Goodreads書評(píng)之二：劉慈欣最新登陸海外的短篇小說集《擎天》
To Hold Up the Sky
譯文簡介
作者把人類從神壇上打了下來，卻依然承認(rèn)其文明的價(jià)值。
正文翻譯
書名：《擎天》(To Hold Up the Sky)，劉慈欣著
簡介：
2020年10月20日由Tor Books出版，頁數(shù)336；
亞馬遜精裝版售價(jià)：$21.1;Kindle電子書售價(jià)：$14.99；
《黑暗森林》的翻譯者參與了翻譯，劉宇昆未參與~
打星情況：
五星 22%
四星 43%
三星 28%
二星 5%
一星 0%
收錄11個(gè)短篇：
《鄉(xiāng)村教師》
《時(shí)間移民》
《2018年4月1日》
《地火》
《坍縮》
《鏡子》
《歡樂頌》
《全頻帶阻塞干擾》
《夢之?！?br /> 《詩云》
《思想者》
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://mintwatchbillionaireclub.com 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處
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【四星】Justine，26歲，女，法國，2020/9
四星半
Before To Hold Up the Sky, I had never read Cixin Liu. I wanted to read The Three-Body Problem , but I was so afraid of misunderstanding it that I didn't dare. Then I received this ARC from NetGalley, so I decided to finally dive in.
在《擎天》之前，我從未讀過劉慈欣的作品。我本來想去讀《三體》，但我很怕曲解了它，所以不敢碰。然后我就從NetGalley上收到了它的高級(jí)讀者副本（譯注：即受邀撰寫書評(píng)），所以我最終還是決定沉下心來一探究竟了。
These stories are intelligent and push the reader to think and to challenge his ordinary thoughts and beliefs. Here, they will encounter alien life, spaceships, existential questions, and so on. All the stories aren't coming from the same SF subgenres: I'm not an expert, but some of them are "harder" than others which seem "softer". Most of them take place in the future, but some picture the present, or, at least, start in the present!
The subjects are varied but they all focus on reflection, on questioning the world, our perception. It was surprising, even astonishing sometimes. I was on the verge of laughing sometimes, because it was so unbelievable.
These stories are also quite striking and leave the reader to ponder after they read them.
這些故事透著股聰明勁兒，也能推著讀者去思考，還能挑戰(zhàn)讀者那些日常的想法和信念。在本書中，他們會(huì)遭遇外星生命、宇宙飛船、存在主義問題等等。所有這些故事所屬的科幻子類型都各不相同：我也不是專家，但其中有些故事，在觀感上比另一些“偏軟”的故事更“硬”。大部分故事發(fā)生在未來，但也有一些描述了現(xiàn)在，至少也是始于現(xiàn)在的！涵蓋各種形形色色的主題，但它們的重點(diǎn)全都落在反思上，落在對(duì)這個(gè)世界、對(duì)我們知覺的質(zhì)疑上。這就挺意外的了，有時(shí)候甚至還會(huì)讓人大為震驚。有幾次，我差一點(diǎn)就要笑出來了，因?yàn)閷?shí)在這太不可思議了。
這些故事相當(dāng)高能，會(huì)讓讀者在讀完后陷入沉思。
As for the writing-style, and considering it is a translation, I have nothing special to say: not particularly good, but not bad either.
至于寫作風(fēng)格，鑒于這是一本翻譯作品，我沒有什么特別的可說：不算特別好，但也不差。
So much as I loved these stories and was surprised by them, it was sometimes hard to follow for me due to the vocabulary used or the scientific precisions. I'm not sure I 100% understood everything, but I still enjoyed this collection.
