and today we’re going to talk about The Catcher in the Rye,

今天我們要討論的是《麥田守望者》。

the bestselling book never to be adapted into a film.

暢銷書從未被改編成電影。

Mr. Green, Mr. Green!

格林先生，格林先生！

What about the Quran?

那《古蘭經》呢？

Fair enough, Me from the Past,

很公平，《過去的我》。

but there’s a religious injunction there.

但那裡有一個宗教禁令。

The reason this has never been made into a movie is of course

之所以一直沒有被拍成電影，當然是由於

because Salinger and his estate won’t allow it.

因為塞林格和他的遺產不允許。

[spoilsporting FTL or Litigation as sport FTW?]

[寵辱不驚的超光速飛行還是把訴訟當作運動？]

But how this text—

但是，這段文字如何-

I mean, even most of Salinger’s covers are imageless—

我的意思是，即使是塞林格的大部分封面都是無形象的--。

has managed to remain relevant without a movie adaptation

在沒有電影改編的情況下，仍然能夠保持其相關性

in our image-saturated and image-driven culture is a very interesting question.

在我們這個影像飽和和影像驅動的文化中，這是一個非常有趣的問題。

[but not one to subject TFIOS to, if you please]

[但請不要讓TFIOS受制於人]

And so today we’re gonna take a look at the pure and unadulterated text of

所以今天我們就來看看純正的、不摻雜任何雜質的文字。

The Catcher in the Rye.

麥田裡的守望者

Now there are many ways to read a novel critically,

現在，批判性閱讀小說的方法有很多。

and next week we’ll take a very different approach:

而下週我們將採取非常不同的方法。

We’ll infuriate J.D Salinger’s ghost by reading this novel in a historical

我們將通過閱讀這部歷史小說來激怒J.D.塞林格的鬼魂。

and biographical context.

和傳記背景。

But today, let’s appease Salinger’s ghost by pretending

但今天，讓我們來安撫塞林格的鬼魂，裝作

that he as a person never existed.

他作為一個人從未存在過。

[BEST]

[最佳]

[intro music]

[介紹音樂]

[intro music]

[介紹音樂]

[intro music]

[介紹音樂]

[intro music]

[介紹音樂]

[EVER]

[永遠]

These days our artistic landscape is so deeply defined by visual narratives

如今我們的藝術格局被視覺敘事深深地定義了

on TV and in the movies that we can hardly imagine a world without images.

在電視和電影中，我們很難想象一個沒有影像的世界。

[or without HBO, ideally]

[或沒有HBO，理想情況下]

In fact, I’d argue that we have a bad habit

事實上，我認為我們有一個壞習慣。

of seeing books as sort of cheaply-made movies

把書看成是廉價的電影

where the words do nothing but create visual narratives in our heads.

在那裡，文字什麼都不做，只是在我們的腦海中創造視覺敘事。

So too often what passes for literary criticism is

所以，很多時候，文學批評的內容往往是

“I couldn’t picture that guy” or “I liked that part”

"我無法想象那個人 "或 "我喜歡那個部分"

or “This part shouldn’t have happened;”

或 "這部分不應該發生；"

that is, we’ve left language so far behind that sometimes

也就是說，我們已經把語言遠遠地甩在了後面，以至於有時候... ...

we judge quality solely based on a story’s actions.

我們只根據一個故事的行動來判斷品質。

So we can appreciate a novel that constructs its conflicts

所以，我們可以欣賞一部小說，它的衝突的構建

primarily through plot—

主要通過情節

the layered ambiguity of a fatal car accident caused

致命車禍的層層迷霧。

by a vehicle owned by Gatsby but driven by someone else, for instance.

由蓋茨比擁有的車輛，但由其他人駕駛，例如。

But in this image-drenched world, sometimes we struggle to appreciate

但在這個充滿想象力的世界裡，有時我們卻很難體會到。

and celebrate books where the quality arises not exclusively from plot

頌揚那些品質不完全來自於情節的書。

but also from the language itself. [did things just get a bit personal?]

但也從語言本身。[事情只是變得有點個人化？]

Holden Caulfield, by the way,

對了，霍爾登-考爾菲爾德。

was aware of this because he too lived in an image-driven world.

