Why should you read Charles Dickens? - Iseult Gillespie

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

The starving orphan seeking a second helping of gruel.

餓壞的孤兒乞求第二碗稀粥。

The spinster wasting away in her tattered wedding dress.

大齡剩女在破爛的結婚禮服中凋零。

The stone-hearted miser plagued by the ghost of Christmas past.

鐵石心腸的吝嗇鬼 被過去的聖誕鬼靈折磨。

More than a century after his death,

在查爾斯狄更斯死後超過一世紀，

these remain recognizable figures from the work of Charles Dickens.

這些來自他作品中的角色 仍是眾所皆知。

So striking is his body of work that it gave rise to its own adjective.

他的眾多作品讓他的名字也成了 形容詞（「狄更斯式的」）。

But what are the features of Dickens's writing that make it so special?

但，狄更斯的文學有什麼特徵， 讓它們如此特別？

Dickens’s fiction brims with anticipation

狄更斯的小說充滿懸念，

through brooding settings, plot twists, and mysteries.

透過陰森的背景、劇情的轉折， 以及神秘的事物來呈現。

These features of his work kept his audience wanting more.

他作品的這些特徵讓讀者想要更多。

When first published, his stories were serialized,

他的故事最初是以連載的方式出版，

meaning they were released a few chapters at a time in affordable literary journals

意即，一次只在文學期刊中 刊載幾個章節，

and only later reprinted as books.

直到後來才被重新印製成書。

This prompted fevered speculation over the cliffhangers

這造成了大家熱切揣測他所策劃的

and revelations he devised.

緊張懸疑以及真相的揭露。

Serialization not only made fiction available to a wider audience

小說以連載方式出版， 不僅讓讀者群變廣，

and kept them reading,

讓他們一直讀下去，

but increased the hype around the author himself.

還增加了關於作者本身的炒作。

Dickens became particularly popular for his wit,

狄更斯因為機智而變得特別受歡迎，

which he poured into quirky characters and satiric scenarios.

他把機智注入到 多變的角色和諷刺的情節中。

His characters exhibit the sheer absurdity of human behavior,

他的角色展現純粹荒謬的人類行為，

and their names often personify traits or social positions,

他們的名字通常象徵著 特性或社會地位，

like the downtrodden Bob Cratchit,

就像受壓迫的鮑伯克萊奇特、

the groveling Uriah Heep,

卑躬屈節的烏利亞希普，

and the cheery Septimus Crisparkle.

及快樂的賽普特姆斯克里斯帕可。

Dickens set these colorful characters against intricate social backdrops,

狄更斯在錯綜複雜的社會背景中 呈現多采多姿的角色，

which mimic the society he lived in.

而背景摹擬他所身處的社會。

For instance, he often considered

比如，他常思考工業革命帶來的改變。

the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution.

During this period,

在那個時期，

the lower classes experienced sordid working and living conditions.

較低階層的人經歷 骯髒的工作和生活條件。

Dickens himself experienced this hardship as a child

狄更斯自己在兒時 也經歷過這種艱苦，

when he was forced to work in a boot blacking factory

當時他被迫在工廠為靴子磨光上色，

after his father was sent to debtors' prison.

因為他的父親欠債入獄。

This influenced his depiction of the Marshalsea prison in Little Dorrit,

這影響到他在《小杜麗》中 對於王室內務法庭監獄的描寫，

where the titular character cares for her convict father.

作品中這個只有頭銜的角色 要照顧她的囚犯父親。

Prisons, orphanages, or slums may seem grim settings for a story,

監獄、孤兒院或貪民窟， 對故事來說似乎是很無情的背景，

but they allowed Dickens to shed light

但它們讓狄更斯得以清楚說明

on how his society's most invisible people lived.

他的社會中最被忽視的 那些人如何過日子。

In Nicholas Nickleby,

在《尼可比的故事》中，

Nicholas takes a job with the schoolmaster Wackford Squeers.

尼古拉斯成為斯奎爾斯校長的助理。

He soon realizes that Squeers is running a scam

他很快就發現斯奎爾斯在詐財，

where he takes unwanted children from their parents for a fee

做法是向父母收取費用 接收他們不要的孩子，

and subjects them to violence and deprivation.