盡管我很喜歡這些故事，它們也出乎了我的意料，但書中使用的詞匯，以及在科學(xué)角度上追求精確的那些表述，我有時(shí)候還是很難理解。我不確定我是否100%理解了所有的內(nèi)容，但我還是很喜歡這本集子。
I'll try to talk about each of the stories now:
現(xiàn)在我會(huì)試著談一談每一個(gè)故事：
"The Village Teacher"
A story that particularly moved me because it focuses on a teacher who tries, before he dies, to pass knowledge to his young pupils. The reader understands that the village doesn't value what the teacher brings, but that he persists through hardship.
In the beginning, I didn't understand why this story was in this collection because the first part has nothing to do with SF; I understood a few pages later.
Strangely, and in a small amount of pages, I got attached to the characters
When I finished this story - I have to precise I am a teacher myself -, I felt proud to do my job. It was heartwarming to read, and, at the same time, a bit sad, because the teacher is an outcast in the village.
《鄉(xiāng)村教師》
一個(gè)特別感動(dòng)我的故事，因?yàn)樗劢沟氖且晃焕蠋?，他在死前竭盡所能地把知識(shí)傳給了他那些年輕的學(xué)生。讀者很清楚村子里的人并不珍視這位老師帶來的東西，但他在艱困中堅(jiān)持了下來。
一開始，我不明白這個(gè)集子為什么要收錄這個(gè)故事，因?yàn)楸酒牡谝徊糠趾涂苹脽o關(guān)；但又讀了幾頁之后我就明白了。
奇怪的是，只消短短的幾頁，我就對(duì)這些人物產(chǎn)生了感情。
當(dāng)我讀完這個(gè)故事時(shí)，我必須說明白我自己就是一名教師，我為自己的工作感到自豪。這篇讀起來讓人暖心，同時(shí)也有點(diǎn)傷感，因?yàn)樵谶@個(gè)村子里。老師是那個(gè)被排斥的人。
"The Time Migration"
One of my favorite stories in this collection!
People decide to migrate in time because there is not enough ressources for everyone on Earth during their lifetime.
It was interesting to see Earth changing hundreds of years after the immigrants left. It was a bit frustrating because we do not have the details and we don't understand how they got here, but it was interesting to be in an immigrant's skin and to see Earth through their eyes, without any other explanation.
The ending was both sad and beautiful - but I feel like it might be one of the author's specialties!
《時(shí)間移民》
是這本集子里我最喜歡的故事之一！
人們決定在時(shí)間中進(jìn)行移民，因?yàn)樵谒麄兊挠猩曛?，地球上沒有足夠的資源供所有人使用。
能看到地球在移民們離開了幾百年后發(fā)生的變化，還是很有意思的。這有點(diǎn)讓人沮喪，因?yàn)槲覀儧]有看到細(xì)節(jié)，我們也不明白他們到底是如何穿越到這里的，但在沒有其他任何解釋的情況下，以移民的身份，通過移民的視角來審視地球還是很有意思的。
結(jié)局既悲傷又美麗，但我感覺這可能是作者的特長之一！
"2018-04-01"
Here, we follow a man who has a difficult choice to make: he can choose the woman he loves or something everyone dreams about.
This story, like "The Time Migration", is more focused on the future and mostly on new technologies. The reader gets a glimpse of what the human future could be. It is both fascinating and frightening:
《2018年4月1日》
在本篇中，我們一路追隨一個(gè)須作出艱難抉擇的男人：他可以選擇他愛的女人，也可以選擇每個(gè)人做夢都想要的東西。
這個(gè)故事和《時(shí)間移民》一樣，更關(guān)注未來，而且關(guān)注的大都是新技術(shù)。讀者得以一窺人類未來的可能樣貌。它既引人入勝又教人膽寒。
"Fire in the Earth"
This is one of the stories I was less interested in, but it's still stuck in my mind for some reason. It deals with mines, a subject I know practically nothing about.
It was immersive because it was long, and it was long because there were explanations about the change the main character wants to make. I'm sure I didn't understand everything, but it was still striking and vivid to read. I was there, with the characters.
The ending stroke me, I wasn't expecting this at all!
