美国国家公共电台 NPR Veronica Roth's 'Carve The Mark' Is A Fantasy Inspired By Chronic Pain

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST: 

Veronica Roth wrote her first best-seller when she was 21 years old. "Divergent" for young adults was instantly and wildly popular. It was a best-selling trilogy and made into popular films. Veronica Roth has now written her first new series since "Divergent," and this first novel in that series is called "Carve The Mark." Veronica Roth joins us now from the studios of WBEZ in Chicago. Thanks so much for being with us.

VERONICA ROTH: Thanks for having me.

SIMON: Tell us about this world where "Carve The Mark" takes place.

ROTH: Well, it's a galaxy¹ far, far away (laughter) and it's about a young man who's kidnapped with his brother and he's taken to this enemy country. And when he's there, he meets, like, the sister of the dictator there. And she's got plenty of struggles of her own. And they are trying to figure out if they can help each other or if their kind of culturally predisposed enmity, like, prohibits any friendship between them.

SIMON: Yeah. Akos and Seera (ph) - am I pronouncing that correctly?

ROTH: Cyra, yeah.

SIMON: I beg your pardon. Akos...

ROTH: It's OK.

SIMON: ...And Cyra, their families are kind of like the Capulets and Montagues.

ROTH: A little bit.

SIMON: What's - what is the conflict that ultimately divides them?

ROTH: Well, I think it's complex. So Akos is raised to believe that Cyra's people, the Shotet, are these kind of brutal² people who are just, like, coming after Akos' people. And she was raised to believe that his people have a history of oppressing the Shotet and that they want to fight for their country's sovereignty.

SIMON: In this world you've laid out, everyone comes into a gift when they reach adolescence³. Tell us about Cyra's.

ROTH: Well, Cyra's is that she experiences constant pain, and she can also give that pain to other people. So the theory is that the current, which is this kind of energy that is present in the galaxy, that it flows through each person and their personality is like a mold that shapes how it comes out. And for her, it would take a lot of psychoanalysis to figure out why she thinks that she's worthy⁴ of pain and that others are worthy of pain but - so she's basically experiencing, like, a supernatural form of chronic⁵ pain.

SIMON: Yeah. Well, I was struck by the - and maybe I'm getting carried away with the metaphor⁶, but I - to me it meant that chronic pain I guess can be a gift. It makes us sensitive about the world despite our pain or because of it.

ROTH: Right. And for me, the importance of it came from I had several friends who experienced chronic pain over, you know, like, a decade and were - had their pain underestimated by doctors, which statistically⁷ is more likely if you're a woman by, like, a drastic degree. And they were eventually diagnosed with endometriosis. This is like a couple of people just in my immediate⁸ social circle. So I thought about them a lot, about how pain takes over your life and limits your potential and how difficult it can be to find someone who'll take it seriously. That's kind of Cyra's struggles. Her pain is being underestimated by the people around her, and she still finds a way to act in spite of it, which is a credit to her strength.

SIMON: I was struck by a line you have in the acknowledgments where you thank all the women you know who suffer from chronic pain.

ROTH: Yeah. I don't know, she - Cyra didn't start out as a really important character in the story, but she felt urgent to me and I think that's partly because of those women who have been such powerful examples in my life.

SIMON: Yeah. I'm pretty sure you know you have a blessed life, but...

ROTH: Yeah.

SIMON: ...Are there drawbacks or at least surprises that come with enormous success such as you've enjoyed?

ROTH: Well, you know, there are certainly new challenges, as with any job. One of them is that I have an anxiety disorder⁹, so it's particularly provoked by social interaction (laughter) and I have to do a lot of that these days. I can't just hole up, which is what I would like to do. So I - it became particularly urgent when the "Divergent" series became popular to seek help for that. And I've done a lot of work to make my job doable for me, but it continues to be difficult.

SIMON: I didn't know that. When you say make your - continue to do your job, you don't mean the writing part. You mean the public relations part.

ROTH: Yeah. But, you know, the one kind of affects the other, so the awareness¹⁰ that people are going to read your work inevitably¹¹ affects how you work and I try to create a safe space for myself to take risks, but it's difficult - more difficult than it used to be.

SIMON: So it's one thing if you think just a few people are reading your works and another when you know 30 million people are.

ROTH: (Laughter) Or might, yeah. Well, I mean, I never used to show my work to anyone, so it went from zero to a lot more than that very quickly (laughter).

SIMON: Why do you write about other worlds as opposed to what you see on Lincoln Avenue?

ROTH: Well, there was a couple of reasons. The first is I like the escape of it. I've always loved science fiction and fantasy since I was a kid, and I never had much interest in more realistic fiction, even, you know, when I was, like, 5 years old. But then I also think it's a kind of safe way to encounter challenging ideas without feeling overly stressed by them because, you know, you're in this fantasy world and so there's a layer of separation between you and whatever the issues are that are being discussed or explored through exaggeration. And you can encounter them in a new way, in a safe way, and that can be really important, especially in times like these, you know, where it's pretty terrifying out there. But it's a little bit easier to think about what you believe and what you want done and, you know, what you want to do to improve the world around you when you're kind of, like, living in space (laughter).

SIMON: Veronica Roth - her new book, "Carve The Mark." Thanks so much for being with us.

ROTH: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

1 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

2 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

3 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

4 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

5 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

6 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

7 statistically   

ad.根据统计数据来看，从统计学的观点来看

参考例句：

• The sample of building permits is larger and therefore, statistically satisfying. 建筑许可数的样本比较大，所以统计数据更令人满意。
• The results of each test would have to be statistically independent. 每次试验的结果在统计上必须是独立的。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

10 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

11 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。