母女之間的奇瑰故事

我在圖書(shū)館賣(mài)作廢紙的一堆舊雜志中發(fā)現(xiàn)了這本書(shū)——譚恩美的《喜福會(huì)》，是1992年春風(fēng)文藝出版社出版的，譯者田青。除了書(shū)的封面有些破損、皺巴巴，仍然是一本十分完好的書(shū)。我感到驚喜和意外，如獲至寶。

譚恩美是美籍華裔作家，一位很了不起的作家，當(dāng)讀完《喜福會(huì)》之后，這是我內(nèi)心由衷發(fā)出的感嘆。我認(rèn)為《喜福會(huì)》是我今年讀到的最好的一本小說(shuō)，也許我從中的受益，勝過(guò)了我今年讀到的其他所有小說(shuō)的和。書(shū)中語(yǔ)言的智趣、機(jī)敏、傳神、幽默，讓我數(shù)度體驗(yàn)到了閱讀的赤裸裸的愉悅，生動(dòng)、逼真的細(xì)節(jié)，想象力的綺麗，時(shí)常令人叫絕。她的敘述從容不迫，有棱有角、細(xì)膩而不顯瑣屑，而書(shū)中變換著的完全由第一人稱(chēng)進(jìn)行“講故事”的不同敘述角度，讓我體驗(yàn)到的同樣是一種心靈的放松與自由（讓我想起小時(shí)候，冬夜里圍著火爐，我們?nèi)胰寺?tīng)父親講故事的情景）。這種“放松與自由”為我進(jìn)一步理解作者寫(xiě)作的意圖——對(duì)一個(gè)（不，是很多個(gè)）故事的思考——作好了充足的鋪墊。

《喜福會(huì)》可以看做由四條交織著的發(fā)展線索擰成的一根繩子，這根繩子也就是“母親與女兒”之間在歲月流逝及空間轉(zhuǎn)移中的發(fā)展關(guān)系。而“喜福會(huì)”這個(gè)由四個(gè)中國(guó)母親操辦起來(lái)的純粹中國(guó)式的聚會(huì)，無(wú)疑就成了編織這根繩子的最好的開(kāi)端（故事的切入點(diǎn)）。四對(duì)母女——總是由女兒的口吻講述自己與母親（母親再與女兒）濃得化不開(kāi)的情感瓜葛，然后在這種“成長(zhǎng)與背離”的日常生活的生動(dòng)描述中延展出東西文化的碰撞、交融及嬗變的主題。是的在美國(guó)的土地上，四個(gè)中國(guó)母親用各自“心靈的滄?！?，總是想把自己的“美國(guó)女兒”塑造成“中國(guó)風(fēng)景”，而美國(guó)的土壤畢竟是美國(guó)的土壤，無(wú)論中國(guó)母親怎樣努力，女兒們最終還是要長(zhǎng)成美國(guó)式的，因?yàn)檫B母親們自己也總是會(huì)在不知不覺(jué)中講起“蹩腳的英語(yǔ)”（兩種文化的交鋒最直接地體現(xiàn)在兩種語(yǔ)言的交鋒上，譚恩美應(yīng)該是深諳這一點(diǎn)的。她說(shuō)：“我為日常生活中的語(yǔ)言所迷。我把大量的時(shí)間用于思考語(yǔ)言的力量——它激起一種情感、一個(gè)視覺(jué)、一個(gè)復(fù)雜想法或一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單真理的方式。”）但女兒們不得不承認(rèn)中國(guó)的“傳統(tǒng)文化”（總是隨著她們母親的身影）仍然存留在她們的血脈里，無(wú)論凝固著還是流淌著，這種情感總是抹之不去?！啊俏业暮⒆?，她天生是女孩；我又是我母親的孩子，天生也是女孩。我們就像臺(tái)階一樣，一級(jí)又一級(jí)，上上下下，但走的都是一條路?！弊T恩美借用小說(shuō)中人物的言語(yǔ)，說(shuō)出了這種無(wú)法割舍的（可以拋除小說(shuō)的一切外在形式的）“情懷的真理”。