《地火》
這是我不太感興趣的幾個(gè)故事之一，但出于某種原因，它仍然駐留在我的腦海中。它涉及礦山，這個(gè)領(lǐng)域我基本上是一無所知。
故事帶來了很強(qiáng)的沉浸感，因?yàn)樗荛L，而篇幅長是因?yàn)閷?duì)主人公想要做出的改變作出了各種解釋。我可以確定我并沒有完全理解，但讀來仍很震撼，而且鮮活得很。我就在故事里，和那些人物在一起。
結(jié)局把我給震住了，我完全沒有料到會(huì)是這樣的結(jié)果！
"Contraction"
One of my favorites: a scientist greets a politician who will witness the contraction of the universe after its long expansion.
I didn't expect the revelation at all, just like the other characters! I really loved the main character, who seems to be a mad man among his peers. I can't say too much because this story is really short compared with the others, but it was... shaking I'd say, because it contradicts our perception!
《坍縮》
是我最喜歡的作品之一：一位科學(xué)家向一位政治家致意，而他將見證宇宙在長期膨脹后出現(xiàn)的收縮。
這個(gè)被揭露出來的真相是我完全沒有料到的，其他人物也是一樣！我真的很喜歡這個(gè)主角，他在自己的同行之中似乎是個(gè)瘋癲之徒。我不能說太多，因?yàn)橄啾扔谄渌适?，這個(gè)故事真的很短，可它卻…嗯，我會(huì)用震撼這個(gè)詞，因?yàn)樗c我們的認(rèn)知相矛盾！
"Mirror"
One of the most disturbing stories of the whole collection.
A man is arrested, the reader doesn't know why. Another seems to know too much, it's not humanly possible. It worries the Senior Official. How can this man know unknowable things?
This story is focused on knowledge, surveillance and "evil".
It was striking because it questioned what "evil" is, if everything can be known, if it is wise if it is possible. I really loved this one, even if it disturbed me.
It made me think of Black Mirror, even more with the title and ... something in the story which has "mirror" in its name!
《鏡子》
是整部集子中最讓人不安的故事之一。
有個(gè)人被逮捕了，而讀者不知道原委。另一個(gè)人似乎知道得太多了，在人間就不可能發(fā)生這樣的事。這就引發(fā)了那個(gè)高級(jí)官員的擔(dān)憂。這個(gè)人怎么可能知曉他不可能知曉的事情？
這個(gè)故事關(guān)注的重點(diǎn)是知識(shí)、監(jiān)視和“邪惡”。
它之所以那么震撼，是因?yàn)樗谫|(zhì)疑什么才是“邪惡”，如果一切都能被知曉，如果這有可能做到，那這么做是否是明智的。我真的很喜歡這一篇，盡管它讓我感到不安。
這個(gè)故事讓我想到了《黑鏡》，而這個(gè)標(biāo)題能讓我想到的就更多了，就那些在標(biāo)題和故事內(nèi)容中包含“鏡子”的作品！
"Ode to Joy"
During my reading of this one, I was like: "but... am I reading?" It was strange, but still fascinating and giving food for thought.
It was also terrifying in a way: (view spoiler)
Once more, original and thought-provoking: I wasn't expecting this and it opened up new horizons! Last thing: it deals with music, as you might have guessed with the title of the story!
(I won't say more and let you discover it!)
《歡樂頌》
在我閱讀這篇的過程中，我心里在說：“我是真的在讀嗎？” 它很奇怪，但依然很勾人，還給了人思考的素材。
某種程度上說它也令人恐懼。
作者又一次做到了很強(qiáng)的原創(chuàng)性和發(fā)人深省。這是我沒有預(yù)料到的，它打開了新的視野！
最后我要說：它涉及音樂，這一點(diǎn)你從故事的標(biāo)題中可能已經(jīng)猜到了?。ㄎ揖筒辉俣嗾f了，你們自己去發(fā)現(xiàn)吧！)
"Full-Spectrum Barrage Jamming"
This one is quite like "Fire in the Earth" for me: I wasn't interested in the subject and didn't think I would like it - well, I was gripped, but still wasn't a huge fan.
