Why should you read “Kafka on the Shore”? - Iseult Gillespie

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions.

「有時候所謂命運這東西，

就像不斷改變前進方向的 區域沙風暴一樣。

You change direction but the sandstorm chases you.

你想要避開它而改變腳步，

結果，風暴也好像 在配合你似的改變腳步。

You turn again, but the storm adjusts.

你再一次改變腳步，於是 風暴也同樣地再度改變腳步。

Over and over you play this out,

好幾次又好幾次，

簡直就像黎明前和死神 所跳的不祥舞步一樣，

like some ominous dance with death just before dawn.

不斷地重複又重複。

Why?

你要問為什麼嗎？

Because this storm isn't something that blew in from far away…

因為那風暴並不是 從某個遠方吹來的……

This storm is you. Something inside of you.”

（這暴風）就是你自己。

那就是你心中的什麼。」

This quote,

這段文字引述自村上春樹的作品 《海邊的卡夫卡》當中的第一章，

from the first chapter of Haruki Murakami’s "Kafka on the Shore,"

captures the teenage protagonist's turmoil.

這段文字捕捉到了 青少年主角的混亂。

Desperate to escape his tyrannical father

這位主角極度渴望逃離 他暴虐的父親，

and the family curse he feels doomed to repeat,

以及他覺得自己注定會 重蹈的家族詛咒。

he renames himself Kafka after his favorite author

他將自己改名為卡夫卡， 他最愛的作家，接著逃離他的家。

and runs away from home.

But memories of a missing mother,

但，對於失蹤母親的記憶

along with dreams that haunt his waking life,

及他在清醒時仍揮之不去的夢境，

prove more difficult to outrun.

比想像的還難擺脫。

Published in Japanese in 2002

2002 年，《海邊的卡夫卡》 日文版出版，三年後翻譯為英文，

and translated into English three years later,

"Kafka on the Shore" is an epic literary puzzle

它是個史詩級的文學難題， 充滿了時間旅行的內容、

filled with time travel, hidden histories, and magical underworlds.

隱藏的歷史，以及魔法地下世界。

Readers delight in discovering how the mind-bending imagery,

讀者的樂趣來自於 發現難以理解意象、

whimsical characters and eerie coincidences fit together.

怪誕的角色，及奇異的巧合 如何拼湊在一起。

Kafka narrates every second chapter,

每隔一章，卡夫卡就會講述旁白，

with the rest centering on an old man named Satoru Nakata.

其他部分則是以一位 名叫中田悟的老人為中心。

After awakening from a coma he went into during the Second World War,

在二次大戰中昏迷中， 等到醒過來之後，

Nakata loses the ability to read and write–

中田失去了閱讀和寫字的能力——

but gains a mysterious knack for talking to cats.

卻得到了神秘的本領， 可以和貓說話。

When he’s asked to tail a missing pet,

當他受託去追蹤一隻走失的寵物，

he’s thrown onto a dangerous path that runs parallel to Kafka’s.

他便踏上了一條 和卡夫卡平行的危險之路。

Soon prophecies come true, portals to different dimensions open up–

很快的，預言成真了， 通往其他次元的入口打開了——

and fish and leeches begin raining from the sky.

天空開始下起魚和水蛭的雨。

But what ties these two characters together–

但，這兩位角色 是被什麼綁在一起——

and is it a force either one of them can control?

是他們兩人都無法控制的力量嗎？

The collision of different worlds is a common thread

村上春樹的作品中常常會有 不同世界碰撞的故事線。

in Haruki Murakami’s work.

His novels and short stories often forge fantastic connections

他的小說和短篇故事 通常會以很奇異的方式

between personal experience,

將個人經歷連結到

supernatural possibilities, and Japanese history.

超自然的可能性和日本歷史。

Born in Kyoto in 1949,

村上春樹於 1949 年在京都出生，

Murakami grew up during the post-World War II

在二次大戰後美國人 佔領日本的時期長大。

American occupation of Japan.

The shadow of war hung over his life as it does his fiction;

戰爭的陰影籠罩了他的人生， 也籠罩了他的故事；

"Kafka on the Shore" features biological attacks,

《海邊的卡夫卡》的特點 包括生物攻擊、

military ghosts and shady conspiracies.

軍中的鬼魂，以及陰暗的密謀。

Murakami’s work blurs historical periods

村上春樹的作品模糊了歷史時期，

and draws from multiple cultural traditions.

並從多種文化傳統中取材。

References to Western society and Japanese customs

在他的作品中，西方社會 和日本習俗撞擊混合，

tumble over each other,

from literature and fashion to food and ghost stories.

從文學與時尚，到食物和鬼故事。

He has a penchant for musical references, too,

他也非常愛好引用音樂， 特別是在《海邊的卡夫卡》中。

especially in "Kafka on the Shore."

As the runaway Kafka wanders the streets of a strange city,

當逃走的卡夫卡在一個 奇特城市的街道上遊蕩時，

Led Zeppelin and Prince keep him company.

有齊柏林飛船和王子陪伴他。

Soon, he takes refuge in an exquisite private library.

很快的，他找到一間 精緻的圖書館讓他避難。

While he spends his days poring over old books

他把時間用來鑽研古書

and contemplating a strange painting and the library’s mysterious owner,

以及思忖一幅怪畫 和神秘的圖書館館長，

he also befriends the librarian–

此外，他也結交了圖書館館員——

who introduces him to classical music like Schubert.

這位館員讓他認識了 古典音樂如舒伯特。

This musical sensibility makes Murakami’s work

這些音樂的感受， 讓村上春樹的作品更有催眠力。

all the more hypnotic.

He frequently bends the line between reality and a world of dreams,

他經常去彎曲現實 與夢世界之間的界線，

and is considered a master of magic lurking in the mundane.

被認為是世俗中的魔法隱身大師。

This is a key feature of magical realism.

這是魔幻寫實主義的關鍵特色。

In contrast to fantasy,

相對於幻想，

magic in this sort of writing rarely offers a way out of a problem.

在這類作品中，魔法很少 能夠提供問題的出路。

Instead, it becomes just one more thing that complicates life.

它反而還讓人生變得更複雜。

In "Kafka on the Shore,"

在《海邊的卡夫卡》中，

characters are faced with endless otherworldly distractions,

角色要面對無盡的 超自然現象讓他們分心，

from a love sick ghost to a flute made from cat souls.

從苦念的鬼魂，到貓靈魂 製成的笛子都有。

These challenges offer no easy answers.

這些挑戰並沒有 提供我們簡單的答案。

Instead, they leave us marveling at the resourcefulness

反之，它們讓我們驚嘆人類精神

of the human spirit to deal with the unexpected.

在處理未預期的事物上 有多麼足智多謀。

While Kafka often seems suspended in strangeness,

雖然卡夫卡通常總是 處在奇異的處境當中，

there’s a tenderness and integrity at the heart of his mission

那驅使他向前行的使命，

that keeps him moving forward.

其實有著溫柔正直的核心。

Gradually he comes to accept his inner confusion.

漸漸地，他接受了他內在的困惑。

In the end, his experience echoes the reader’s:

最終，他的經歷 和讀者的經歷產生共鳴：

the deeper you go, the more you find.

越是深入，就會發現越多。