是意識到了這一點，因為他也生活在一個形象驅動的世界裡。

I mean,

我的意思是

on the very first page of the book, Holden calls his brother a prostitute

在書的第一頁，霍爾登稱他的兄弟為妓女。

for abandoning bookwriting for Hollywoodband says,

為放棄寫書去好萊塢帶說。

“If there’s one thing I hate, it’s the movies.”

"如果有一件事我討厭，那就是電影。"

[hipsters can be such haters]

[時髦的人可以是這樣的仇人]

And the novel frequently identifies itself in direct opposition to film,

而小說經常將自己的身份與電影直接對立起來。

as for instance when Holden says,

比如霍頓說：

“I don’t remember if he knocked me out or not, but I don’t think so.

"我不記得他有沒有把我打暈，但我想應該沒有。

It’s pretty hard to knock a guy out, except in the goddam movies.”

要想把一個人打倒是挺難的，除了在神馬電影裡。"

By the way, for the record,

順便說一下，為了記錄在案，

it is okay to say “Charlotte Bronte” if you are quoting the book in question.

如果你引用的是有關的書，說 "夏洛蒂-勃朗特 "是可以的。

But, now, outside of the text, I have to use “Charlotte Bronte.”

但是，現在，在文本之外，我必須使用 "夏洛特-勃朗特"。

Stan, I know we have to do it for the schools,

斯坦，我知道我們必須為學校做這件事。

but this prohibition on cursing is so Emily Bronte annoying.

但這種禁止罵人的規定太讓艾米麗-勃朗特討厭了。

[see what he did there]

[看他做了什麼]

Okay so if you’ll just allow me one biographical note here,

好吧，所以如果你能讓我在這裡寫一篇傳記的話。

Salinger once wrote in a letter,

塞林格曾在一封信中寫道。

“‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is a very novelistic novel.

"《麥田裡的守望者》是一部非常新穎的小說。

There are readymade ‘scenes’— only a fool would deny that—

有現成的 "場景"--只有傻瓜才會否認這一點--。

but, for me, the weight of the book is in the narrator’s voice,

但是，對我來說，這本書的重量是在敘述者的聲音。

the non-stop peculiarities of it,

的不間斷的奇特之處。

his personal, extremely discriminating attitude to his reader-listener.

他個人對讀者聽眾極為挑剔的態度。

He can’t legitimately be separated from his own first-person technique.”

他不能合法地與自己的第一人稱技術分開。"

Alright, but before we examine that first-person technique,

好吧，但在我們研究第一人稱技術之前。

let’s go to the image-tastic Thought Bubble.

讓我們一起去看看形象逼真的思想保麗龍。

Catcher in the Rye is the story of Holden Caulfield’s expulsion from Pencey Prep

麥田守望者》講述的是霍爾登-考菲爾德被彭西預科學校開除的故事。

and his journey back home to New York City,

以及他回紐約市的旅程。

where he bums around for a few days trying to get someone to listen to him

在那裡，他四處流浪了幾天，試圖讓別人聽他的。

and meaningfully respond to his fears about becoming an adult—

並有意義地迴應他對成為一個成年人的恐懼，

Holden has grown six inches in the past year

霍爾登在過去的一年裡長了6英寸。

and one side of his head is full of gray hair,

而他的一側腦袋上滿是白髮。

both symbols of impending, inevitable adulthood

風雨欲來風滿樓

and its accompanying adulteration of innocence.

以及隨之而來的對無辜的摻雜。

He’s so obsessed with and protective of innocence

他是那麼的執著，那麼的保護純真。

that he can’t even throw a snowball at a car because the car quote

他甚至不能向汽車扔雪球，因為汽車報價。

“looked so nice and white.”

"看起來很好，很白。"

Over and over again, Holden tries to reach out to people

霍爾登一次又一次地嘗試著去接觸人們

who might tell him that adulthood will be okay—

誰會告訴他，成年後會好起來的，

friends, old teachers, a prostitute, a nun, cab drivers--

朋友，老教師，妓女，修女，計程車司機... ...

but he can never quite find a way to ask these questions directly,

但他始終找不到直接問這些問題的方法。

and anyway, no one ever listens to him.