並讓這些孩子受到暴力和剝削。

Oliver Twist also deals with the plight of children in the care of the state,

《孤雛淚》述說 國家照管的孩童所遭遇的困境，

illustrating the brutal conditions of the workhouse

描繪濟貧院中的殘酷情況，

in which Oliver pleads with Mr. Bumble for food.

在濟貧院中，奧利佛 向管理小吏乞求食物。

When he flees to London, he becomes ensnared in a criminal underworld.

他逃到倫敦後 被誘入犯罪的地下世界。

These stories frequently portray Victorian life

這些故事常把維多利亞時代的生活

as grimy, corrupt, and cruel.

描寫成污穢、腐敗和殘酷的。

But Dickens also saw his time as one in which old traditions

但狄更斯也看到他當代的

were fading away.

古老傳統在漸漸消失。

London was becoming the incubator of the modern world

倫敦變成了摩登世界的孵化器，

through new patterns in industry, trade, and social mobility.

透過工業的新模式、貿易， 以及社會流動來促成。

Dickens's London is therefore a dualistic space:

因此，狄更斯的倫敦是二元的空間：

a harsh world that is simultaneously filled with wonder and possibility.

是一個嚴酷的世界， 同時也充滿了驚奇與可能性。

For instance, the enigma of Great Expectations

比如，《遠大前程》中的謎

centers around the potential of Pip,

以皮普的潛力為中心，

an orphan plucked from obscurity by an anonymous benefactor

皮普是個孤兒，被暱名的恩人 從低微的身份拉拔起來，

and propelled into high society.

推進到高層社會。

In his search for purpose,

他在尋找目的的過程中

Pip becomes the victim of other people’s ambitions for him

成了其他人對他的野心的犧牲品，

and must negotiate with a shadowy cast of characters.

必須和一群曖昧隱晦的角色交涉。

Like many of Dickens’s protagonists,

和許多狄更斯筆下的主角一樣，

poor Pip's position is constantly destabilized,

可憐的皮普地位經常不穩，

just one of the reasons why reading Dickens

這個理由可說明為何讀狄更斯的作品

is the best of times for the reader,

是讀者的最好時光， （註：引用《雙城記》）

while being the worst of times for his characters.

卻是他角色的最糟的時光。 （註：引用《雙城記》）

Dickens typically offered clear resolution by the end of his novels,

狄更斯常在小說的最後 提供清楚的解答——

– with the exception of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

《艾德溫德魯德之謎》是例外。

The novel details the disappearance of the orphan Edwin under puzzling circumstances.

這部作品細節描述了孤兒艾德溫 在令人困惑的情況下消失無蹤。

However, Dickens died before the novel was finished

然而，狄更斯沒寫完 這本小說就過世了，

and left no notes resolving the mystery.

沒有留下任何筆記來解開這個謎。

Readers continue to passionately debate over who Dickens intended as the murderer,

讀者依舊很熱忱地辯論 到底狄更斯設計的謀殺者是誰，

and whether Edwin Drood was even murdered in the first place.

以及艾德溫德魯德是否真被殺了。

Throughout many adaptations,

在許多改編版、

literary homages,

文學致敬，

and the pages of his novels,

以及他的小說的頁面中，

Dickens’s sparkling language and panoramic worldview

狄更斯閃閃發光的 語言文字和全景的世界觀

continue to resonate.

持續引起迴響。

Today, the adjective Dickensian

現今，「狄更斯式的」這個形容詞

often implies squalid working or living conditions.

通常意味著骯髒的工作或生活條件。

But to describe a novel as Dickensian is typically high praise,

但如果用「狄更斯式的」來形容 一本小說，通常是很高的讚美，

as it suggests a story in which true adventure and discovery

因為它意味著這個故事中 真正的冒險和發現

occur in the most unexpected places.

發生在最不被預期之處。

Although he often explored bleak material,

雖然狄更斯常探討陰暗的素材，

Dickens’s piercing wit never failed to find light in the darkest corners.

他銳利的機智總能在 最黑暗的角落找到光明。