狄更斯:贏得生前身后名

2012-04-29 00:00:00RadhikaJonesNormanXin

新東方英語(yǔ) 2012年6期

“他是最美好的人，他是最糟糕的人；他是智慧的人，他是愚昧的人；他是信仰的人，他是懷疑的人；他屬于光明的季節(jié)，他屬于黑暗的季節(jié)；他有希望的春天，他有失望的冬天；他一生在試圖直奔天堂，他一直在滑向相反的方向——簡(jiǎn)而言之，他跟我們非常相像，某些最喧囂的權(quán)威堅(jiān)持要用形容詞的最高級(jí)來(lái)形容他。說(shuō)他好，是最高級(jí)的；說(shuō)他不好，也是最高級(jí)的。”

——查爾斯·狄更斯(《雙城記》)

In 1812， the year Charles Dickens was born， there were 66 novels published in Britain. People had been writing novels for a century， but nobody aspired to do it professionally. Many works of fiction appeared anonymously， with attributions like “By a Lady.” The steam-powered printing press was still in its infancy; the literacy rate in England was under 50%. And novels， for the most part， were looked upon as silly， immoral， toxic1) or just plain bad.

In 1870， when Dickens died， the world mourned him as its first literary celebrity: a career writer and publisher， famous and beloved， who had led an explosion in both the publication of novels and their readership and whose characters were held up as moral touchstones. Today Dickens’ greatness is unchallenged. Evicting him from the pantheon2) of English literature would make about as much sense as the Louvre3) selling off the Mona Lisa.

How did Dickens get to the top? For all the sentiment readers attach to4) stories， literature is a numbers game5)， and the test of time is exceedingly difficult to pass. Some 60，000 novels were published in the Victorian era6)， from 1837 to 1901; today a casual reader might be able to name a half-dozen of them. It’s partly that Dickens was a stylistic genius， whose writing attracted audiences highbrow7) and low. It’s partly that his career rode a wave of social， political and scientific progress. But it’s also that he rewrote the culture of literature and put himself at the center. No one will ever know what mix of talent， ambition， energy and luck made Dickens such a singular writer. But as his bicentenary arrives， it is possible to understand how he made himself a lasting one.

Posthumous Papers

Dickens got into novel writing by accident. As a young man， he longed to be an actor and trained to be a reporter. He dashed off8) fictional stories from time to time. In 1836 he accepted a magazine commission to write a series of comic sketches9)， at 14 a month， to accompany a set of illustrations of sporting life. The result， The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club， was a sensation. It established Dickens as a peerless ventriloquist10)， able to channel the voices of both swells11) and servants， and as a gifted writer of serials， which became the standard method of publication in an era when books were expensive but cheap periodicals thrived. Most important in terms of his legacy， The Pickwick Papers established him as a financially viable artist， bestriding12) the gap between creativity and commerce. From Pickwick to his deathbed， he wrote for an audience， and he wrote for money—two forces that before his time had had little to do with art.

Dickens’ commitment to his audience also struck a contradictory balance: he cultivated a mass readership by creating a sense of personal intimacy. Readers felt he was speaking directly to them， and often he did. He channeled his thespian13) ambitions into live dramatic readings; his bloodcurdling14) performance of the brutal killing of Nancy in Oliver Twist caused fainting spells15) among audience members. “He invented that form of publicity，” says Nicholas Dames， a Victorian scholar and chair of the English department at Columbia University. “He invented merchandising. All those things that we associate with publishing culture—he was essentially the first.” And Dickens knew it. He called himself the Inimitable， a nickname that stuck.

As his audience grew， Dickens took great care to keep his populist touch. Midway through the writing and publication of David Copperfield， he received a letter from an acquaintance objecting to a minor character， Miss Mowcher， who is implicated in a scheme involving the seduction of David’s childhood friend Little Em’ly. Like the letter writer， Miss Mowcher happened to be a dwarf. Dickens responded that all his characters were composites and he hadn’t meant to suggest that deformity16) of size might signify deformity of soul. But when Miss Mowcher reappears in the novel， he backpedals17) and clears her of any wrongdoing. It’s an awkward， implausible scene， but Dickens cared more about appeasing18) his wounded reader. He felt responsible to her， and to all his readers， and they adored him in return.

