幹嘛躲在英文裡?——房思琪
幹嘛躲在英文裡?——房思琪
思琪在家一面整理行李,一面用一種天真的口吻對媽媽說:「聽說學校有個同學跟老師在一起。」「誰?」「不認識。」「這麼小年紀就這麼騷。」思琪不說話了。她一瞬間決定從此一輩子不說話了。
"The Talk"
We live in a society where "the Talk" is quite different from "the Talk" in Western books or movies. How do you translate "the Talk"?
Netflix電視劇《性教育》【Sex Education】裡充斥著經歷了「The Talk」的teenagers,隱晦的也好,直截了當的也好,模棱兩可的也好。西方社會中父母與孩子間什麼時候進行「The Talk」已經不再是諱莫如深的話題,需要遮遮掩掩;所謂的「那個談話」的初衷是為了保護孩子,讓孩子有足夠的知識,知道當一個人面對社會的時候怎樣保護自己,怎樣劃定自己的界限。好生羨慕!
電影《The Hate U Gave》的第一個鏡頭就是「The Talk」,然而,是一個非裔家庭之間的「The Talk」,這個“談話”是父母鄭重其事地告訴孩子,面對一個非裔群體依舊未完全被公平對待的社會,如果遇到警察,一定要把手放在警察看得見的地方,無論如何。隨後,顯然沒有經歷過「The Talk」朋友付出了生命的代價。在這裡,看似不一樣的「The Talk」,其實父母的初衷都是教給孩子,讓他們有足夠的知識,哪怕這「知識」是殘酷的,也要知道,從而以後一個人走向社會的時候知道怎樣保護自己,不再天真。是不幸,但又何其幸運!
遺憾的是,這兩種「The Talk」並沒有出現在「房思琪」的生命裡。她的「The Talk」大多是責備,甚至不需要責備,一個「你讓我失望了」的眼神就足夠;一聲「一個女孩子這樣讓我們父母操心」的嘆息就足夠;連她「一瞬間決定從此一輩子不說話了」的感受都是她的錯處;好真切,好不熟悉!那些「房思琪們」,本該來自父母的保護在哪裡?這個世界啊,為什麼大多數時候都是孩子在說「對不起」,孩子們究竟有多少能夠真正「傷害」到她們/他們的父母呢?
To imagine a language is to imagine a form of life.
——Ludwig Wittgenstein 【Born April 26, 1889】
如果真能躲在英文裡,
發現生活的另一種形式,
那過去還會不會追上來?
溫良恭儉讓。
Finished this book months ago, but I haven't made peace with myself about the book.
It was a turbulence on the Internet due to the author's suicide as well as her parents' claim that the book is autobiographic. It's heart-breaking to read it, especially knowing she committed suicide at age of 26 right after publishing of the book. I could try to imagine parents knowing the truth, but where were they during the whole thing? A 13 years old girl got seduced and raped by her teacher / neighbour that her parents trusted to? Parents have not noticed a single sign for the disaster?
Throughout the book, I grew up with Fang Si-chi. It's sad, there was no help, no outer voice to her, instead, only the twisted Lolita complex growing inside of her. I could understood her choice of leaving this world. And no doubt, it is a wonderful book!
People compare it with Lolita, however, knowing how Nabokov created
Lolita, it's a different situation. This book is based on pure pain and blood of a girl ignored by her parents, became the victim of society. They owe her a life, a childhood, an explanation.
【Review written on 07. 2017. 】