pbs高端访谈:伊拉克老兵的战争小说 "The Yellow Birds"

 　　JEFFREY BROWN:And finally to the third of our Veterans Day reports, a novel set in Iraq and on the home front. It tells the story of a character named John Bartle, a 21-year-old private from rural Virginia.

　　The novel, titled "The Yellow Birds," has been nominated for the National Book Award, and is the first by author Kevin Powers, who himself served in the Army in Iraq.

　　I spoke¹ to Powers earlier this fall.

　　Welcome to you.

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　　KEVIN POWERS, Author, "The Yellow Birds": Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:When did you know that you would write about the war and what did you want to convey?

　　KEVIN POWERS:About two years, a year or two years after I got home, I started trying to deal with my own questions about my experience.

　　And I started initially² writing poems about the war. I have been Writing poems and stories since I was about 13. And I just started accumulating material and I realized that I needed a larger canvas to say what I wanted to say, which was to try to answer the question that people were asking me, which was, what was it like over there?

　　JEFFREY BROWN:I guess the inevitable³ question—I will get it out of the way quickly—is, how much of the book, the novel, is based on your experience?

　　KEVIN POWERS:The actual events that take place in the novel are not events that I experienced myself, but I think the kind of emotional core of the book was something that I identified with very strongly. This sort of interior life of the narrator, especially, is something that I felt—those emotions are things that I felt myself.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:One of the things that comes through, and it's very early, there is an extended passage where -- the whole notion of luck and chance. You know, who gets hit, who gets hurt, who gets killed, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason.

　　KEVIN POWERS:Right, that's true.

　　I think one of the things that is most difficult for him to adjust to is this feeling of powerlessness, that he's kind of inside this thing that has a life of its own. The war itself seems to be -- have a mind and a purpose beyond his ability to comprehend it. And that mere⁴ idea terrifies him and it's hard for him to adjust to that.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Is that the kind of thing that you felt yourself?

　　KEVIN POWERS:Certainly.

　　I can remember distinctly feeling like I had very little control over anything, other than kind of what was around me immediately, and even that, there were times where you recognize that whatever may happen to you isn't necessarily going to be of your own volition⁵.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:There is another thing that comes through is the feeling of, I guess you could call it the absurdity⁶ of the war, in this war.

　　There is a part where Bartle reflects that his grandfather's war—quote—"had destination and purpose." And then here there is a passage where you write: "We'd drive them out. We always had. We'd kill them. They'd shoot us and blow off our limbs and run into the hills and wadis, back into the alleys⁷ and dusty villages. Then they'd come back, and we'd start over."

　　KEVIN POWERS:Right.

　　And some of that comes from, you know, as I was writing the book, you know, I stayed aware of what was happening in Iraq, in some of the places that I had been. And I would see, for instance, in Tal Afar, where I served part of my tour, it seemed as if every year there was a new battle. And it did. It does seem strange, and, absolutely, absurd is probably an appropriate word to describe it.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:From your perspective, does it feel like we've gotten a fair or clear picture of that experience so far?

　　KEVIN POWERS:I am happy that these stories are beginning to be told.

　　And I think a diversity of expression can only be good, so I think the more that people write about their experience, use their imagination to deal with their experience, you know, I think that's going to be good for not only for those authors, but also for people who are interested in trying to understand it.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:All right, the new novel is "The Yellow Birds."

　　Kevin Powers, thanks so much.

　　KEVIN POWERS:Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

　　GWEN IFILL:You can find more of Jeff's conversation and listen to a reading by the author. That's on Art Beat.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

3 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

4 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

5 volition   

n.意志；决意

参考例句：

• We like to think that everything we do and everything we think is a product of our volition.我们常常认为我们所做和所想的一切都出自自己的意愿。
• Makin said Mr Coombes had gone to the police of his own volition.梅金说库姆斯先生是主动去投案的。

6 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

7 alleys   

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：

• I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
• The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。