As immediate as the response was to his work， Dickens knew that his writing was only as powerful as his ability to control it. Authors possessed limited copyright protection in England at the time his career began and virtually none abroad. American magazines pirated his work outright. Dickens fought successfully for stronger terms of copyright in England and for international agreements to prevent unauthorized translations and theft. He even advocated for an authors’ union. As the editor of two weeklies， he was cultivating new talent and he wanted writers to profit from their work， during and after their lifetime.

He also began to think posthumously in his fiction. His early novels were rooted in problems specific to his time: the Poor Law19) of 1834 (Oliver Twist)， the abusive schools in Yorkshire (Nicholas Nickleby). As he matured， his criticism became more oblique20). He invented grand， allegorical21) evils: the Circumlocution Office22) in Little Dorrit， the parasitic court case of Jarndyce Jarndyce23) in Bleak House—giant grinders of corruption and inefficiency that mangled24) all who entered them. When people read Oliver Twist， they knew whom to blame and what to fix. With Dickens’ later novels， says Dames， “You can’t identify who the bad guy is anymore. Everything seems so systemic.”

Critics found these novels dreary and diffuse25). Henry James26)， reviewing Our Mutual Friend for the Nation in 1865， wrote， “For the last 10 years it has seemed to us that Mr. Dickens has been unmistakably forcing himself. Bleak House was forced; Little Dorrit was labored; the present work is dug out as with a spade and pickaxe.” But Dickens wasn’t writing for the critics. His deft touch with comedy and pathos27) kept his loyal readers happy， and he had a new readership in mind: posterity.

His final bit of legacy building involved the appointment of his close friend John Forster28) as his biographer. When Forster’s Life of Charles Dickens appeared， two years after the great writer’s death， it included a tale that Dickens had been too ashamed to tell all but a handful of people: that as a child he had been sent for a time to work in a blacking factory while his father was in debtor’s prison. Readers were stunned. They already knew the details but from the young David Copperfield， who speaks of being “thrown away” at age 10 by his cruel stepfather to labor in a warehouse. They knew that Amy Dorrit was born in the debtor’s prison to which her father was consigned. They knew that Pip， the hero of Great Expectations， carries a lifelong burden of shame about his low origins. Until Forster’s biography， they didn’t know where all this shame came from. It was Dickens’ last plot twist29)—the revelation that at his characters’ most vulnerable moments， their creator was speaking from experience. It surprised his readers and kept him alive in their minds.

Immortal and Inimitable

The Dickens bicentenary coincides with another leap in literary culture: the rise of electronic text. The debate about e-books still focuses on the merits of page vs. screen. But the far more profound effect will be in disrupting the numbers game of literature—the game that began with the Victorian fiction boom， which began with Dickens.

E-books are changing the idea of being in print. Publishing was designed as a Darwinian process in which authors compete to be printed and then thousands of books go the way of the passenger pigeon30). Digital files， self-publishing and print-on-demand technologies raise the possibility that this natural selection will be warped31). The traditional definition of going out of print means that the content is no longer accessible. The digital version lives in perpetuity32). In some ways， that’s a good thing but it exacerbates the problem of quantity.

The flood of books in the 19th century elicited two powerful institutional responses: the rise of prize culture and the rise of literature as a field of study. The message was that the masses needed help figuring out what to read， and the cultural elite was going to provide it. The Nobel Prize was first awarded in 1901， the Pulitzer in 1917. About the same time， the study of English literature became a mainstream field， and a canon33) of approved literary texts began to take shape.

A century later， the curatorial influence of these institutions has been eroded by the same flood that brought them into existence. The English canon， which came under pressure for being largely populated by dead white males， has been expanded and modernized. Prizes have metastasized34). As James English writes， the ratio of awards to new titles of fiction， poetry and drama has risen tenfold since the 1920s. At the same time， the culture of reviews and criticism has fragmented. Anyone with a smart phone can review a new novel， or an old one.