It starts on a battlefield and ends in space. It deals with war, with Russia and NATO, with scientific things I didn't entirely understood, even if I got what it did to end armies win the war.
I loved the relationship father/son the reader gets to discover; I didn't like the political side of it - which is really rare!
《全頻帶阻塞干擾》
這部作品在我看來很像《地火》。我對(duì)這個(gè)主題不感興趣，當(dāng)時(shí)也不覺得自己會(huì)喜歡上它，好吧，它還是抓住了我的心，但我終究是不怎么中意它。
它始于戰(zhàn)場，終于太空。它涉及戰(zhàn)爭，涉及俄羅斯和北約，涉及我不完全理解的科學(xué)內(nèi)容，即使我知道它在終結(jié)敵人贏得戰(zhàn)爭中起到的作用。
我很喜歡被讀者自己逐漸揭示的父子關(guān)系；但我不喜歡其中有關(guān)政治的內(nèi)容，而這種情況真的很罕見！
"Sea of Dreams"
Same as "Ode to Joy": what am I actually reading? Quite strange, and still interesting because this story focuses on art, what it means, what it is worth. (view spoiler) it also pushes the reader to think about art in a way you might not think about: to live for art is beautiful, but does it justify (view spoiler)
《夢之海》
和《歡樂頌》一樣：我到底在讀什么玩意兒？相當(dāng)古怪，但仍然很有趣，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)故事聚焦于藝術(shù)，聚焦于藝術(shù)意味著什么以及藝術(shù)的價(jià)值。它也推著讀者以一種你可能想不到的方式去思考藝術(shù)：為藝術(shù)而活是美好的，但這種活法是否正當(dāng)呢。
"Cloud of Poems"
This story also focuses on art, but, this time, on poetry and human civilisation. It was, once more, strange to discover that human beings are here lesser creatures. I thought about how we treat animals in our societies: it clearly echoes the situation in the story. I also thought about how we consider ourselves as super-evolved compared to other species we know: the author knocks humans off their pedestal, while still recognizing the worth of their civilisation.
《詩云》
這個(gè)故事也聚焦于藝術(shù)，但這次說的是詩歌與人類文明。我又一次發(fā)現(xiàn)，在本篇中人類是低等生物，這也太奇怪了。我想到了我們的社會(huì)對(duì)待動(dòng)物的方式：顯然這和故事中的情況相呼應(yīng)。另外我還想到，和我們認(rèn)識(shí)的其他物種相比，我們?nèi)绱松钚抛约菏沁M(jìn)化之路上的超級(jí)物種：作者把人類從神壇上打了下來，卻依然承認(rèn)其文明的價(jià)值。
"The Thinker"
To end this collection, this story is located on Earth, with humans discovering something strange in the twinkling of stars.
I liked the relationship between the characters and the mention of fate: it was a good way to show how life is, indeed, short and bitter, but also beautiful and surprising. Kind of a sweet story to leave the collection.
《思想者》
是這本集子的收尾篇，這個(gè)故事是發(fā)生在地球上的，人類在星星的閃爍中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些奇怪的東西。
我喜歡的是人物之間的關(guān)系以及對(duì)命運(yùn)的提及：這絕妙地說明了生命確實(shí)苦短，但也是美麗且令人驚訝的。貌似是用了一個(gè)略圓滿的故事結(jié)束了這本集子。
TW: suicide, gore, violence.
警告：含自殺、血腥、暴力內(nèi)容。
So, I'm glad I read Cixin Liu; I think I'll read his trilogy Remembrance of Earth's Past one day!
