英語世界文摘:George R. R. Martin: A Lifetime of Fantasy

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George R. R. Martin: A Lifetime of Fantasy

喬治·R.R.馬丁的奇幻人生

BySean Scarisbrick

文/肖恩·斯凱里斯布里克

People know George R. R. Martin for his incredible bookseries, A Song of Ice and Fire, but there is much more to Martin than this series. He began writing stories for his friends, and he was a prolific science-fiction and horror writer. Here’s a look at Martin, a writer whose life has been profoundly shaped by fantasy.

喬治·R. R. 馬丁因其超贊的系列小說《冰與火之歌》而聞名，但馬丁的成就遠不止這部系列。他最初寫故事給朋友們看，后來成為了高產(chǎn)的科幻和恐怖故事作家。本文將帶您認識馬丁，這位人生受到奇幻文學深刻影響的作家。

George R. R. Martin’s life has revolved around fantasy. His fullname is George Raymond Richard Martin, and he was born on September 20, 1948.He grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey. It was from his hometown that he first looked toward the fantastical, as he watched ships traveling the straight of Kill Van Kull[1]from around the world. He felt transported around the world as he watched foreign trade shipsin constant movement.

喬治·R.R.馬丁的人生一直圍繞著奇幻展開。他全名叫喬治·雷蒙德·理查德·馬丁，1948年9月20日出生，在新澤西州巴約納長大。就是在自己的家鄉(xiāng)，看著范庫爾水道上來自世界各地的船只，他開始向往奇幻世界。看見外國商船川流不息，他感到自己仿佛乘船周游了世界。

[1] 新澤西州巴約納市（也譯作貝永市）與紐約州斯塔滕島之間的水域稱為范庫爾水道，水道上有著名的巴約納橋，1931年建成通車，1985年被定為國家歷史性地標土木工程。

He also began writing fantasy as a child, and he sold – and dramatically read – his stories to his friends. In Marist High School, Martin became more heavily involved in the comic book world, and began writing short stories set in these fantastical worlds. He gained a following at comic book conventions, and people often looked forward to reading his innovative works. When he was 21, he sold ‘The Hero’ to Galaxy, thus marking his first professional sale.

他開始寫奇幻故事也是在童年時期，寫故事賣給朋友們——還聲情并茂地讀給他們聽。就讀馬里斯特高中期間，馬丁深深沉浸在漫畫書的世界里，并開始創(chuàng)作發(fā)生在這些奇幻世界里的短篇故事。通過參加漫展，他有了粉絲，人們常對他富有創(chuàng)意的作品充滿期待。21歲那年，他的作品“英雄”被《銀河科幻》雜志買斷，成為他作家生涯的第一筆生意。

He studied journalism at Northwestern University, and he graduated with a B.S. in 1970 and M.S. in 1971. At this time, Martin became eligible to be drafted for the Vietnam War, but he was a staunch advocate against the war; he received conscientious-objector[2]status and served instead as a VISTA[3] volunteer from 1972 to 1974.

他在西北大學學習新聞學，并于1970年和1971年分別獲得學士和碩士學位。此時，馬丁符合征兵條件該入伍參與越戰(zhàn)，但他堅決反戰(zhàn)；后來，他以“良心反對者”身份于1972年到1974年加入為美國服務志愿隊當志愿者。

[2]指基于道德或宗教信仰原因不肯服兵役的人。聯(lián)合國人權(quán)委員會第1995/83號決議指出：“正在服兵役的人不應被排除在依良心拒服兵役權(quán)之外?！钡?998/77號決議再次確認：“正在服兵役的人員可能會出現(xiàn)基于良心的反對意見?！币恍﹪H組織將5月15日定為“國際良心反對者日”。

[3]即Volunteers in Serviceto America。

Later on, Martin became a professor at Clarke University and a chess teacher. He taught journalism from 1976 to 1979, when he realized that his true passion was writing. He quit his job at Clarke and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico to pursue his dream of writing.