If Dickens had been around for the first Nobel， he wouldn’t have won it. His style drew scorn35) from critics for much of the early 20th century， when complicated， even inhospitable36) writing came into fashion. (One of the tenets of modernism was that if it wasn’t difficult， it wasn’t art.) But regular people kept reading him. And around midcentury he was rescued by， among others， George Orwell37)， who latched onto38) him as a social critic. It was his dark， dreary novels that did the trick39). They were presciently modern， it turned out. Dickens， so quintessentially of his time， was also ahead of it.

Once， an educated person could read pretty much everything important， because there weren’t as many books and an educated person by definition possessed the money to buy books and the leisure to read them. The same publishing machine that helped spread literacy in the 19th century made it impossible for all the readers to read anywhere near all the books. Now the idea is laughable.

So the Dickens bicentenary is a celebration of his immortality， but it’s also a celebration of consensus， a sigh of relief. The verdict on Dickens is sound. He’s been questioned and cross-examined and voted in. The exponential40) accumulation of fiction combined with the widening of its circle of stewards—prize givers and professors， yes， but also recommendation engines and top 10 lists—may make that kind of consensus difficult for future readers. They’ll have more writers to choose from， more tastemakers to choose them and infinite piles of books in the cloud. The advantage will go to those novelists who don’t just reflect the culture but also transform it. Will the readers of the future find their 21st century Dickens on the Pulitzer roster or the best-seller list or FanFiction.net? This much is clear: on Feb. 7， 2112， they’ll be wishing the original Inimitable a very happy 300th birthday.

1812年，狄更斯誕生，那一年，英國(guó)有66部小說(shuō)出版。其時(shí)人們寫(xiě)小說(shuō)已有一百年的歷史，但從沒(méi)有人想到過(guò)把它當(dāng)做一個(gè)職業(yè)。許多小說(shuō)作品都沒(méi)有署名，只是標(biāo)明“一位女士著”等等。當(dāng)時(shí)，以蒸汽為動(dòng)力的印刷業(yè)尚處于嬰兒期，而英國(guó)能讀書(shū)、會(huì)寫(xiě)字的人還不到50%。大部分小說(shuō)都被認(rèn)為愚蠢、傷風(fēng)敗俗、毒害民眾或者干脆就是差勁。

1870年，狄更斯去世，世人把他當(dāng)做第一位文學(xué)名人來(lái)哀悼：一位職業(yè)作家和出版商，聲名遠(yuǎn)播，受人愛(ài)戴。他使得小說(shuō)的出版數(shù)量和讀者人數(shù)都有了爆炸式增長(zhǎng)，他所創(chuàng)造的人物也被當(dāng)做是道德的試金石。即使在今天，狄更斯的偉大地位依然無(wú)人能夠挑戰(zhàn)。如果英國(guó)文學(xué)的神圣殿堂里少了他，那就好比是盧浮宮賣(mài)掉了蒙娜·麗莎一樣。

狄更斯是如何達(dá)到如此登峰造極的地位的呢？不管讀者對(duì)小說(shuō)寄予多少情感，文學(xué)說(shuō)到底就像數(shù)字游戲，時(shí)間的考驗(yàn)又極其難以通過(guò)。在維多利亞時(shí)代，從1837到1901年，大約有六萬(wàn)部小說(shuō)得以出版；今天，一個(gè)普通讀者大概只能說(shuō)出其中的五六部。而狄更斯之所以能夠經(jīng)久不衰，部分原因在于他是位風(fēng)格大師，其作品既有陽(yáng)春白雪，也有下里巴人，能吸引各種品味的讀者。還有一部分原因是他的職業(yè)生涯正趕上社會(huì)、政治和科學(xué)進(jìn)步的浪潮。但除此以外，還有一個(gè)原因，那就是他改寫(xiě)了文學(xué)文化，并將自己置于文學(xué)文化的中心。誰(shuí)都無(wú)法說(shuō)清是什么樣的才華、抱負(fù)、能量和運(yùn)氣使得狄更斯成為如此獨(dú)樹(shù)一幟的作家。但值其兩百周年誕辰之際，也許我們能弄清楚一件事：狄更斯本人是如何做到讓自己經(jīng)久不衰的。

