伊西古羅先生,你有沒有在二手書店里看到過你寫的書?
Yes. That kind of thing is difficult.
有啊。那種事情很難辦。
If they've got my book there, I think "Well, this is aninsult!
如果二手書店有我的書,我會想:“好吧,這是種侮辱!
Somebody didn't want to keep my book."
因?yàn)橛腥瞬幌肓糁业臅?/p>
But if it's not there, I feel it's an insult too.
但如果二手書店里沒有我的書,我也覺得是種侮辱。
I think, "Why aren't people exchanging my book?
我會想,為什么人們不交易我的書呢?
Why isn't it in this store?"
為什么它沒有這家書店里?
Does being a writer require a thick skin?
成為一名作家需要臉皮厚一些嗎?
Yes. For example, my wife can be very harsh.
當(dāng)然。比如說,我妻子對我很苛刻。
I began working on my latest book, The Buried Giant, in 2004, but I stopped after I showed mywife a little section.
我是在2004年開始創(chuàng)作我的最新小說《地下巨人》的,我給我妻子看了一小部分后,就停止了創(chuàng)作。
She thought it was rubbish.
因?yàn)樗X得那是一堆垃圾。
Even after you won a Booker Prize?
甚至在你獲得“布克獎(jiǎng)”后?
She is not intimidated at all, and she criticises me in exactly the same way she did when I wasfirst unpublished and I was starting.
她根本就沒有被這個(gè)獎(jiǎng)嚇到,她完全在用當(dāng)年我剛開始創(chuàng)作且沒有發(fā)表過作品時(shí)的方法批評我。
But you would never compromise on your vision?
但你絕不會在你的設(shè)想上妥協(xié)?
No. I wouldn't ever compromise on the essential, the ideas, or the themes.
當(dāng)然不會。我永遠(yuǎn)不會在本質(zhì)、思想或主題上妥協(xié)的。
This isn't really what my wife is trying to criticise me about.
我妻子其實(shí)不是想要批評我的這些東西。
It's always about execution.
她是在批評我的寫作手法。
So why did you put your book The Buried Giant aside for so long?
那么,你為什么讓你的書《地下巨人》擱置了那么久?
Apparently, you started working on it over ten years ago.
顯然你在十年前就開始寫這本書了。
I've often stopped writing the book and left it for a few years.
我常常停止寫這本書,一停就停幾年。
And by the time I come back to it, it may have changed.
等我再來寫這本書的時(shí)候,它可能就發(fā)生了改變。
Usually my imagination has moved on, and I can think of different contexts or a different way todo it.
通常是我的想象力改變了,我會想到不同的情景或有了不同的寫作手法。
What does it feel like when you finally finish a book?
你寫完了一本書的感覺是什么樣的啊?
It's funny you ask that, because I never have this moment when I feel "Ah, I've finished!"
你這么問很有趣,因?yàn)槲覐膩頉]有過“啊!我終于寫完了!”這種感覺。
I watch footballers at the end of the match, you know; the whistle goes and they've won orlost.
你看,我觀看比賽結(jié)束時(shí)的足球運(yùn)動(dòng)員;哨聲吹響后,他們不是贏了就是輸了。
Until then, they've been giving everything they have, and at that moment they know it's over.
在此之前,他們竭盡全力,但聽到哨聲后他們就知道比賽結(jié)束了。
It's funny for an author.
這對作家來說很有趣。
There's never a finishing whistle.
因?yàn)閷懽魇怯罒o止境的。
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
問題1到4是基于你剛才所聽到的那段對話。
Question 1: How would the man feel if he found his book in a second-hand bookstore?
問題1:對話中的男士如果在二手書店發(fā)現(xiàn)了他的書,他會怎么想?
Question 2: What does the man's wife think of his books?
問題2:對話中男士的妻子對他的書是什么看法?
Question 3: What does the man do when he engages in writing?
問題3:對話中的男士從事寫作時(shí)候,他會做什么?
Question 4: What does the man want to say by mentioning the football match?
問題4:對話中的男士提到足球比賽,他想借此說明什么?