一部讲述驾驶斯蒂庞克汽车一路西行的小说 | 盖茨书评
Whenever I choose a novel and put it in my canvas book bag, I optimize for great storytelling—almost regardless of the topic. One of my new favorite storytellers is the writer Amor Towles. In 2019, I reviewed his book A Gentleman in Moscow, which was fantastic. So it was a no-brainer to pick up his next novel, The Lincoln Highway, when it came out last October.
每当我选择一本小说并把它放进帆布书包里的时候，我都会优化对于精彩故事的认知——几乎不论书的主题。我新近钟爱的故事讲述者之一是作家埃默·托尔斯。2019年，我写了《莫斯科绅士》的书评，这本书很棒。因此，当他接下来的这本小说《林肯公路》（中文名暂译）于去年10月出版时，我毫不犹豫地拿过来读了。
Once again, I was wowed by Towles’s writing—especially because The Lincoln Highway is so different from A Gentleman in Moscow in terms of setting, plot, and themes. Towles is not a one-trick pony. Like all the best storytellers, he has range.
我再一次被托尔斯的作品所折服——尤其是因为《林肯公路》一书在背景、情节和主题上与《莫斯科绅士》截然不同。托尔斯并不只会“一招鲜”。像所有最优秀的小说家一样，他所能驾驭的题材十分多元。
The title of this latest book refers to America’s first cross-country roadway for automobiles, which stretched from New York City to San Francisco. The story takes place over ten days in 1954, when two young brothers, Emmett and Billy, intend to drive their Studebaker from Nebraska to California. (I could picture the car clearly—my dad had one too.) But fate, in the form of a sympathetic but volatile character named Duchess, forces them to travel in the opposite direction before they can have a chance to start fresh in the West.
这本新书的书名实际上指的是美国第一条横贯东西的公路——东起纽约，西至旧金山。故事背景设定于1954年，讲述了一段十天的旅程。两个年轻的兄弟，埃米特和比利，打算驾驶他们的斯蒂庞克汽车从内布拉斯加前往加利福尼亚。（我可以清楚地想象出那辆车的样子——我父亲也有一辆。）但命运弄人，一个名为达切斯的讨人喜欢但又反复无常的人加入了他们，迫使二人在本有机会奔赴西部开始新生活之时，却朝着截然相反的方向开始了旅程。
Towles takes inspiration from famous hero’s journeys, including The Iliad, The Odyssey, Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, and Of Mice and Men. He seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as an interstate highway. But, he suggests, when something (or someone) tries to steer us off course, it is possible to take the wheel.
托尔斯从众多著作描写的英雄之旅中获得灵感，包括《伊利亚特》、《奥德赛》、《哈姆雷特》、《哈克贝利·芬历险记》和《人鼠之间》。他要传达的观点似乎是，个人的旅程永远不会像州际公路那样平顺或可以预测。不过，他认为，当某件事(或某人)试图引导我们偏离路线时，我们还是有可能把握住方向盘的。
My favorite character is Billy, an eight-year-old who has endured abandonment by his mother and the death of his father. At the beginning of the story, when Billy’s brother, Emmett, returns home after 15 months of juvenile detention, Billy comes across as a sweet but hapless dreamer who has survived by escaping into adventure stories. By the end of Billy and Emmett’s journey east, it’s clear that Billy is anything but a tragic figure. He is amazingly clever and resilient. In that way, he reminds me of Nina, the precocious nine-year-old from A Gentleman in Moscow.
我最喜欢的人物是比利，一个经历了被母亲遗弃和父亲去世的8岁孩子。在故事的开头，比利的哥哥埃米特在青少年拘留所待了15个月后回到家中时，比利给人的印象是一个惹人喜爱但却倒霉的梦想家，只能通过沉浸在冒险故事中来逃避现实生活。在比利和埃米特的东游之旅结束时，很明显，比利绝不是一个悲剧人物。他有着惊人的聪慧和坚韧。在这一点上，他让我想起了《莫斯科绅士》中那个早熟的9岁女孩尼娜。
Emmett also seems like a tragic character early on. He has the tragic flaw of anger: His juvenile detention was the result of punching (and inadvertently killing) a bully who was taunting him. But Emmett finds ways to overcome his temper.
埃米特一开始也像是一个悲剧角色。他有一个悲剧性的缺陷，那就是愤怒：他进青少年拘留所的原因是打了（并失手打死了）一个嘲弄他的恶霸。但埃米特找到了克制自己脾气的方法。
Another hero is Sally, a young neighbor who cares deeply for both Billy and Emmett. I think she represents a type of kindness that’s been almost non-existent for Billy or Emmett. Sally turns out to be a bold and wise character—she bristles at the strictures placed on women in 1950s America and has what it takes to overcome them. We don’t know if she and Emmett fall in love; Towles doesn’t give his story such a tidy narrative. But I suspect most readers will hope they end up that way.
另一位主角是莎莉，一个对比利和埃米特都非常关心的年轻邻居。我认为她代表了一种对比利和埃米特来说几乎不可能存在的善意。事实证明，莎莉是一个大胆而睿智的人——她对20世纪50年代美国对妇女的束缚嗤之以鼻，并且她也有能力摆脱这些束缚。我们不知道她和埃米特是否相爱；托尔斯并没有直白地描写埃米特的感情故事。但我猜想大多数读者都会希望他们最终坠入爱河。
I definitely finished Lincoln Highway hoping that Towles is busy writing his next novel. It almost doesn’t matter what time or place he decides to write about. I just know I’ll want to read it.
读完《林肯公路》后，我希望托尔斯这会儿正忙着创作他的下一部小说。无论他决定把故事的背景设在何时何地，我确信自己一定会想要读一读。