《匹克威克外傳》及其他創(chuàng)作

狄更斯從事小說(shuō)創(chuàng)作純屬偶然。年輕的時(shí)候，他渴望成為一位演員，而他所受的教育則要他成為一名記者。他時(shí)常也會(huì)隨意寫(xiě)上幾篇短篇小說(shuō)。1836年，他接受一家雜志的委托，寫(xiě)一個(gè)喜劇短篇系列，每月14篇，與一套體育生活插圖配套刊登?！镀タ送送鈧鳌肪瓦@樣誕生了，引起了巨大的轟動(dòng)。它確立了狄更斯舉世無(wú)雙的模仿大師的地位，不管是上流社會(huì)的頭面人物，還是地位卑下的傭人，他都能惟妙惟肖地模仿其說(shuō)話(huà)的語(yǔ)氣。它同時(shí)也確立了狄更斯在系列作品方面天才作家的地位：那時(shí)書(shū)籍的價(jià)格昂貴，但價(jià)格低廉的期刊卻很受歡迎，于是期刊連載便成了出版作品的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)做法。更為重要的是，《匹克威克外傳》確立了他經(jīng)濟(jì)上能夠獨(dú)立的藝術(shù)家地位，同時(shí)這部作品也在文學(xué)創(chuàng)作和商業(yè)盈利之間架起了一座橋梁。從創(chuàng)作《匹克威克外傳》開(kāi)始到離世之日，狄更斯一直都在為讀者創(chuàng)作，同時(shí)也在為金錢(qián)創(chuàng)作——在他之前，這兩者和藝術(shù)幾乎沒(méi)有任何關(guān)系。

狄更斯對(duì)讀者的忠誠(chéng)也使原本對(duì)立的雙方之間產(chǎn)生了一種平衡：他在作品中創(chuàng)造出一種氛圍，讓讀者覺(jué)得自己與他有著親密的個(gè)人關(guān)系，借此他培養(yǎng)了一個(gè)龐大的讀者群。讀者都覺(jué)得他是在直接和他們對(duì)話(huà)，他也的確經(jīng)常這樣做。他將自己做一名演員的夢(mèng)想轉(zhuǎn)化為對(duì)作品充滿(mǎn)激情的朗讀。在讀到《霧都孤兒》中南茜被殘忍地殺害那一幕時(shí)，他那令人毛骨悚然的表演引起觀眾席中的陣陣暈厥?！笆撬l(fā)明了那種宣傳形式，”哥倫比亞大學(xué)英語(yǔ)系主任、專(zhuān)門(mén)研究維多利亞時(shí)期英國(guó)文學(xué)的學(xué)者尼古拉斯·達(dá)姆斯指出，“他發(fā)明了營(yíng)銷(xiāo)策略。實(shí)質(zhì)上，和出版文化能夠扯上關(guān)系的所有那些東西都是他首創(chuàng)的?！钡腋贡救艘仓肋@一點(diǎn)。他稱(chēng)自己為“不可模仿者”，這個(gè)綽號(hào)后來(lái)一直保留了下來(lái)。