反正，從來沒有人聽他的。

Nothing much else happens:

沒有什麼其他的事情發生。

There are no explosions or car chases and certainly no skoodilypooping,

沒有爆炸和汽車追逐，當然也沒有skoodilypooping。

as Holden Caulfield is perhaps the first human in history

霍爾登-考爾菲爾德也許是歷史上第一個人類。

ever to pay a prostitute not to have sex with him.

曾付給妓女錢讓她不要和他發生關係。

What Holden really wants is not

霍頓真正想要的不是

sex or money or power or any of the dramatic stuff in Hollywood movies:

性或金錢或權力或任何好萊塢電影中的戲劇性的東西。

He wants to stop time.

他想讓時間停止。

As he famously says when thinking about the Natural History Museum,

正如他在思考自然歷史博物館時的名言。

“The best thing, though,

"最好的事情，不過。

in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was.”

在那座博物館裡，所有的東西總是呆在正確的地方。"

Holden wants to be a protector of innocence—

霍爾登想做一個純真的保護者--。

a catcher in the rye—

亡羊補牢

but he also wants to stay innocent himself.

但他自己也想保持清白。

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

謝謝你，思想保麗龍。

So one way this is explored is through sex.

所以，探討這個問題的一個方法就是通過性。

Holden is certainly very interested in sexuality,

霍爾登當然對性生活非常感興趣。

and he acknowledges his sexual desire,

他承認自己的性慾。

but what he knows of the adult world of sex is very scary and even abusive.

但他所知道的成人世界的性愛是非常可怕的，甚至是虐待。

After a possible sexual advance from a trusted adult near the end of the novel,

在小說接近尾聲時，一個值得信賴的成年人可能會對其進行性暗示。

Holden says,

霍頓說。

“That kind of stuff’s happened to me about twenty times since I was a kid.”

"從小到大，這種事情在我身上發生了二十多次。"

[grody to the maXXX]

[GRODY TO THE MAXXX]

Like a lot of what Holden tells us about his feelings, that’s very subtle

就像霍爾登告訴我們的很多關於他的感情的事情一樣，那是非常微妙的。

and it requires close reading. But it’s important.

而且需要仔細閱讀。但它很重要。

Like it’s easy to see why the adult world strikes Holden as so phony:

就像不難理解為什麼成人世界對霍爾登的印象那麼假。

The only adult who pays attention to him in the entire novel has ulterior motives.

整部小說中，唯一關注他的大人都是別有用心的。

So he just wants to stop time

所以他只是想讓時間停止

to keep himself and the people he cares about away from that world.

讓自己和自己在乎的人遠離那個世界。

You may remember this obsession with stopping time—

你可能還記得這種對時間停止的痴迷。

holdin’ time back, [grumble] if you’ll pardon the pun—

耽誤時間，[咕嚕]如果你會原諒雙關語-

from The Great Gatsby.

來自《了不起的蓋茨比》。

Of course,

當然了

that doesn’t work out for Gatsby, just as it doesn’t work for Holden.

這對蓋茨比是行不通的，就像對霍爾登也行不通一樣。

I mean, the kid’s sixteen-years-old and he’s already got gray hair.

我是說，這孩子才16歲，就已經有了白頭髮。

[worked for Anderson "silverfox" Cooper]

[曾為安德森"銀狐"庫珀工作]

Oh, it’s time for the Open Letter?

哦，是時候寫公開信了？

[Solo Green squarely skids to score specific seat singly significant to self]

[獨身綠色正直地滑行到得分特定的座位獨身重要的的自己]。

An Open Letter to Gray Hair.

給白髮的一封公開信。

But first, let’s see what’s in the secret compartment today.

不過今天先來看看密室裡有什麼。

Oh, thank God, it’s the red hunting cap.

哦，謝天謝地，是那頂紅色的狩獵帽。

Oh, my people-hunting hat.

哦，我的獵人帽。

[the most dangerous game]

[最危險的遊戲]

Stan, I know this is corny,

斯坦，我知道這很老套

but I just feel so much more confident when I’m wearing it.

但我只是覺得當我穿上它的時候更自信了。

It’s kind of my emblem of protection.

這是一種我的保護標誌。

Dear Gray Hair,

親愛的灰頭髮。

You generally result from the wisdom that comes with age,

你一般是隨著年齡的增長而產生的智慧。

or else someone experiencing a great fright.

