評論
打印
Books and Arts; Book Review;Joseph Heller and his fiction;The first cut is the deepest;
文藝；書評；約瑟夫·海勒和他的小說；一刀見血；
Just One Catch: A Biography of Joseph Heller. By Tracy Daugherty.
《只有一條軍規(guī)：約瑟夫·海勒傳》；作者：特雷西·多爾蒂；
Late in life, Joseph Heller was occasionally asked why he had never written anything else as good as “Catch-22”. “Who has?” he'd reply with a self-satisfied grin. Heller was haunted by the long shadow cast by his absurdist first novel, which has sold over 10m copies since it was published in 1961. But he was also proud, glad to have elbowed his way into the literary canon despite being raised in Coney Island by a poor widow who knew more Yiddish than English. The book earned him notoriety, confidence, a dictionary entry and lots of money. Yet Heller kept writing till he died in 1999, aged 76, each time believing the scribbles on his legal pad could contain the next Great American novel. “Nothing fails like success,” exclaims King David in Heller's 1984 book, “God Knows”.
海勒晚年時偶然被問及為何沒有創(chuàng)作出比《第二十二條軍規(guī)》更優(yōu)秀的作品，“難道有人創(chuàng)作出了比它更好的作品？”他反問道，嘴角露出得意的笑容。自1961年他的第一部荒誕體小說《第二十二條軍規(guī)》問世以來，至今已賣出1000萬本，他也藉此長期籠罩在成功的光環(huán)之下。科尼島上的一位寡婦把他撫養(yǎng)成人，那位寡婦很貧窮，懂的英語還不如第緒語多；一路披荊斬棘，海勒最終踏入文學圣壇，他由衷地為自己感到自豪。這本小說的名字甚至還被收錄入字典成為專有名詞，這部小說也給他帶來了自信，榮譽還有財富。1999年，76歲的海勒辭世，他一生筆耕不輟，從未停止過寫作。他在便簽紙上龍飛鳳舞，并堅信下一部偉大的美國小說很可能誕生于此。“成功是最大的失敗”海勒1984年的作品《天曉得》中主人公金·大衛(wèi)大聲疾呼。
The 50th anniversary of “Catch-22” has prompted a flood of fresh ink, including a special edition of the wartime farce, an affecting new memoir from Erica Heller, his battle-weary daughter, and the first full biography of the man, “Just One Catch”, by Tracy Daugherty. This is not just a cynical way to cash in on a trusted brand; it is worth remembering that “Catch-22” is indeed one humdinger of a book.
在《第二十二條軍規(guī)》發(fā)行五十周年到來之際，一批于此相關(guān)的著作也新鮮出爐，例如戰(zhàn)時笑劇特別版的發(fā)行；海勒厭戰(zhàn)的女兒——艾瑞克·海勒執(zhí)筆的新回憶錄問世；還有特雷西·多爾蒂所著的、關(guān)于海勒本人的首部全傳記《只有一條軍規(guī)》的出版。這并不是乘機從備受信賴的品牌中惡意牟利，不是見機牟利，《第二十二條軍規(guī)》確實是一部非同尋常的作品，值得紀念。
With its mix of vaudeville slapstick and Kafka-like anxiety, the novel is unlike anything that came before. Heller took war as his subject, but he didn't write about backslapping brothers in arms. Rather, he wrote about an American soldier named Yossarian who knew his government was sending him to his death, but who wasn't ready to die. It was a hauntingly prescient look at the senselessness of war, released just as the country was learning how senseless it could be. And he made it funny, too.
這部小說融合了歌舞雜耍、打鬧劇及卡夫卡式的焦慮，可謂“前無古人”。海勒雖取材戰(zhàn)爭，但避免大談軍中戰(zhàn)友情。相反，書中寫了一位名叫約瑟連的美國大兵，政府派他去戰(zhàn)場送死，但情非所愿。小說頗有預(yù)見性，揭示了戰(zhàn)爭的無意義性。其出版恰逢越戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)，舉國上下都正深刻地體會戰(zhàn)爭是多么沒有益處。此外，海勒還不忘用有趣的形式把它表現(xiàn)出來。
Heller is a worthy subject, complicated and appealing. He was a difficult father, an unfaithful husband and a selfish friend. But he was charismatic and magnetic, with a wry sense of humour and sexy confidence. His ticket out of Brooklyn was first the draft—he served as a bombardier in Corsica—and then the GI Bill. He followed one degree with another, and spent a year at Oxford as a Fulbright scholar. All the while he wrote stories—derivative short ones—until he realised he needed to stop writing and read a lot more. He “wanted to be new”, in the way that Nabokov, Céline, Faulkner and Waugh were new; “not necessarily different, but new. Original.”
