◇ 文|田 东

如何“挖掘”被掩埋的巨人

◇ 文|田 东

这个国庆小长假，得知今年诺贝尔文学奖颁给了日裔英国作家石黑一雄。颁奖词这样描述他的作品：石黑一雄的小说富有激情的力量，在我们与世界连为一体的幻觉下，他展现了一道深渊。这个1982年走上文坛的男人，迄今为止发表了七部长篇小说，算不上高产。其中最近的一部、2015年3月推出的《被掩埋的巨人》引发了热议。有国外媒体称它“颠覆了西方奇幻文学既定模式”。中国读者对石黑一雄的文学地位和成就向来是认同的，不过，不同于对《远山淡影》《浮世画家》《别让我走》等作品的评价，《被掩埋的巨人》招致了各种风评。

我很好奇，它到底是个好故事还是“失败之作”。有意思的是，读完后发现，这部小说带来的阅读乐趣和书名一样，被作者布下的重重迷雾所深深掩埋，在他展现的那道“深渊”里。

On October 5th, 2017, news came that Kazuo Ishiguro, a Japanese-British writer, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was described by the Swedish Academy as a writer "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world". Having started his literary career in 1982, he has published seven novels so far, and the latest one, The Buried Giant in March 2015, which was referred to as having overturned the existing pattern of Western fantasy literature, has triggered heated discussions. Despite their affections for the author and his previous works, Chinese readers have made controversial comments on The Buried Giant.

With its success doubted by some, I have read the book, only to understand the pleasure of reading it is only buried by the mist the author created in the “abyss” he uncovered.

掩埋者的精彩与失败

Achievements and Setbacks of the Author

表面上，我所看到的评价不怎么宽容：有的认为石黑一雄力图拓展写作类型和推进写作技巧的野心使得小说叙事稍显堆砌，一定程度上损失了阅读的魅力，成了“观念”的容器；有的指出，《被掩埋的巨人》或许是作者最不给力的作品，不精彩，读不下去，甚至是“石黑一雄的失败之作”。

在熬了两个夜读完小说、参考了十几篇石黑一雄的访谈和作品评论后，一个结论越来越清晰——《被掩埋的巨人》并不失败，当然也谈不上不精彩，只是被掩埋起来了，需要挖掘。

“巨人”掩埋者石黑一雄，1954年出生于日本，五六岁时随父母移民英国，是当代最受瞩目的英国小说家之一，与鲁西迪、奈保尔一起并称为“英国文坛移民三雄”。……