否則有人經歷巨大的驚嚇。

But gray hair, if you’re associated with age,

但白髮，如果你與年齡有關。

how come you’ve already attacked Holden Caulfield?

為什麼你已經攻擊霍爾登・考爾菲爾德了？

And more importantly, how come you’ve already attacked ME?

更重要的是，你怎麼已經攻擊我了？

I just had a haircut,

我剛剛剪了個頭發

and not a great one I might add, [for reals. Poufador? Pompapouf?]

我想說的是，這不是一個偉大的人，[真的。 Poufador? Pompapouf? ]。

and my [former] stylist said,

和我的[前]造型師說。

“Do you think we should dye your hair? You ARE on YouTube.”

"你覺得我們應該給你染髮嗎？" "Do you think we should dye your hair?你是在YouTube上。"

There’s no room in the brave, new media world for wisdom or age.

在這個勇敢的新媒體世界裡，沒有智慧和年齡的空間。

Holden Caulfield, I’m beginning to know what it’s like to be you.

霍爾登・考爾菲爾德，我開始知道你是什麼樣子了。

Gray hair, all of this leads,

白髮，這一切都導致。

as T.S. Eliot put it, to an “overwhelming question,”

正如T.S.艾略特所說，對一個 "壓倒性的問題"。

should I dye my hair?

我應該染髮嗎？

Eh, I think I’ll just stick with my red hat.

嗯，我想我還是戴著我的紅帽子吧。

It covers my gray hair and [preempts Stan from flicking his ears]

它遮住了我的白髮，並[搶先一步阻止了Stan的耳朵]。

it makes me feel like I can take on the crushing phoniness of the adult world.

這讓我覺得我可以在成人的世界裡承擔起破碎的音律。

Best Wishes, John Green

最良好的祝願，約翰-格林

Okay, let’s now turn to what Salinger called Holden’s first-person technique.

好了，現在我們來談談塞林格所說的霍爾登的第一人稱技術。

So, all these experiences are obviously very important and intense to Holden.

所以，這些經歷對於霍頓來說，顯然都是非常重要和緊張的。

I mean, he’s writing us about the stuff that led him to a mental hospital.

我的意思是，他給我們寫的東西 導致他到精神病院。

But, the intensity of these emotions is masked by the tactics of his narration.

但是，這些情感的強烈程度被他的敘述策略所掩蓋。

I mean, we just saw how subtly he hints at sexual abuse, for instance.

我的意思是，我們剛剛看到他多麼巧妙地暗示性虐待，例如。

And also, Holden uses the passive voice constantly,

而且，霍頓還不斷地使用被動語態。

which of course you’re not supposed to do as a writer.

當然，你不應該做 作為一個作家。

Look, for instance, at this sentence,

比如說，看這句話。

“The reason I was standing way up on Thomsen Hill,

"我之所以站在湯臣山的路上。

instead of down at the game,

而不是在遊戲中下。

was because I’d just got back from New York with the fencing team.”

是因為我剛從紐約跟擊劍隊回來。"

Any writing teacher would tell you that this is a disaster.

任何一個寫作老師都會告訴你，這是一場災難。

You ought to say, “I stood way up on Thomsen Hill,”

你應該說，"我站在湯姆森山上"

not “I was standing on it.”

而不是 "我站在上面"

But this passive voice is a coping mechanism.

但這種被動的聲音是一種應對機制。

I mean,

我的意思是

the whole reason that writing teachers tell you not to use the passive voice

寫作老師告訴你不要用被動語態的全部原因。

is because it creates distance, whereas active verbs feel immediate and real.

是因為它產生了距離感，而主動動詞則讓人感到直接和真實。

But Holden needs to create distance between himself

但霍爾登需要在自己之間製造距離

and the reality of his pain.

以及他痛苦的現實。

I mean, he’s standing on top of that hill because he’s been expelled from school

我是說，他站在山頂上是因為他被學校開除了。

and also because everyone hates him

也因為大家都討厭他

because he left the fencing team’s equipment on the subway

因為他把擊劍隊的裝備留在了地鐵上。

thereby forcing them to forfeit, becoming

從而迫使他們放棄，成為他們中的一員。

the first person in history to lose the big game WITHOUT BEING ON THE TEAM.