隨著讀者數(shù)量的增長(zhǎng)，狄更斯特別注重保留自己的平民主義特色。在《大衛(wèi)·科波菲爾》的創(chuàng)作和出版進(jìn)行到一半的時(shí)候，他收到了一位熟人的來(lái)信，信中對(duì)小說(shuō)里一個(gè)次要人物——莫切爾小姐——表達(dá)了反對(duì)意見(jiàn)。在小說(shuō)中，莫切爾小姐設(shè)下圈套，涉嫌參與了引誘大衛(wèi)的兒時(shí)玩伴小艾米莉的陰謀。巧合的是，和這位寫(xiě)信者一樣，莫切爾小姐也是個(gè)身材矮小的侏儒。狄更斯解釋說(shuō)他筆下的所有人物都是各種性格的復(fù)合體，他本人并無(wú)意暗示身體上的缺陷就代表著靈魂的缺陷。但是，當(dāng)莫切爾小姐再次在小說(shuō)中露面時(shí)，狄更斯就改主意了，這次他不再讓莫切爾做任何壞事。這一變化有點(diǎn)別扭和不合常理，但狄更斯更看重?fù)嵛孔x者受傷的心靈。他覺(jué)得自己要對(duì)她負(fù)責(zé)，對(duì)所有讀者負(fù)責(zé)，而讀者給他的回報(bào)則是對(duì)他的崇拜。

雖然狄更斯對(duì)其作品的反應(yīng)是迅速的，但他也知道，作品的生命力在于他對(duì)作品的控制能力。在他創(chuàng)作生涯剛剛開(kāi)始時(shí)，作者在英國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)只擁有有限的版權(quán)保護(hù)，而在海外則幾乎沒(méi)有任何保護(hù)。美國(guó)雜志就公然盜版他的作品。狄更斯成功地在英國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)爭(zhēng)取到了更為強(qiáng)勢(shì)的版權(quán)條款，在國(guó)際上也簽訂了相關(guān)協(xié)定，以阻止未經(jīng)授權(quán)的翻譯和剽竊。他甚至呼吁成立一個(gè)作家聯(lián)盟。作為兩個(gè)周刊的總編，他一直在扶植新的人才，致力于讓作者從自己的作品中獲利，不管是生前還是身后。

在小說(shuō)中，狄更斯也開(kāi)始思考身后事了。他早期的小說(shuō)都植根于他所在那個(gè)時(shí)代所特有的問(wèn)題，比如1834年頒布的《濟(jì)貧法》(《霧都孤兒》)、約克郡虐待兒童的學(xué)校(《少爺返鄉(xiāng)》)等。隨著日漸成熟，他的批判也變得愈加隱晦。他開(kāi)創(chuàng)了用諷喻的手法描寫(xiě)巨大社會(huì)弊端的先河，比如《小杜麗》中的“兜圈子辦公室”，還有《荒涼山莊》中在英國(guó)法庭上演的寄生蟲(chóng)式的“詹狄士狀告詹狄士”訴訟案——這些龐大的由腐敗和低效構(gòu)成的“粉碎機(jī)”足以令每一個(gè)闖入者粉身碎骨。人們?cè)陂喿x《霧都孤兒》時(shí)，能夠知道責(zé)任在誰(shuí)，問(wèn)題在哪兒。但在讀狄更斯后期的小說(shuō)時(shí)，就像達(dá)姆斯說(shuō)的那樣，“你再也無(wú)法看出誰(shuí)是壞蛋了。一切都似乎自成體系?！?/p>

批評(píng)家覺(jué)得這些小說(shuō)沉悶枯燥、冗長(zhǎng)散漫。亨利·詹姆斯在1865年為《國(guó)家》雜志撰寫(xiě)《我們共同的朋友》的書(shū)評(píng)時(shí)指出，“在我們看來(lái)，過(guò)去的十年時(shí)間里，狄更斯先生一直在強(qiáng)迫自己寫(xiě)作，這一點(diǎn)是顯而易見(jiàn)的?！痘臎錾角f》是硬逼出來(lái)的；《小杜麗》寫(xiě)得非常吃力；而《我們共同的朋友》簡(jiǎn)直是用鐵鍬和鎬硬挖出來(lái)的?！钡腋共⒉粸榕u(píng)家而創(chuàng)作。他對(duì)喜劇和感傷作品駕輕就熟，深得忠實(shí)讀者的歡心。而且，他開(kāi)始考慮一個(gè)新的讀者群：子孫后代。

