2017年諾貝爾文學獎得主：石黑一雄

Kazuo Ishiguro， who won 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature， has a number of strings to his bow， or rather his guitar. The 63-year-old is world famous as a writer of fiction， but his early dream was to be a great singer and songwriter， like the winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature， Bob Dylan.

His friend and former publisher Robert McCrum recalls the young Ishiguro turning up at the publishing house Faber and Faber with a bunch of his stories in one hand and a guitar over his shoulder. It was his stories that earned him the great honor.

As his name indicates， Ishiguro comes from a Japanese background， although he came to Britain from Japan at the age of 5 and is a British citizen who writes in English. He was educated at the University of East Anglia， a school that has become known for training writers.

Ishiguros writing is highly restrained. His characters are often reluctant to express themselves， except in a kind of code. This certainly gives his writing a quality in common with that of Jane Austen， an author to whom he is often compared. The best example of this is his novel The Remains of the Day， which later became a successful film.

The central character of the book is a butler called Stevens. He is an extremely loyal servant to an English lord， and is a character who some might call repressed. He misses out on affection and love because he will not confess his feelings to anyone.

The story is told by Stevens， and his style is as polite and unrevealing as his behavior. Of course， we have to read between the lines to uncover the “real” story， which isnt quite the one the butler is telling. Stevens finds it a challenge to communicate， and communication is often a theme in Ishiguros novels.

In this authors sense of the world， there is a gap between our feelings and our ability to communicate them. The Nobel Committee emphasized this theme when it talked about Ishiguros work. The writer， the committee claimed， “in novels of great emotional force... has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world”.

2017年諾貝爾文學獎得主石黑一雄不只會寫作，他還會彈吉他。現年63歲的他是一位舉世聞名的小說家，但他早年的夢想卻是成為一位杰出的歌手和詞曲作家，就像2016年諾貝爾文學獎得主鮑勃·迪倫那樣。

他的好友——前出版商羅伯特·麥克魯姆還記得年輕的石黑背著一把吉他，一只手拿著一疊他所寫的故事，出現在費伯出版社的情景。而正是這些故事讓他獲得了諾貝爾文學獎的殊榮。

正如他的名字一樣，石黑有著日本血統，盡管他在5歲時就從日本移民到英國，并用英文進行寫作。他在以培養作家著稱的東安格利亞大學接受了教育。

石黑的寫作風格十分克制。他筆下的人物總是不愿意表達自我，除了以某種密碼的方式。他的這一寫作特點與簡·奧斯汀十分相似，兩人也經常被拿來作比較。最好的一個例子是他所著的小說《長日留痕》，這部小說后來被成功地改編成了電影。

小說的主人公是一位名叫史蒂文斯的男管家，他是一位英國貴族極盡忠誠的仆人。有人會認為這是個情感壓抑的角色，他錯過了自己的愛戀，因為他不會向任何人吐露自己的心聲。

故事以史蒂文斯的視角進行講述，他的口吻就像其行為那樣有禮又克制。當然，我們需要在字里行間讀出“真正的”故事，而這與這位男管家所講述的大相徑庭。史蒂文斯認為溝通是種挑戰，而溝通也常常是石黑小說中的一個主題。

在石黑的世界觀中，人們的情感和表達能力之間存在鴻溝。諾貝爾獎委員會在談及他的作品時，著重強調了這一主題。委員會稱這位作家“憑借充滿強烈情感的小說……揭示了隱藏在我們與世界相聯系的幻覺之下的深淵”。

Word Study

recall /r?'k??l/ v. 回想起；回憶起；記得

I dont recall what he said at the meeting.

restrained /r?'stre?nd/ adj. 克制的

reluctant /r?'l?kt?nt/ adj. 不情愿的；勉強的

confess /k?n'fes/ v. 承認；坦白

emphasize /'emf?sa?z/ v. 強調；著重

I must emphasize the fact that she is only a little girl.

claim /kle?m/ v. 宣稱；聲稱

They claimed to have discovered a new planet.