歷史上第一個在沒有加入球隊的情況下輸掉大賽的人。

Who wouldn’t want to distance themselves from that humiliation?

誰不想與這種屈辱保持距離？

You see this again and again in Holden’s voice, and you also see

你在霍爾登的聲音中一次又一次地看到了這一點，你也看到了。

other strategies of minimization of language as a form of self-protection.

儘量減少語言作為一種自我保護形式的其他策略；

I mean, he describes his institutionalized self as

我的意思是，他形容他的機構化的自我是

“pretty run down.”

"相當破舊。"

He says that Ackley is “sort of a nasty guy.”

他說阿克利是個 "有點討厭的傢伙"。

He “sort of” strikes up a conversation with a cab driver,

他 "有點 "和一個計程車司機搭訕。

asking him what happens to the ducks in the pond when winter comes.

問他冬天來了，池塘裡的鴨子會怎麼樣？

Late in the novel, he sort of gives his sister, Phoebe, a kiss.

小說後期，他算是給了妹妹菲比一個吻。

In fact, the phrase “sort of” appears in the novel 179 times.

事實上，"算是 "這個詞在小說中出現了179次。

Also, even sixty years later, Holden’s voice still sounds authentic,

另外，即使六十年後的今天，霍頓的聲音聽起來依然很真實。

which is a function of grammar and word choice.

這是文法和選詞的功能。

After Stradlater asks the expelled Holden to write a composition for him

在斯特拉德拉特要求被開除的霍爾登為他寫一篇作文之後。

because he quote “doesn’t know where to put the commas,” Holden writes,

因為他引用 "不知道該把逗號放在哪裡"，霍爾登寫道。

"That’s something else that gives me a royal pain. I mean if

"這是另一種讓我感到皇家痛苦的東西。我的意思是，如果

you’re good at writing compositions and somebody starts talking about commas.

你擅長寫作文，卻有人開始談論逗號。

Stradlater was always doing that.

Stradlater總是這樣做。

He wanted you to think that the only reason HE was lousy at

他想讓你認為，他不擅長的唯一原因是... ...

writing compositions was because he stuck all the commas in the wrong places.

寫作文是因為他把所有的逗號卡在了錯誤的地方。

He was a little bit like Ackley, that way.”

他有點像阿克雷，那樣。"

You see what Holden did there?

你看到霍頓做了什麼嗎？

He stuck a comma in the wrong place;

他把逗號卡在了錯誤的地方。

there shouldn’t technically be a comma before “that way,” but it sounds right.

嚴格來說，"那樣 "前面不應該有逗號，但聽起來是對的。

[also suffer with comma vomit, a bit]

[還患有逗號嘔吐症，有點]

But Holden’s greatest gift as a narrator is that all these techniques

但霍爾登作為一個敘述者最大的天賦是，所有這些技術

of creating distance only make it easier to empathize with him,

的製造距離，只會讓人更容易與他產生共鳴。

especially when his defenses finally break down.

尤其是當他的防線終於崩潰的時候。

I mean, look, for instance,

我的意思是，你看，例如。

at this passage where he’s talking about his brother Allie’s baseball glove:

在這段話中，他說到了他哥哥Allie的棒球手套。

“He had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere.

"他的手指上、口袋裡，到處都寫滿了詩。

In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he’d have

用綠墨水寫的他把它們寫在上面，這樣他就會有。

something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. He’s dead now.”

當他在場上，沒有人上場擊球的時候，可以讀一些東西。他現在已經死了。"

The gutpunch of those last three words is brilliant—

最後這三個字的腸穿肚爛，非常精彩--。

a present tense sentence in a past tense novel.

過去式小說中的現在式句子。

We go from imagining a kid standing in the outfield reading poetry from his glove

我們從想象一個孩子站在外野讀詩的手套裡

to knowing that this kid is dead— not that he died or that he passed away

知道這個孩子已經死了，而不是說他死了，或者說他去世了

but that he IS dead now.

但他現在已經死了。

The tense reminds us that the dead don’t stop being dead;

時態提醒我們，死人是不會停止死亡的。