狄更斯為自己身后留名做的最后一件事是委任他的密友約翰·福斯特作為自己的傳記作家。在這位偉大的作家去世兩年之后，福斯特撰寫(xiě)的《查爾斯·狄更斯的一生》面世了。書(shū)中講述了一件事，這件事狄更斯一直羞于示人，僅僅告訴了身邊少數(shù)人：小時(shí)候，父親因欠債入獄的那段時(shí)間里，他曾一度被送到鞋油廠打工。這件事讓讀者們深感震驚。他們?cè)缇椭劳甏蚬さ募?xì)節(jié)，但那是少年大衛(wèi)·科波菲爾的情況——大衛(wèi)曾說(shuō)過(guò)自己在十歲時(shí)被冷酷無(wú)情的繼父“扔”在一家貨棧打工。他們也知道艾米·杜麗出生在關(guān)押欠債者的牢房里，那是她父親被關(guān)押的地方。他們還知道《遠(yuǎn)大前程》中的主人公皮普為自己出身低賤而感到羞辱，終生背負(fù)著這個(gè)沉重的負(fù)擔(dān)。但直到福斯特的傳記出版，他們才知道這些恥辱的根源。這是狄更斯安排的最后的情節(jié)轉(zhuǎn)折，現(xiàn)在終于真相大白：在那些書(shū)中人物內(nèi)心最為脆弱的時(shí)刻，原來(lái)是他們的創(chuàng)造者在講述自己的親身經(jīng)歷。這讓他的讀者感到意外，卻也使他永遠(yuǎn)活在他們心中。

永恒與獨(dú)創(chuàng)

狄更斯誕辰兩百周年恰逢文學(xué)界的又一飛躍：電子文本的興起。人們關(guān)于電子書(shū)的爭(zhēng)論依然圍繞著紙質(zhì)書(shū)與電子屏幕的孰優(yōu)孰劣。但電子書(shū)更為深刻的影響是它會(huì)干擾文學(xué)領(lǐng)域的數(shù)字游戲。這種游戲始于維多利亞時(shí)代小說(shuō)的興盛時(shí)期，以狄更斯為先導(dǎo)。

電子書(shū)改變了人們關(guān)于出版的概念。出版是一個(gè)優(yōu)勝劣汰的過(guò)程，作者們相互競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，搶奪出版機(jī)會(huì)，然后成千上萬(wàn)的書(shū)像已經(jīng)滅絕的旅鴿一樣消失不再了。數(shù)字文檔、自我出版以及按需印刷等技術(shù)極有可能使這種自然淘汰過(guò)程發(fā)生改變。傳統(tǒng)的絕版概念意味著書(shū)的內(nèi)容已不可獲得。而數(shù)字版本的圖書(shū)則會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)存在。從某種意義上說(shuō)，這是好事，但它卻使量的統(tǒng)計(jì)更加困難。

19世紀(jì)海量書(shū)籍的出版催生了兩種影響力深遠(yuǎn)的新生事物：一是獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)文化的興起，二是文學(xué)作為一種研究領(lǐng)域的興起。它們傳達(dá)給我們的是以下信息：民眾需要幫助以確定閱讀什么，而文化精英可以提供這種幫助。于是，諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)于1901年首次頒發(fā)，普利策獎(jiǎng)于1917年首次頒發(fā)。幾乎與此同時(shí)，英國(guó)文學(xué)研究成為主流研究領(lǐng)域，而公認(rèn)的經(jīng)典文學(xué)作品的名單也開(kāi)始形成。

一個(gè)世紀(jì)以后，這些新生事物作為評(píng)議者的影響力已經(jīng)受到侵蝕，而侵蝕它們的正是過(guò)去催生它們的海量書(shū)籍。由于主要被逝世的白人男作家所占據(jù)，英國(guó)經(jīng)典文學(xué)的名單從一誕生就伴隨著壓力，如今這一名單的范圍已經(jīng)擴(kuò)大并且已被現(xiàn)代化。而各種獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)已經(jīng)像癌細(xì)胞一樣擴(kuò)散。正如詹姆斯·英格利士所指出的那樣，自20世紀(jì)20年代以來(lái)，頒發(fā)給小說(shuō)、詩(shī)歌和戲劇新作的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)比例上升了十倍。與此同時(shí)，評(píng)論與批評(píng)文化已變得支離破碎。任何一個(gè)拿著智能手機(jī)的人都能夠?qū)π缕f作發(fā)表評(píng)論。

