speaks a lot! Catherine’s last words about Lucy at the death bed is the true state of her mind. We can’t judge a relationship by the look.
- Both of them came from extreme poverty, and both of them ended up in the middle class. The difference is Catherine covered her past from everyone but volunteered Lucy’s to everyone else. Catherine’s first marriage, well, I hardly regard it a marriage, it’s her stepping stone to leave the poverty behind. Young as Catherine in 18, she chose that way and achieved her goal. Almost immediately, she looked for her next goal – love. Lucy, on the other hand, left poverty behind by winning a full scholarship and having a higher education. She met her first husband in the college, which is Catherine’s son, and married him. My heart goes to both girls, for their suffering and pains. I guess Catherine was a bit jealous of Lucy, because of Lucy’s different path, because Lucy found love in the both marriages, because Catherine led a widower life when her son was very young. In a way, Catherine is stronger, and she showed her sunshine to others all time. I admire her, Lucy the same. The image of the tangerine chair is Lucy’s manifest of her thought of Catherine.
- Who is more hypocritical? I can’t tell. Catherine threw a golf club set as a birthday gift while she had the full knowledge that golfing “was too much for her”, meaning Lucy loathed it -- Catherine made her to play golf once. Why did Catherine ask Lucy for a birthday wish list then disregarded it and bought what she herself liked? A way to embarrass Lucy, maybe. Or a way to tell Lucy that a gift certificate to a bookstore is too cheap. On a different note, Catherine’s living room was impressive to Lucy, while Lucy herself lived in a modest apartment. Being impressed is a kind of admiration, right? Lucy dropped here and there, about her feeling uncomfortable with luxury and extravagance. A living room with a huge tangerine couch is not a modest living room, agreed? Then why impressed? Throughout the book, Lucy met her adult daughters regularly in Broomingdale's, and ate or drank there. Why Broomingdale's? Because they could afford?
- Both characters are perfect examples of the author Strout who tried to tell readers that we all are mysteries and can be contradictory ourselves.
4. 他們緬因之行的意義是什麽？說一件旅途中發生的要緊事情。What's the significance of their trip to Maine? Name one thing happened in the trip that was important.
- Heart of the book, a journey of reflecting their lifetime relationship. It allows us access deep into Lucy and William.
- Everything happened in the trip was important. Their breakfast in a restaurant changed the course of their journey. Lucy was panic, claiming the unfamiliarness of the surroundings she noticed frightened her. William said it was because the bleak Maine reminded her of her unhappy childhood. I say it was because of William’s serious look next to Lucy in a constrained space such as a car. Long drive and unsmiling, no words no look cast her way…this frightened Lucy. It reminded her of the marriage with William. William was remote and unapproachable many times, as accused by William’s third wife who also left him. William could be warm and caring, however the trip started without it. William begged Lucy to accompany him to the trip and he treated Lucy unjustifiably. Once Lucy floundered out what he could do, some small gestures such as holding the door and getting another pair of pants, it hit William. He realized and laughed hard. Lucy’s panic was gone instantly. Gone with it the awkwardness between them. This is the moment when their roles switched. Lucy took the lead from that point on. Small gestures matter, I tell you! If a travel companion seldom walks with you side by side, it is no small act. My advice is you two shall not travel together again.
5. 為什麽作者斯特勞特要提到露西在大學裏做講座空無一人的故事？Why does the author Strout bring up the story about Lucy's empty reading in a university?
- Lucy, in the book, had become a famous writer. She was invited to a university to do a reading. But the man who invited her and organized the meeting managed to have invited nobody else, thus resulted in nobody coming. First time and only time for Lucy. The man later apologized but didn’t explain why. It is William who deciphered the cause: jealousy. The empty room was meant to be a humiliation. Lucy was not sure if it was true. What is true is this anecdote helps to propel the story -- Lucy later mentioned a famous scientist who was in the same field with William. William turned to be distant and grumpy toward Lucy after this scientist was brought up in their conversation. She finally came to the realization that William was jealous of that man, thus resentful of her. They had a fight, reconciled later. It is how their relationship went -- up and down. That they both were flawed, but the feeling was there, is what the author tries to tell us.
6. 詳述書中讓你產生共鳴的一個細節或一句話。Elaborate one detail or sentence in the book that resonates with you.
- “…even as I stood before all those people and read and answered questions, I still felt oddly –but very truly—invisible.” I believe this is Strout talking, not Lucy. As successful and famous as she, Strout feels alone. This resonates with me because I often felt same way, in a party, in a gathering, or just two or three people chatting. Sometimes a person talks to you simply because they need to borrow ears, nothing to do with you or anybody. It is rare a person wants to reside the same space or time because of you! Forget the fame, money, or power. You …an individual with thoughts, emotion, antenna, fiber…who gives a damn? The desire to reach another individual's inner world is rare and bare.
7. 標題 Oh William! 有幾層含義？How many layers of meaning can you detect from the title Oh Williams?
- Many, throughout the book: irritated, unbelievable, loving, happy, sad. It is smart to give so many meanings to a title, but it’s also a lazy way. That’s another thing Strout is bad at.
“回國一趟，覺曉寫了60篇文章，我是沒指望短時間補完課了，嗚嗚。一定會讀完你的小說。從字裏行間，覺得覺曉有個傳奇的人生，經過多倫多時，真想去看你!”
那是2017年7月18日。一晃六年。
祝好！
文學城不少高手寫著寫著就不來了，確實和者寡，這個要賴文學城管理者，以娛樂和八卦為主，沒文學啥事了。版麵也不更新，都手機時代多少年了，版麵還是對手機使用者很不友好，這如何推廣？我一直沒有搬家，概還是因為懶，把文章搬到另一個門戶太費時間了，還得費力氣重新交朋友。你們幾位還來捧場，我就知足了：-）謝謝大家！
感謝推薦九月豆的文章！
真是曲高而和寡。現在“文學城”中象歸舟這樣能靜下心而讀書又認真做讀書筆記的網友越來越少，好些優秀博主都離開這塊人聲鼎沸吆喝喧囂“文學菜市場”。
正如歸舟結尾所述：在不同的人眼裏，不同的時期，我們又何嚐是同一個人？ 這讓我想起了一個網友在她的Elizabeth Gilbert的《Eat Pray Love》的讀書心得。
我把她的這篇讀書筆記放在你悄悄話中，希望你能喜歡。