海勒其人值得研究，他即復雜又魅力無限。作為父親，他難以相處，作為丈夫，他不忠于妻子，作為朋友，他太過自私，但這無法阻擋他吸引大眾的目光：嘲諷式的幽默又性感自信。他離開布魯克林后，事業(yè)上的第一站就是在科西嘉島上當炮兵軍士，接著就退伍了；此后又修了兩個學位，在牛津做了一年富布萊特法案基金學者。他一直堅持寫作，還模仿他人的短篇創(chuàng)作，直到他意識到：該停下筆來，多讀點東西了。他“想另辟蹊徑”，就像納博科夫、賽琳、福克納還有沃一樣與眾不同。“不需要標新立異，但要新穎、要原創(chuàng)。”
The thrill of this biography is in the years and months leading up to Heller's breakout book, originally called “Catch-18” (but changed when Leon Uris released his “Mila 18” the same year). It took Heller nine years to stitch together some kind of story, but his book only saw the light of day with help from some brave characters: Candida Donadio, his agent, who was 24 when she saved his manuscript from the slush pile; and Robert Gottlieb, Heller's wunderkind editor who spent years whipping the book into shape.
這部傳記中最有趣的部分，是對海勒的首部大作問世后的年月的描寫。那本書原名是《第十八條軍規(guī)》，但由于同年里昂·尤里斯出版了《米勒·十八》，于是更名為《第二十二條軍規(guī)》。海勒用了九年時間才把故事拼湊完整，然而這本書得以見天日，還多虧了幾位勇者相助：肯迪達·多納迪奧，海勒的代理商，當年若不是24歲的她出手，手稿恐怕早就被丟進了稀泥管道；羅伯特·葛特利布，海勒的神童編輯，用時多年，才將此書打磨成型。
Mr Daugherty's biography is a eulogy for a time in book publishing when editors rolled up their sleeves and everyone aimed to create literature. But like Heller's own career,“Just One Catch” starts to lose steam after his second novel, “Something Happened”, which Mr Gottlieb counted as his favourite. Heller enjoyed being a public figure, making speeches and going to parties. He liked being paid well, especially the record $2m advance for his third book, “Good as Gold”, which came out in 1979.
多爾蒂先生這部傳記的出版，可以說譜寫了圖書出版業(yè)的頌歌。在這個人人都想出書立作的年代里，編輯們只好挽起袖子埋頭苦干。《只有一條軍規(guī)》從寫到海勒的第二部小說、戈特利布先生的最愛——《煩惱無窮》以后，就如同順著海勒的事業(yè)線一般——開始走下坡路了。海勒很樂意做一名公眾人物，發(fā)表演講、參加派對。他喜歡豐厚的報酬，1979年他的第三部小說《好似金玉》破紀錄的賣了兩千多萬美元。
Mr Daugherty tries to sustain interest in Heller's subsequent books, but finds it hard going. He also never quite paints a picture of the man; instead he creates Heller's shape by filling in everything around him. A novelist and the author of an acclaimed biography of Donald Barthelme, Mr Daugherty is an evocative writer and an acute literary critic. But he relies heavily on Heller's own memoir and the published observations of others. This book is rich with quotes, but few seem to have come from original interviews.
多爾蒂試著讀完海勒的其他作品，但卻始終沒能堅持下去。他沒有刻意去描寫海勒為何許人也，而是從與他相關(guān)的人事著手，反襯出一幅海勒的肖像。多爾蒂先生不但是一位小說家，還是一位能調(diào)動讀者情緒的寫手、敏銳的文學評論家，他創(chuàng)作的唐納德·巴塞爾姆的傳記頗受好評。但對于這部傳記，他多取材于海勒的自傳和他人回憶錄，所以書中的引用頗多，原訪甚少。
By the end of Heller's life, the reviews were scathing. “There comes a time when an author just can't write anymore,” gouged one critic about “Closing Time”, a controversial sequel to “Catch-22”. “‘God Knows' is junk,” complained Leon Wieseltier in the New Republic. No one could forgive Heller for still writing books when his best work was clearly behind him. But for Heller, writing was his life. He couldn't imagine how anyone survived who didn't have a novel to write.
在海勒晚年，關(guān)于他的評論文章都很苛刻。《最后的時光》是《第二十二條軍規(guī)》的續(xù)本，但飽受爭議，某批評家甚至挖苦：“作家總有黔驢技窮的時候.”里昂·維斯提耶在《新共和》上評論：“《天曉得》就是垃圾”。海勒后來的作品均不如第一部成功，不免讓人失望。但對于他來說，人生就是寫作，他也無法想象出寫不了小說，還怎么活下去。