小說(shuō)塑造的四對(duì)母女形象，她們呈現(xiàn)的迥異個(gè)性，都寫(xiě)得妙趣橫生、血肉豐滿。如果把小說(shuō)的16個(gè)章節(jié)比作16個(gè)鮮艷的果實(shí)（事實(shí)上這16個(gè)章節(jié)每一章都是一個(gè)自成珠璣的故事），那么我上面比喻的“繩子”就應(yīng)該改成“樹(shù)桿”了，然后四對(duì)母女的發(fā)展關(guān)系，又長(zhǎng)成形狀各異的枝丫，錯(cuò)落有致、枝繁葉茂地在讀者的閱讀印象中生長(zhǎng)，構(gòu)成一個(gè)應(yīng)該說(shuō)是奇瑰絢麗的藝術(shù)世界。譚恩美絕對(duì)是個(gè)講故事的高手，我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)在她那些緊密相扣的故事中，又穿插了很多——母親講給女兒的小故事——這些故事完全是東方式的“古怪和神秘”，是果實(shí)的核（一種永遠(yuǎn)生植在她們大腦里的“文化夢(mèng)魘”），被婉婉道來(lái)、層層鋪展，生趣盎然。這是除小說(shuō)的語(yǔ)言魅力，另一層吸引我的獨(dú)特之處。

談到小說(shuō)的語(yǔ)言魅力，我可以舉出很多展現(xiàn)譚恩美才華的神來(lái)之筆。比方說(shuō)她寫(xiě)女兒對(duì)母親的敬畏，女兒想讓母親接納自己男友時(shí)的忐忑心理，形容男友容易被忘掉，“就像葬禮上某個(gè)人的侄子”；寫(xiě)女兒對(duì)母親的抗?fàn)帲骸拔艺f(shuō)這話時(shí)有點(diǎn)怕，像是把蠶、蟾蜍或者別的討厭的東西從嘴里吐出來(lái)?！?；寫(xiě)母親了解自己的女兒：“如果我想記住什么，就像在碗里尋找你沒(méi)吃凈的飯粒一樣容易?！薄@些精彩的筆墨，我想只有譚恩美這樣對(duì)兩種語(yǔ)言有過(guò)獨(dú)到感受的作家才能寫(xiě)得出來(lái)的，她掌握了將日常細(xì)微的生活，轉(zhuǎn)移到語(yǔ)言的核心上來(lái)的力量。還有一點(diǎn)需要補(bǔ)充的是，《喜福會(huì)》是譚的處女作，有點(diǎn)橫空出世的味道，這本書(shū)曾連續(xù)9個(gè)月被列入《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》暢銷(xiāo)小說(shuō)排行榜首，并獲“全美圖書(shū)獎(jiǎng)”等獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)。

當(dāng)然我也看到了《喜福會(huì)》中的一些瑕疵，在這里暫且略去不談，我只想將自己閱讀的愉悅（我偶然獲得的無(wú)限驚喜），與喜歡讀小說(shuō)的朋友分享。

謝湘南/文《中國(guó)文化報(bào)》2001-10-11

Betweenmotheranddaughter奇瑰story

Isoldinthelibrarydothescrappaperinonepileofoldmagazinesdiscoverthisbook-AmyTanhappyluckmet,wasin1992thespringbreezeliteraryartspublishinghousepublication,translator田青.Somewhatdamagesexceptthebooktitlepage,isfullofwrinkles,stillwasoneextremelycompletebook.Iamsurprisedpleasantlysurprisedand,asifonehadfoundatreasure.

AmyTanistheAmericannationalitypersonofChinesedescentwriter,oneverygreatwriter,afterreadshappyluckmeets,thisisthesighwhichmyinnermostfeelingsheartfeltsendsout.Ithinkhappyluckmeetsthebestonenovelwhichismythisyearreads,perhapsIfromcenterprofit,exceedotherallnovelssumwhichmythisyearreads.Inthebookthelanguagewisdominterest,wasresourceful,isexpressive,ishumorous,letsmyseveralexperiencethereadingnakedjoyfulness,wasvivid,thelifelikedetail,theimaginationbeauty,oftenmakeperson叫絕.Hernarrationisunflustered,有棱有角,isexquisitebutdoesnotrevealtrivially,butinthebooktransformscompletelycarriesontellsthestorythedifferentnarrationanglebythefirstperson,letsmeexperiencesimilarlyisonekindofmindrelaxeswithisfree(letsmerememberchildhood,winternightgathersroundstove,ourwholefamilylistenstofathertotellstoryscene).Thiskindrelaxeswithisfreeformefurtherunderstandstheauthorwritestheintention-toone(,wasnotverymany)thestoryponder-finishesthesufficientupholstery.