而后，馬丁成為克拉克大學的教授和國際象棋老師。1976年到1979年教授新聞學期間，他意識到自己真正熱愛的是寫作。于是，他辭去克拉克的教職，搬到新墨西哥州圣菲市，開始追求自己的寫作夢。

The projection of his writing career is incredibly interesting, especially since we are familiar with Martin’s current works. In fact, he began his career not with fantasy but writing science-fiction and horror. When his book, The Armageddon Rag (1983), did not receive the success he had hoped for, he moved onto television. He worked on the television shows, Twilight Zone, Max Headroom, and Beauty and the Beast[4].

他的寫作事業(yè)發(fā)展軌跡相當有趣，尤其是我們熟悉了馬丁現(xiàn)在的作品之后再來回顧。其實，他最初寫的不是奇幻故事，而是科幻和恐怖故事。當他的長篇小說《末日狂歌》（1983）沒有取得預期的成功時，他轉(zhuǎn)向了電視行業(yè)。他參與制作的電視節(jié)目包括《陰陽魔界》《雙面麥克斯》和《俠膽雄獅》。

[4]此劇于1990年《正大綜藝》開播時引進中國，是當年《正大劇場》所播的第一個劇集，官方譯名為《俠膽雄獅》，與同名童話電影《美女與野獸》并無關(guān)聯(lián)。

In 1991, Martin began writing what he is most famous for, A Song of Ice and Fire. This marked his move from science-fiction and horror, as A Song of Ice and Fire is an epic fantasy series that was inspired by the War of the Roses[5], a tumultuous time in England when the Lancasters and Yorks fought for power, and Ivanhoe[6], a story of medieval England written by Sir Walter Scott.

1991年，馬丁開始創(chuàng)作他最著名的作品《冰與火之歌》。這是他從科幻和恐怖轉(zhuǎn)型的標志，因為《冰與火之歌》是一部史詩奇幻系列，靈感來源于玫瑰戰(zhàn)爭——英國歷史上蘭開斯特家族和約克家族激戰(zhàn)爭權(quán)的那段混亂時期，以及沃爾特·司各特爵士所寫的中世紀英國故事《艾凡赫》。

[5]又稱薔薇戰(zhàn)爭（1455年─1485年），是英王愛德華三世（1327—1377年在位）的兩支后裔蘭開斯特家族和約克家族的支持者為了爭奪英格蘭王位而發(fā)生的斷續(xù)內(nèi)戰(zhàn)。

[6]又譯《劫后英雄傳》，英國著名的歷史小說家和詩人沃爾特·司各特爵士的代表作之一。小說描寫“獅心王”理查東征時失蹤，其弟約翰趁機奪位，后理查得到一些諾曼人和撒克遜貴族塞得利克之子艾凡赫及綠林好漢羅賓漢等人的幫助，終于戰(zhàn)勝約翰，重登王位，肅清叛逆。

A Song of Ice and Fireis a seven-part series of fantasy written for adults. A Game of Thrones was published in 1996, A Clash of Kings in 1998, A Storm of Swords in 2000, A Feast for Crows in 2005, and A Dance with Dragons in 2011.

《冰與火之歌》是一部為成人所寫的系列奇幻故事，分為七卷，現(xiàn)已出版五卷：1996年《權(quán)力的游戲》，1998年《列王的紛爭》，2000年《冰雨的風暴》，2005年《群鴉的盛宴》，2011年《魔龍的狂舞》。

Martin writes each chapter from the perspective of a specific character, providing a limited point of view[7] for each section. The reader is able to understand the inner workings of the individual, but the reader is barred from an omnipotent understanding of the text. The world he has created has magic, but there is much more than that. While magic exists, it exists on the periphery, and the inner turmoil of the characters is much more important.