我很高興讀到了劉慈欣的作品，我覺得有朝一日我會(huì)去讀他的地球往事系列三部曲的！
【三星】Nusrat Farzana，女，孟加拉國，2021/6
這是第一次劉慈欣的作品沒達(dá)到我的期望值。有時(shí)候點(diǎn)子的重復(fù)使用會(huì)讓人覺得無聊。
【四星】David Agranoff，美國，2020/12
個(gè)人認(rèn)為，我們應(yīng)該感激劉慈欣，因?yàn)樗瞰I(xiàn)出了這么一種獨(dú)一無二的風(fēng)格。在身為工程師的他寫出的科幻作品中，宏大又燒腦的史詩級(jí)概念，和聽上去很有道理的硬科幻之間的界限得到了彌合。如果說劉慈欣的配方有什么秘訣的話，那就是這些深邃的哲思、歷史視角下的思維和假想出來的古怪科學(xué)。我不覺得他的人物刻畫很強(qiáng)，但這點(diǎn)無礙。這些故事的核心思想相當(dāng)高能。故事背景始終是中國，但我覺得，它吸引到我的部分原因正是這種國際化的感覺和對(duì)另一種文化的看法。
There is a limitless feel to Cixin Liu’s ideas. As this is a short story collection I preferred some stories more than others. One of the stories that showed his engineering mind is the story “Fire in the Earth.” This was almost a short novel and this one didn’t hook me. Even though I didn’t like this story the setting in a Chinese mine did have some interesting implications that bubbled under the surface.
劉慈欣的點(diǎn)子感覺是無窮無盡的。由于這是一本短篇小說集，我是更偏愛其中幾篇的。其中有一個(gè)故事展現(xiàn)了他的工程師思維，那就是《地火》。這篇勉強(qiáng)可以算作短篇小說，但對(duì)我沒啥吸引力。雖然我不喜歡這個(gè)故事，但故事是設(shè)定在了中國的一處礦場，在表面之下確實(shí)暗含著一些有趣的意味。
The second story is my favorite in the collection “Time Migration” could and should be an episode of Black Mirror. This story uses a technological hook to force the characters to address epic timespans of many thousands of years in a few short pages and it works. The closing notes reminding us of conclusions not new in science fiction but done in a totally original way. For a real beautiful closing paragraph, this story is incredible.
第二個(gè)故事是這個(gè)集子中我的最愛，《時(shí)間移民》可以成為也應(yīng)該成為英劇《黑鏡》中的一集。這個(gè)故事利用技術(shù)來牽引并迫使一干人物在短短幾頁中去應(yīng)付幾千年史詩一般的時(shí)間跨度，而且這種做法奏效了。結(jié)束語部分讓我們想起了一些在科幻小說中并不新鮮，但以完全原創(chuàng)的方式得出的結(jié)論?？紤]到出奇美好的那個(gè)結(jié)尾段落，這個(gè)故事真是不可思議啊。
【五星】Nilesh，2021/2
劉慈欣是有史以來最有想象力的作家之一，這本集子即是他大才的明證。他可以像變戲法一樣在硅基和碳基的銀河系文明之間變出一場戰(zhàn)爭，簡直不費(fèi)吹灰之力，就像在地球上的美利堅(jiān)帝國和俄羅斯帝國之間變出一場戰(zhàn)爭一樣。我們的藝術(shù)技能得到了更為多棱的贊美：在其中一個(gè)故事中，他關(guān)注的是我們的雕塑能力，而在另一個(gè)故事中，則是寫詩的能力。
Mr. Liu's extraordinary fancies and cute stories shadow his wonderful writing style. In a few short paragraphs, he is able to paint his exotic worlds in rich detail while introducing a bevy of characters. In general, every story has interesting philosophical angles on existence - either as individuals or societies. The Time Migration and Mirror are two, for instance, on which some philosopher can write tombs on.
