美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Every Full Moon We Can Howl At Is A Victory,' Says Emil Ferris

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The graphic¹ novel "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters" is huge in size and scope. Writer and artist Emil Ferris fills the pages with inky, scratchy drawings done in ballpoint pen. There are loose sketches², recreations of famous paintings and imaginary covers of pulp³ horror magazines. Ferris has won a bunch of awards for the book, and NPR's Mallory Yu recently met up with her at San Diego Comic Con⁴.

MALLORY YU, BYLINE⁵: Emil Ferris says when she started "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters," her first graphic novel, she had no idea it would be so massive.

EMIL FERRIS: It just sort of came out of me and began being this larger world.

YU: It's the world of 1960s Chicago, a world full of mystery and murder seen through the eyes of a horror-obsessed 10-year-old girl named Karen. Karen's notes and drawings make up the backbone⁶ of the book, and they detail her investigation⁷ into the murder of her mysterious upstairs neighbor Anka. Emil Ferris says it's about so much more than that.

FERRIS: I think the book is really about accepting the monster in ourselves.

YU: Karen draws herself as a werewolf, shunned⁸, even hunted by villagers. It's a classic monster movie trope that Ferris says reflects what happens in reality.

FERRIS: You know, you have the villagers and their torches. It's night time. They're coming, and they're hunting for the monster, right? And then you have the Third Reich, and you have the same picture. And then you have Charlottesville, and you have the same picture. We would be a different world if we didn't have the villager mentality⁹, if we realized we were all monsters.

YU: For Ferris, what makes us monsters are the qualities that set us apart from everyone else. She says she's been fascinated by monsters since she was a child, when her disabilities kept her from playing during recess¹⁰.

FERRIS: I understood that there were physical things that made the monster different as there were with me. And then as I became more aware of my sexuality...

YU: Ferris identifies as bisexual.

FERRIS: ...That was another layer that I realized would qualify me for monsterhood. And I embraced it because the monster's cool and has an arc.

YU: Born into a family of artists, Ferris loved to draw. Her school notebooks were full of doodles and stories just like Karen's. As an adult, she worked as a housekeeper¹¹ to make ends meet when her illustration work wasn't enough. She says as a single mother, she often brought her young daughter along to the houses she cleaned.

FERRIS: And then we would talk about stories. That was something that we did together to keep the magic in us because that kind of work is really hard on you.

YU: Then 15 years ago, when she was 40 and her daughter was 6, Faris contracted West Nile virus from a mosquito. The disease left her mostly paralyzed and unsure of her future.

FERRIS: My chances of recovery were not being sold to me as very great. But then I had my daughter who said, don't listen to them; listen to me. You're going to get everything back.

YU: Shortly after she returned home from the hospital, Ferris' family put together an art show. And she wanted to have something new to contribute - a portrait of herself, she says, blighted¹² by the illness. But she wasn't able to hold a pen, which left her on the verge¹³ of tears until her daughter duct-taped the pen to her hand.

FERRIS: And she said, do it anyway. I mean, here's this little 6-year-old who's so strong. And she would move my arm and dip it into the inkwell, and I would bring it back. And it was so hard because it would flop¹⁴ down. And some of the drawing that I did, there were blurbs¹⁵ of ink.

YU: But she finished the portrait, and her daughter drew two figures at the bottom, one of herself sitting in a little chair and one of Ferris.

FERRIS: She drew me getting up out of the wheelchair because she said that's what's going to happen. And at that time I couldn't. But that little girl believed I could, so I did. You know, and there's the power of little girls, right?

YU: Ferris says after lots of physical therapy and hard work, she's regained¹⁶ much of her former ability. And her graphic novel "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters" is a testament¹⁷ to that work.

FERRIS: Every drawing was a victory. And every drawing was imbued¹⁸ with joy.

YU: Ferris says she wrote this book for people like Karen, her precocious¹⁹, werewolfy (ph) protagonist²⁰, who sometimes need help howling.

FERRIS: Every full moon that we can howl at is a victory over the villagers.

YU: Mallory Yu, NPR News, San Diego.

(SOUNDBITE OF SERYN SONG, "PATHS")

1 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

2 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 pulp   

n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆

参考例句：

• The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
• The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。

4 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

10 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

11 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

12 blighted   

adj.枯萎的，摧毁的

参考例句：

• Blighted stems often canker.有病的茎往往溃烂。
• She threw away a blighted rose.她把枯萎的玫瑰花扔掉了。

13 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

14 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。

15 blurbs   

n.（尤指印在书籍等护封上的）简介，推荐广告( blurb的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The author got all his friends to write blurbs for his book. 这位作者让他所有的朋友给他的新书写了广告式的短评。 来自互联网
• Blurbs, Admonitions and table cells (see Tables) may now contain paragraphs. 短评、警告和表格单元（见表格）现在可以包含段落。 来自互联网

16 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

17 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

18 imbued   

v.使（某人/某事）充满或激起（感情等）( imbue的过去式和过去分词 )；使充满；灌输；激发（强烈感情或品质等）

参考例句：

• Her voice was imbued with an unusual seriousness. 她的声音里充满着一种不寻常的严肃语气。
• These cultivated individuals have been imbued with a sense of social purpose. 这些有教养的人满怀着社会责任感。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 precocious   

adj.早熟的；较早显出的

参考例句：

• They become precocious experts in tragedy.他们成了一批思想早熟、善写悲剧的能手。
• Margaret was always a precocious child.玛格丽特一直是个早熟的孩子。

20 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！