在首屆諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)?lì)C獎(jiǎng)時(shí)，即使狄更斯還活著，他也無(wú)緣獲得。在20世紀(jì)初期的大部分時(shí)間里，評(píng)論者對(duì)狄更斯的寫(xiě)作風(fēng)格都嗤之以鼻，當(dāng)時(shí)流行的是那種錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜甚至不近人情的作品。(現(xiàn)代主義的原則之一：不晦澀就不是藝術(shù)。)但還是有一些忠實(shí)讀者一直在閱讀他的作品。直到20世紀(jì)中葉，狄更斯才被人從“冷宮”中拯救出來(lái)，其中一個(gè)拯救者就是喬治·奧威爾，他十分欣賞狄更斯作為社會(huì)批評(píng)家的成就。這其中發(fā)揮奇效的正是狄更斯那些隱晦、沉悶的小說(shuō)。人們發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些作品竟然如此超前地具有現(xiàn)代主義風(fēng)格。狄更斯是他所在時(shí)代的典型代表，但同時(shí)也超越了那個(gè)時(shí)代。

曾經(jīng)，一個(gè)受過(guò)教育的人差不多可以讀到所有重要的書(shū)籍，一是因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)書(shū)籍不多，再者是因?yàn)槭苓^(guò)教育的人當(dāng)然有錢(qián)去買(mǎi)書(shū)，也有閑暇去讀書(shū)。然而，19世紀(jì)時(shí)曾大力普及文化知識(shí)的同一臺(tái)出版機(jī)器，現(xiàn)在卻不可能讓任何讀者哪怕是接近讀完所有的書(shū)籍。讀遍天下書(shū)的想法如今只能淪為笑柄。

因此，狄更斯誕辰兩百周年紀(jì)念既是慶祝他的不朽地位，也是慶祝人們終于達(dá)成一致意見(jiàn)，可以松口氣了。人們對(duì)狄更斯的看法，經(jīng)歷了質(zhì)疑、反復(fù)盤(pán)問(wèn)乃至最后投票表決，最終得出了合情合理的裁定。在將來(lái)，要為讀者作出一個(gè)類(lèi)似的裁定將變得更加困難，因?yàn)樾≌f(shuō)數(shù)量在呈指數(shù)級(jí)增長(zhǎng)，而且評(píng)判者的圈子也變得越來(lái)越大——有頒獎(jiǎng)機(jī)構(gòu)和大學(xué)教授，還有網(wǎng)站的推薦引擎和十大優(yōu)秀圖書(shū)排行榜等等。他們需要從更多的作家中進(jìn)行篩選，需要有更多的仲裁者來(lái)進(jìn)行仲裁，還有一堆堆高聳入云的圖書(shū)需要評(píng)判。那些不僅反映文化而且改變文化的作家無(wú)疑將占據(jù)優(yōu)勢(shì)。那么，在普利策獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)呙麊紊?，在暢銷(xiāo)書(shū)排行榜上，或者在同人小說(shuō)網(wǎng)站上，未來(lái)的讀者能否找到他們21世紀(jì)的狄更斯呢？有一點(diǎn)是顯而易見(jiàn)的：2112年2月7日，他們將會(huì)向這位富有創(chuàng)意的“不可模仿者”道一聲：“三百歲生日快樂(lè)！”

1.toxic [?t?ks?k] adj. 有毒的，能夠造成傷害的

2.pantheon [?p?nθi?n] n. 萬(wàn)神殿，偉人祠

3.Louvre：盧浮宮，世界上最古老的博物館之一，位于法國(guó)巴黎市中心的塞納河北岸，始建于1204年。

4.attach to：使依戀，把……放在

5.numbers game：數(shù)字游戲；對(duì)數(shù)字押賭注的彩票游戲

6.Victorian era：維多利亞時(shí)代(1837～1901)，即維多利亞女王(Alexandrina Victoria)的統(tǒng)治時(shí)期，被認(rèn)為是英國(guó)工業(yè)革命和大英帝國(guó)的巔峰時(shí)期。

