美国国家公共电台 NPR A New Novel Makes The 'Sugar Run' Out Of Jail And Back To West Virginia

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Mesha Maren's novel "Sugar Run" opens as Jodi McCarty is getting turned out of prison on parole after serving 18 years for manslaughter. She shot her girlfriend when she was 17, so Jodi has lived most of her life in prison and must now make a new life in the real world outside she doesn't really know. Soon, she'll meet someone. And they'll try to make a life together in a small West Virginia town, where they're outsiders in every way.

"Sugar Run" is the first novel from Mesha Maren, whose short stories and essays have appeared in the Oxford¹ American. She's a visiting writer at the University of North Carolina and a writing fellow at the Beckley Federal Correctional Institution in West Virginia. She joins us from West Virginia Public Radio. Thanks so much for being with us.

MESHA MAREN: Thank you so much for having me.

SIMON: You kind of grew up going to prisons, didn't you?

MAREN: I did, yes. My dad worked for a nonprofit. And part of the work that he did is he volunteered to visit women in the federal prison camp in Alderson, W.Va. - women who hadn't received a visit from family or friends in more than a year. And I would often go along with my dad. So as a very young child, I think it was exciting to me because I got to eat candy out of the vending² machines. But those experiences stuck with me.

SIMON: Well, and they come up here?

MAREN: They do. So I think, you know, when I started writing "Sugar Run" and started realizing that my character Jodi had spent a significant amount of her life in prison, those impressions that I formed when I was young came back to me. I specifically remember overhearing my dad speaking with women at the Alderson prison who were soon-to-be released. And later as an adult, I realized just how strong their joy was, you know, to be released, but also their fear of what it meant to make a life on the outside.

SIMON: Did I hear you say, once I realized my character Jodi had spent all these years in prison?

MAREN: Yeah. I mean, Jodi came to me very strongly. Before I even realized that I was writing a book, I was hanging out with Jodi. And she kind of took up residence in my mind. And I became a little infatuated with her. I started thinking about her all the time. And then the plot and the rest of the story sort of fell into place. I really, actually, kind of felt like I was getting to know her. And so it was a process of realizing what she had been through.

SIMON: Well, Jodi - without giving too much away - gets out of prison. She meets an interesting woman, Miranda, who has three children, a failing marriage to a has-been country singer and an addiction³. What draws them to each other?

MAREN: She's just gotten out of prison. And she knows, in many ways, that taking up with Miranda is a bad decision. I mean, she kind of looks at her the first night that they're hanging out and tells herself, don't do this. But at the same time, she's drawn⁴ to her. I mean, she's physically⁵ attracted to her.

But she's also, I think, attracted to the fact that Miranda is bound and determined⁶ to enjoy life despite everything that's going wrong. So it's this sort of love of life and determination to make something joyful⁷ out of life.

SIMON: Certainly, one of the things that compelled us to pick up the book is that we don't hear a lot in literature about West Virginia. What do we misunderstand sometimes about West Virginia?

MAREN: So I get asked a lot, like, you know, why not just leave West Virginia, you know? Or why would a character like Jodi go back to West Virginia? And I think that for those of us who love places that are sometimes difficult to love, we love them with this extra fierceness - this fierce tenderness for this place that isn't always easy to love. But there's so much that's so interesting and beautiful, both in the people and the landscape.

SIMON: You do take on the fact that fracking is, in all ways, truly changing the landscape.

MAREN: One of the things that's difficult about West Virginia is that it is a place where a lot is extracted from here - right? - coal, lumber⁸, now fracking for natural gas. And it's devastating⁹ on the land here. But I also think that that's part of where we get the conversation of, why don't you just leave, is that people kind of envision West Virginia as a place to take things out of.

SIMON: Yeah. And addictions¹⁰ - you do have to make that a part of your telling - storytelling, too, don't you?

MAREN: Absolutely. So, you know, the characters in my book - they use a lot of different substances. And, of course, that happens anywhere. That is not specific to West Virginia. But I do think that, you know, in some rural areas, it can be easy to fall into a trap of using substances as a crutch¹¹ to make it through a life that's difficult.

For Jodi, you know, she's trying to find a job after prison, and living in a rural area doesn't make that any easier for her. And I think that, you know, sometimes she goes to substances to alleviate¹² that.

SIMON: We noted¹³ that you're a writing fellow at the Beckley Federal Correctional Institution. Is there a great story in every prisoner?

MAREN: I think there's a great story in every human being. And that - so that - the same is true. There's a great story in every prisoner.

But the thing that I love about teaching there is just how - obviously, how much it means. The guys who are in my class - being able to sit down once a week for two hours and focus on their writing. And they've told me just to be in a quiet room, too, where, you know, I'll give them a writing assignment, and then we're quiet - they've told me that that, in many ways, is one of the things that is most valuable to them.

SIMON: Without giving away the end of the novel, does Jodi go on with you in your life now?

MAREN: She does to less of a degree. I mean, I think when I found the end of the book, I was able to let her go in some ways. I definitely still think about her.

SIMON: When you found the end of the book. Now, people who don't write for a living will think, what do you mean you found it? You created it.

MAREN: True. But the thing is, I think that, at least for me, the way that I write is I have this sort of foggy idea of the ending. I need to have something that I'm working towards, right? But I don't want it to be too sharp, actually, in my mind because then I might write towards it at all costs, and I might miss something along the way.

And, actually, this book ended slightly before I had planned. So I had this kind of idea. And then when I reached the place where the book does end now, I thought, you know, I think that's the end.

SIMON: Mesha Maren, her debut¹⁴ novel "Sugar Run." Thanks so much for being with us.

MAREN: Thank you so much.

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 vending   

v.出售（尤指土地等财产）( vend的现在分词 )；（尤指在公共场所）贩卖；发表（意见，言论）；声明

参考例句：

• Why Are You Banging on the Vending Machine? 你为什么敲打这台自动售货机？ 来自朗文快捷英语教程 2
• Coca-Cola had to adapt almost 300,000 vending machines to accept the new coins. 可口可乐公司必须使将近三十万台自动贩卖机接受新货币。 来自超越目标英语 第5册

3 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

8 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

9 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

10 addictions   

瘾( addiction的名词复数 )； 吸毒成瘾； 沉溺； 癖好

参考例句：

• He has removed the stigma of drug addictions. 他已经洗去吸毒的污点了。
• Intelligent people are good at using reason to control excessive addictions. 智慧的人善于用理性来控制过度的嗜欲。

11 crutch   

n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱

参考例句：

• Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后，她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
• He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心，总把妻子当作主心骨。

12 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。