Onestringbyfourwhichhappyluckmeetsmayconsiderastointerweavethedevelopmentcluetwists,thisstringalsoisthemotherandthedaughterbetweenpassesandinthespatialshiftdevelopmentrelationsintheyear.ButthehappyluckymeetingthishandlespurelyChina's-likemeetingbyfourChinesemother,withoutdoubtbecameweavesthisstringthebestbeginning(storycutsinto).Fourpairofmotheranddaughter-alwaysarenotnarratebydaughter's口吻oneselfwiththemother(motheragainwithdaughter)isthicktheemotionconnection,thenthegrowthwithdepartsfrominthedailylifevividdescriptionextendsthedisplaythingcultureinthiskindthecollision,blendsandtheevolutionsubject.Yes,onUSA'Sland,fourChinesemotherwitheachonethemindvicissitudes,alwaysiswantstheAmericandaughtertomoldowntheChinesescenery,butUSA'SsoilafterallisUSA'Ssoil,regardlessofChinesemotherhowdiligently,daughtersfinallyordohavetogrowintoUSA-like,becausecontinuallymotherownalsoalwaysiscaninunconsciouslycentersayinferiorEnglish(twokindofculturalconfrontationmostdirectterrainsnowintwolanguagesconfrontation,AmyTanshouldbedeeplyknowsbyheartthispoint.Shesaid:Iconfuseforthedailylifeinlanguage.Iuseinthemassivetimetoponderlanguagestrength-itarousesonekindofemotion,onevisual,onecomplexideaoronesimpletruthway.ButthedaughterscannotbutacknowledgeChinathetraditionalculture(alwayswasalongwiththeirmother'sform)stillpreservesinthembloodvessels,regardlessofcoagulatedortheflow,thiskindofemotionalwayswaswipesdoesnotgo....Sheismychild,sheinbornisthegirl;Iagainammymother'schild,inbornalsoisthegirl.Welikethestairsame,onelevelofanotherlevel,everyone,butwalksallisoneroad.AmyTanborrowsinthenovelcharacter'sspokenlanguage,saidthiskindisunabletosheartheshed(maythroweliminatesnovelallexternalforms)themoodtruth.

Thenovelmoldsfourpairofmotheranddaughterimages,theypresentthedifferentindividuality,allwritesfullofbeautyandsignificance,thefleshandbloodisplentiful.Ifcompareswiththenovel16chapters16brightfruits(infactthis16chapterseachchapterallisonefrombecomespearlstory),thenabovemetheanalogythestringshouldaltertothetreepole,thenfourpairofmother'sanddaughter'sdevelopmentrelations,alsogrewintoshapeeachdifferentbranch,scatteredandorganized,theluxuriantgrowthofleavesandbranchesgrewinreader'sreadingimpression,constitutesoneshouldsaywas奇瑰thegorgeousartisticworld.AmyTanabsolutelyisthemasterwhichtellsthestory,wemaydiscovertheseclosebucklesinherinstory,alsoalternatedtheverymany-mothersaysfordaughter'ssmallstory-thesestoriescompletelyiseastthewayisstrangeandismystical,wasthefruitnucleus(onekindforeverlivesplantsintheircerebrumculturalnightmare),cameby婉婉theroad,layeruponlayertospreadoutallover,生趣盎然.Thisiseliminatesthenovelthelanguagecharm,anotherattractsmeuniquelyplace.

Talksaboutthenovelthelanguagecharm,ImaypointoutveryunfoldtheAmyTantalentthegodcomethepen.Forinstanceshewritesthedaughtertomother'srespectfear,thedaughterwantstoletthemotheradmitwhentheoneselfboyfriend'sdisturbedpsychology,describesboyfriendiseasilyforgotten,likesatthefuneralsomeindividualnephewchild;Writesthedaughtertomother'sresistance:Isaidwhenthissayingalittlefears,thepictureisthesilkworm,thetoadorotherrepugnantthingputsoutfromthemouth.Writesthemotherunderstandsoneselfthedaughter:IfIwantstorememberwhat,thepictureseeksyouinthebowlhasnoteatenthegrainofcookedriceequallyisonlyeasy.Thesesplendidwords,IwantonlytohaveAmyTanlikethishavetheoriginalfeelingwritertotwolanguagesonlythencanwriteobtain,shewillgraspthedailyslightlife,shiftsstrengthwhichcameuptothelanguagecore.Alsohasonepointneedstosupplement,happyluckmeetsisTan'smaidenwork,alittle橫空isborntheflavor,thisbookcontinuously9monthswasonceincludedNewYorkTimesthebestsellingnovelrankfirstplace,andwontheentireAmericanbooksprizeandsoontheprizeitem.

Certainly,Ialsoseehappyluckmetthecentersomeslightdefect,forthetimebeingleavesoutinheredoesnotdiscuss,Ionlywantedtoreadjoyfullyown(Iaccidentallyobtaininfiniteampleasantlysurprised),withlikedreadingthenovelthefriendshare.

ThankssouthHunan/thearticleChineseculturenewspaper2001-10-11