劉先生非凡的狂想以及可愛的故事，掩蓋了他那奇妙的寫作風(fēng)格。在短短的幾段文字中，他能夠以極豐富的細(xì)節(jié)描繪他的異星世界，同時(shí)還引介了大量的人物?？偟膩砜矗總€(gè)故事都以頗有意趣的哲學(xué)視角對(duì)存在作了觀照，無論是個(gè)體的存在還是社會(huì)的存在?！稌r(shí)間移民》和 《鏡子》就是其中的兩個(gè)例子，是那種哲學(xué)家可以刻在墓碑上的話。
Somebody should make a TV serial on his stories. Perhaps, Tenet (2020 movie) got the inspiration from the arrow of time U-turn from Contraction.
應(yīng)該有個(gè)人把他筆下的故事拍成電視連續(xù)劇。也許，《信條》（2020年的電影）從《坍縮》中能馬蹄形拐彎的時(shí)間之箭中得到了靈感。
【四星】Hadrian，美國，2021/1
盡管創(chuàng)作這些故事的時(shí)點(diǎn)在作家生命中的跨度如此之大，但它們卻比我料想的更具連貫性。雖然有些故事比其他的更傷感，但我還是覺得大劉成功地回歸到了他那些最常出現(xiàn)的主題，也即，他對(duì)事件或自然法則的探索，要重于掃一眼就歷歷了然的世間人，以及任何與未來溝通的希望（在這種情況下，那個(gè)世界本身都無法得到承認(rèn)）。
【五星】Jose，42歲，男，西雅圖，2021/1
這本短篇小說集非常棒。劉慈欣的科幻小說風(fēng)格自帶狂野的想象力。他的視野寬廣，還很深邃，從哲學(xué)主題到藝術(shù)和政治，這些故事能讓你在優(yōu)雅而令人愉悅的故事中思考這個(gè)宇宙的“大勢”。閱讀這家伙寫的東西一直都是種享受。我最喜歡的故事是《思想者》、《鄉(xiāng)村教師》和《時(shí)間移民》，有幾個(gè)故事超級(jí)怪異的，比如《夢之?！?，還有幾個(gè)故事的邏輯結(jié)論我不一定會(huì)贊同，比如《鏡子》，但毫無疑問，我很欣賞這類勾人沉思的問題：如果X是有可能發(fā)生的，那么會(huì)發(fā)生什么？
The one story that I enjoyed reading the least was "Full-Sprectrum Barrage Jamming" because I was not comfortable with the romantic depiction of an all out war between Russia and the US, or more accurately a fictional universe where the Soviet unx is still alive in the 21st century and NATO forces were dumb enough to invade it. It was so weird to read about American troops given the same treatment that Western depictions of war give their war enemies. I hate it when war gets romanticized and I could not agree less with the theme and message of the story. Even then I still embrace the opportunity to see things from a different perspective.
讀來最不喜歡的一個(gè)故事是《全頻帶阻塞干擾》，因?yàn)閷?duì)俄羅斯和美國之間的全面戰(zhàn)爭進(jìn)行浪漫化描述會(huì)讓我感到不舒服，或者更準(zhǔn)確地說，在一個(gè)虛構(gòu)的宇宙中，蘇聯(lián)仍存活于21世紀(jì)，而北約部隊(duì)愚蠢到去入侵了它。當(dāng)我讀到美國軍隊(duì)得到的待遇，和西方戰(zhàn)爭描寫中給予敵方的那種待遇完全一樣時(shí)，那感覺太奇怪了。我討厭戰(zhàn)爭被浪漫化，但我不能不同意這個(gè)故事的主題及其傳達(dá)出的信息。即便如此，這種從不同的視角看待事物的機(jī)會(huì)，我還是很愿意抓住的。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://mintwatchbillionaireclub.com 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處
Overall great collection of short sci-fi stories. Two thumbs up. Recommend.
整體來看，是一部偉大的短篇科幻小說集。十二分好評(píng)。推薦。