每一章馬丁都通過某個角色的視角來寫，每一部分都提供一個有限視角。讀者可以理解人物的內(nèi)心活動，卻無法全方位了解整個故事。他創(chuàng)造的這個世界是有魔法的，但卻不止于此。雖然魔法存在，卻只是邊緣化的存在，人物內(nèi)心的劇烈掙扎重要得多。

[7] 小說常見的敘事視角有“全知視角（omniscient point of view）”和“有限視角（limited point of view）”。

His work also has a level of realness that is astonishing in a work of fantasy. Characters are imperfect, and many make questionable moral choices. In the end, however, Martin shows that both good and bad happen to both the morally elevated and the corrupt. He has made it clear that any character can die at any point, which has led to a lot of heartbreak from readers.

作為奇幻故事，馬丁的作品同時具有一種驚人的真實感。角色并非完人，很多角色還做出了道德上有問題的選擇。不過，最終，馬丁告訴大家，無論道德高尚的人還是腐朽墮落的人，都會有福也有禍。他也清楚表明，任何角色都隨時可能死去，這讓很多讀者心碎不已。

In 2011, A Song of Ice and Fire became a television series titled Game of Thrones. Martin has been closely involved with the production. It has currently run for six seasons, and viewers anxiously await the seventh season[8] to answer their questions from the season six finale.

2011年，《冰與火之歌》被改編成電視劇，名為《權(quán)力的游戲》，馬丁一直深度參與該劇的制作。該劇現(xiàn)已播出6季，觀眾們焦急等待著第7季開播，來解答第6季終集留下的疑問。

[8] 《權(quán)力的游戲》第7季將于2017年7月16日在HBO首播，這一季只有7集。

His fans are also waiting for The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, the next books in the series, to answer the questions Martin and the television show have not yet addressed. Martin, however, has no plans to rush. He has made it clear that he will continue to write the books while working on the television show and writing other novels. The television producers know the ultimate trajectory for the series, and the show has in some cases spread beyond the scope of the book.

粉絲們還期待著系列小說接下來的新卷《凜冬的寒風》和《春曉的夢想》，希望馬丁和電視劇尚未說明的一些問題可以得到解答。然而馬丁可不想趕時間。他已經(jīng)表明，他將會繼續(xù)創(chuàng)作這部小說，同時參與電視劇的工作并撰寫其他小說。電視劇的制作人知道劇情的最終軌跡，電視劇在某些方面已經(jīng)擴展到了原著范圍之外。

In addition to the novels in the series, he has published A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a story that is set in the same world as A Song of Ice and Fire. He wrote the parts of this book throughout the course of writing the original series, showing his versatility and admirable stubbornness to continue writing as he desires.

除了這套系列小說，馬丁還出版了《七王國的騎士》，故事也發(fā)生在《冰與火之歌》所設(shè)定的世界里。馬丁在創(chuàng)作原系列小說的過程中，一點一點寫完了這本外傳，既表明了他的多才多藝，也表現(xiàn)了他令人欽佩的固執(zhí)，堅持按自己的想法寫作。

But how will the story continue? What is going to happen in Westeros[9], and more importantly: when are we going to find out? Martin’s skill as a writer has kept readers and viewers enthralled. Many hope he will finish the next book before the next season of the show begins, but no one knows with Martin[10]. He always keeps his readers guessing.

但是故事會怎樣繼續(xù)？維斯特洛究竟會發(fā)生些什么？更重要的是，我們什么時候才能知道？作家馬丁創(chuàng)作技能高超，讓讀者和觀眾沉迷在作品中。很多人希望他能在新一季電視劇開播前寫完下一卷，但沒人知道馬丁會怎么做。他總是讓讀者猜不透。

[9]維斯特洛大陸，也被稱為日落國度（the Sunset Kingdoms），是《冰與火之歌》世界中四塊已知大陸中最西面的一塊，小說的大多數(shù)故事情節(jié)都發(fā)生在維斯特洛大陸上。

[10] know with sb/sth是不規(guī)范的英語用法（主流英文詞典皆未收入此詞組），正規(guī)出版物中比較少見，通常用于否定的語境，常見于句型You never know with sb/sth，表示某事物、某人（群）復雜多變，難以理解、預測。英國著名推理小說家契斯（JamesHadley Chase）的小說《你永遠無法猜透女人》（You Never Know with Women），可能是這個詞組最能上臺面的一次了。