美国国家公共电台 NPR--From cannibalism to cover-up, David Grann sees his new shipwreck mystery as a parable

From cannibalism¹ to cover-up, David Grann sees his new shipwreck² mystery as a parable³

Transcript⁴

David Grann's latest book, The Wager⁵, is set to be released on April 18.

The latest book from journalist and bestselling author David Grann is a deeply involved history of a 1741 shipwreck that he calls "a parable for our own turbulent modern times."

"I always liked the line from Sherlock Holmes [about] 'truth being stranger than fiction,'" Grann told Morning Edition.

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder will be released on Tuesday and is already being adapted into a movie by Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese. The same team is also bringing another of Grann's historical mysteries to the screen, Killers⁶ of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.

For his latest book, Grann tells NPR's Steve Inskeep he turned to the time of the British Empire and the tale of the HMS Wager, which was wrecked⁷ off the coast of Chile. The crew took refuge on an island that Grann's book describes as "swampy⁸, barren in storms, wet with scrubby woodlands and mountains rising into the gloomy mist."

An excerpt⁹ from 'The Wager'

An 18th-century tale with modern themes

"It was just one of the more extraordinary sagas¹⁰ of survival and adventure I'd ever come across....from typhoons and tidal waves and dead reckoning and shipwreck," Grann says. "And then when they're on this island, they begin to descend¹¹ into a real life 'Lord of the Flies' with warring factions¹² and mutinies and murders, and a few even succumb¹³ to cannibalism."

Grann was even more intrigued¹⁴, he says, by the court martial¹⁵ that followed, when the castaways had to "wage a war over the truth."

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

It was just one of the more extraordinary sagas of survival and adventure I'd ever come across. It had just virtually every element you could imagine, again, from typhoons and tidal waves and dead reckoning and shipwreck. And then when they're on this island, they begin to descend into a real life 'Lord of the Flies' with warring factions and mutinies and murders, and a few even succumb to cannibalism.

On the court martial for surviving castaways

What intrigued me even more about the story was not only what had happened on the island, but what happened after some of these castaways incredibly make it back to England. And after everything they've been through, they are summoned to face a court martial for their alleged¹⁶ crimes on the island, and they're suddenly trying to save their lives. They could be hanged after everything. And after waging this war against the elements, they begin to wage a war over the truth.

On the resemblance to contemporary events

There is information and disinformation. There's even allegations of fake news. And there's also war over who would get to tell the history and efforts by those in power to cover up the scandalous truth and the sins of the nation's past. And so I had for me the story that took place in the 18th century. It felt like a parable for our own turbulent modern times.

On storytelling as a tool of national manipulation

Not only were each individual of the survivors¹⁷ trying to shape their stories and tell their stories to serve their own self-interest. What this story really shows is how nations also shape and manipulate and edit their stories to serve their own self-interest. And what happened on Wager Island makes the British Empire look scandalous. It makes their officers look more like brutes¹⁸ and like gentlemen. And so there are those in power who have a vested interest in preferring this all to go away.

On how a shipwreck and trial challenged the British Empire

Sometimes mutinies can be so threatening to the state because what it may show about the system and in this case, this very mutiny held up a light, shined a light on the evil of imperialism¹⁹ and the lie that lay at the heart of the British Empire's justification²⁰ for somehow conquering other people. It liked to claim that its civilization was somehow superior to others. But here, these men had gotten on the island, the supposed apostles of Western civilization, and they had descended²¹ into this Hobbesian state of depravity.

1 cannibalism   

n.同类相食；吃人肉

参考例句：

• The war is just like the cannibalism of animals.战争就如同动物之间的互相残。
• They were forced to practise cannibalism in order to survive.他们被迫人吃人以求活下去。

2 shipwreck   

n.船舶失事，海难

参考例句：

• He walked away from the shipwreck.他船难中平安地脱险了。
• The shipwreck was a harrowing experience.那次船难是一个惨痛的经历。

3 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

4 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

5 wager   

n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌

参考例句：

• They laid a wager on the result of the race.他们以竞赛的结果打赌。
• I made a wager that our team would win.我打赌我们的队会赢。

6 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

7 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

8 swampy   

adj.沼泽的，湿地的

参考例句：

• Malaria is still rampant in some swampy regions.疟疾在一些沼泽地区仍很猖獗。
• An ox as grazing in a swampy meadow.一头牛在一块泥泞的草地上吃草。

9 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

10 sagas   

n.萨迦（尤指古代挪威或冰岛讲述冒险经历和英雄业绩的长篇故事）( saga的名词复数 )；（讲述许多年间发生的事情的）长篇故事；一连串的事件（或经历）；一连串经历的讲述（或记述）

参考例句：

• Artwork depicted the historical sagas and biblical tales for the illiterate faithful. 墙上的插图为不识字的信徒描绘了历史传说和圣经故事。 来自互联网
• It will complete one of the most remarkable transfer sagas in English football. 到时候，英格兰史上最有名的转会传奇故事之一将落下帷幕。 来自互联网

11 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

12 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

13 succumb   

v.屈服，屈从；死

参考例句：

• They will never succumb to the enemies.他们决不向敌人屈服。
• Will business leaders succumb to these ideas?商业领袖们会被这些观点折服吗？

14 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

15 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

16 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

17 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

18 brutes   

兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性

参考例句：

• They're not like dogs; they're hideous brutes. 它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。
• Suddenly the foul musty odour of the brutes struck his nostrils. 突然，他的鼻尖闻到了老鼠的霉臭味。 来自英汉文学

19 imperialism   

n.帝国主义，帝国主义政策

参考例句：

• They held the imperialism in contempt.他们鄙视帝国主义。
• Imperialism has not been able to subjugate China.帝国主义不能征服中国。

20 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

21 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。