介绍:
In 1927, Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway published his second collection of short stories, Men Without Women. Representing some of the most compelling pieces in Hemingway's early writing, the volume investigates the uneasy relationship between the two genders, which, to some extent, inspired Haruki Murakami's namesake novella almost ninety years later.
However, compared with Hemingway's work embracing grand themes, such as war, friendship and death, Murakami's latest collection solely focuses on the degradation of men who are alienated and abandoned by women.
Commonly regarded as the most renowned Chinese translator of Murakami's works, Lin Shaohua stresses that the tales in "Men Without Women" are not your typical cheesy love stories.
"At least this collection isn't about the normal love affairs between men and women. According to Murakami, he wanted to portray the image and mood of men who are going to or have already lost the women in their life. The series of short stories in this work all faintly follow the same motif. "
From the stage actor Kafuku who tells the young female driver he hires, the affairs of his deceased wife, to the confirmed bachelor Watarai, who falls in love with a married woman and is betrayed, each story covers the wandering and estrangement of a man without woman in a sober yet heart gripping manner. Compared with Murakami's earlier short stories that emphasize on the frustration, loss and anxiety amongst young people, most of the protagonists in his latest work are solitary middle-aged men suffering from a bad relationship while trying to maintain their dignity and self-respect.
However, according to Lin, who has translated 41 volumes of Murakami's works into Chinese, the most striking feature of this book lays in its theme and tone.
"The theme of Murakami's works is mostly about solitude. But the solitude in his previous works is something readers could play with, enjoy or be spiritually enhanced, which is illustrated in a sort of lukewarm and warm-toned manner. But the solitude in this novel is something you cannot play around, since it is cold and cool-colored."
Compared with Murakami's previous fictions, in which main characters always remain positive while losing something or someone important, in the face of great lost, grief or pain, the men in "Men Without Women" seem to do nothing but letting go.
The unusual passive attitude may shock loyal fans. But Haruki Murakami is nothing but faithful to his unique literary style.
Here is Lin Shaohua again.
"His style is still modest, restrained, and unruffled as usual. If I put it in an extravagant way, I would say that Murakami's writing style is just like a fine, delicate porcelain vase. The inner emotions and passion is carried out by plain and gentle words. "
That probably explains why Lin has spent more than twenty years to translate Murakami's works and his own name has become synonymous with Haruki Murakami's in China. Lin says although he has already translated the works of several Japanese literary heavyweights, no one could strike such an emotional chord like Murakami.
"There is a gap between the characteristics of Murakami literature and Japanese nationality. Since the writer has been deeply influenced by European and American literature, his diction shows certain traces of the English language, which is neither authentic Japanese nor pure English. His depiction of details also grasp the spirit of the time in this post-modern society, which is the absurdity and uncertainty of our daily life. "
But among all those tedium, alienation and frustration, flickers of hope still spring up.
Lin Shaohua says that's exactly why Murakami has become one of the most popular foreign writers in China and a cultural cult was created after the publication of the nostalgic fiction "Norwegian Wood".
"I started to translate Murakami's fictions in the 1980s. Though at that time China had already opened up to the outside world for nearly ten years, we still didn't know how to encourage and respect individuality. So without any question, the colorful inner world portrayed in Murakami's novels, the modern spirit that respects individual diversity had enlightened the Chinese society at that time. With the increasing readership, a new social trend has been born. "
Living a quiet and peaceful life, the world-renowned writer stated the responsibility of being a novelist.
"Creating dreams is the job of novelists. But more importantly, a novelist should share his dream with his readers. There is no way to be a novelist if you don't know how to share."
The Chinese version of "Men Without Women" will be published in March 2015.
For Studio Plus, this is Zhang Wan.
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