7.highbrow [?ha??bra?] adj. 有高深學(xué)問(wèn)或文化素養(yǎng)的

8.dash off：迅速寫(xiě)(或畫(huà))，迅速完成

9.sketch [sket?] n. 短篇作品(簡(jiǎn)要的、少量的或非正式的文學(xué)作品)

10.ventriloquist [ven?tr?l?kw?st] n. 口技表演者

11.swell [swel] n. [非正式用語(yǔ)]衣著時(shí)髦的人；有名望的人；社交卓越的人

12.bestride [b??stra?d] vt. 跨越，踏過(guò)

13.thespian [?θespi?n] adj. 戲劇的，悲劇的

14.bloodcurdling [?bl?d?k??(r)d(?)l??] adj. 讓人恐懼的；令人毛骨悚然的

15.spell [spel] n. (疾病等的)一次發(fā)作

16.deformity [d??f??(r)m?ti] n. 殘缺，畸形

17.backpedal [?b?k?ped(?)l] vi. 變卦，出爾反爾

18.appease [??pi?z] vt. 安撫，撫慰

19.Poor Law：《濟(jì)貧法》，1834年由英國(guó)輝格黨政府頒布的對(duì)貧困者進(jìn)行救濟(jì)的法律，史稱(chēng)“新濟(jì)貧法”。它始于1601年伊麗莎白女王頒布的《濟(jì)貧法》，到20世紀(jì)40年代被有關(guān)公共福利制度的社會(huì)立法所取代。

20.oblique [??bli?k] adj. 不直截了當(dāng)?shù)?/p>

21.allegorical [?l??ɡ?r?k(?)l] adj. 寓言的，諷喻的

22.Circumlocution Office：“兜圈子辦公室”，以因循推諉和手續(xù)繁多為能事的政府機(jī)關(guān)

23.Jarndyce Jarndyce：詹狄士狀告詹狄士案，狄更斯小說(shuō)《荒涼山莊》中的一起遺產(chǎn)訴訟官司。該案件集中表現(xiàn)了英國(guó)司法制度的邪惡和無(wú)能。在小說(shuō)中，法官和律師們圍繞這個(gè)案子，像兀鷹般用詭辯、拖延等各種方式分享這個(gè)案子的利益。此案糾纏了數(shù)十年之久，期待從這個(gè)案子得到遺產(chǎn)利益的人死的死、瘋的瘋。案子在耗盡了遺產(chǎn)后才自動(dòng)“永遠(yuǎn)結(jié)束”。

24.mangle [?m??ɡ(?)l] vt. 損毀，軋壓

25.diffuse [d??fju?s] adj. (文章等)冗長(zhǎng)的；堆砌辭藻的

26.Henry James：亨利·詹姆斯(1843～1916)，美國(guó)作家，后加入英國(guó)國(guó)籍，代表作有《美國(guó)人》(The American)、《貴婦的畫(huà)像》(The Portrait of a Lady)等。

27.pathos [?pe?θ?s] n. 痛苦，感傷

28.John Forster：約翰·福斯特(1812～1876)，英國(guó)傳記作者，批評(píng)家

29.twist [tw?st] n. (故事等)意想不到的轉(zhuǎn)折

30.passenger pigeon：旅鴿，由于人類(lèi)獵取食用已遭滅絕。

31.warp [w??(r)p] vt. 使變形，使反常

32.perpetuity [?p??(r)p??tju??ti] n. 永恒，永遠(yuǎn)

33.canon [?k?n?n] n. 花名冊(cè)；圣徒名單

34.metastasize [me?t?st?s?s] vi. [醫(yī)](癌細(xì)胞等)轉(zhuǎn)移

35.scorn [sk??(r)n] n. 輕視，嘲笑