美国国家公共电台 NPR In Ann Brashare's Latest, Two Kids From A Fractured Family Meet At Last

 

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

Writer Ann Brashares struck gold with her book "The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants." The best-selling novel for young adults turned into a series and was made into a movie.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS")

AMERICA FERRARA: (As Carmen) Magic has come to us in a pair of pants.

(LAUGHTER)

FERRARA: (As Carmen) And I'm proposing that we share them equally and that this summer they travel among us, and they'll link us.

NEARY: The success of the "Sisterhood" series brought Brashares a huge fan base that ranges in age from teenagers to young women who grew up reading her books. Brashares has a new novel, "The Whole Thing Together," and she joins us now from New York. Thanks so much for being with us, Ann.

ANN BRASHARES: Thank you for having me.

NEARY: Your new book, "The Whole Thing Together," is the story of a family split by divorce. And it's not a happy tale of a blended family. These are divorced parents who are determined¹ to stay angry and seem kind of indifferent to how that might affect the kids. Why were you interested in exploring that kind of a family dynamic?

BRASHARES: Well, I guess, to be honest, some of it is pulled from my own biography. My parents split up when I was young. I'm one of four kids. You know, it wasn't an amicable² split, and it wasn't, you know, an easy one. And it just - in some way, the divisions just kept going, and even to this day, they do. And I have two wonderful, loving parents. It's not that I, you know, bear hostility³ and grievance⁴ toward them. I'm mostly really, really grateful for everything I got. But the divorce was central to our lives. And I guess I wanted to explore that in a fictional⁵ family but explore what were real feelings.

NEARY: Well, I have to say I did find, at times, that the parents were really remarkably⁶ insensitive to how their anger and their determination to divide everything in certain kinds of ways would affect their children.

BRASHARES: Yeah, they are. I mean, partly, I wanted a story of real disjunction and then an opportunity. And this is based on that kind of old childhood wish of something good coming out of it, some unity⁷ or wholeness coming out of it. So it's true. The parents kind of have the most growing to do, which I was interested in, too, the idea that the kids - the five of them, you know, affected⁸ by these parents - you know, they all have their own stories and their own growth in this book. But the parents have almost more than any of them.

NEARY: Well, the conceit⁹ at the heart of the book is very intriguing¹⁰. A boy, Ray, and a girl, Sasha - they're not related by blood, but they are part of this unblended kind of family - they've never met even though they share a bedroom in this summer house. Had you ever heard of that kind of relationship or did you just make it up whole cloth?

BRASHARES: I pretty much made it up whole cloth. I was thinking about - first, I started with the three sisters at the center of the original family. And then I was imagining that, you know, the parents split up when they were really little; they each remarried. And I had this idea of each of them having another child. And then I thought, what would be the relationship of those two additional children? They have three sisters in common. In this case, they share a house. But the parents have had such bitterness that they refuse to be anywhere near each other, so their paths just never cross. And yet, they share this whole life. I mean, they share these sisters. They share a room. They share toys. They share books. They share, you know, the stuff they collect on the beach. And so there's some kind of mythic sense of them being intimately connected and yet strangers.

NEARY: I know you have your book. And I wonder if you could open to Page 21. I was wondering if you could read a passage there. And this is where Sasha is describing her relationship with Ray right at the beginning of the book.

BRASHARES: (Reading) She used to want to meet him, fantasized about playing with him, made up games they might enjoy together. She was physically¹¹ jealous that her sisters got to have him for their brother and she didn't. But later, she began to think it was easier that she never did meet him. He had the best qualities of an imaginary friend. He was patient, sympathetic and understanding, silently sharing her things and spaces. He was never selfish or loud or bullying¹². He never even disagreed with her. He was just what she wanted - sometimes needed - him to be. So in that way, he was an ideal roommate.

NEARY: (Laughter) Now, not surprisingly, these roommates start to get very fascinated with each other as they become teenagers. And as teenagers, they start to share a summer job. They trade off weeks just as they trade off weeks in the house. And they begin writing to each other, and this sort of flirtation¹³ begins.

So at the beginning of the book, did you know - as you were beginning to write this book, did you always know you were going to have them get attracted to each other?

BRASHARES: That wasn't, I guess, the spark at the very beginning. I mean, I had a sense that they were going to finally - you know, the summer of this book, they were going to meet. And, you know, partly because, at a certain point, they're sharing a bed - and I guess, you know, I'm so connected to kind of the tactile¹⁴ quality of that and also the sort of the smells and the feelings of another person who you kind of know but really don't know and that that kind of can't help but have at least sort of sensual overtones. So I guess that's sort of where it went.

NEARY: They keep this little budding relationship secret. But as it turns out, there are a lot of secrets in this family. Aren't there?

BRASHARES: There really are.

NEARY: And that's what the book kind of becomes about, the idea of family secrets and how they can eventually really be harmful. Right?

BRASHARES: Yeah. And I think the idea is that, in some ways, you need to release them in order for there to be kind of a healing and a coming together.

NEARY: Ann Brashares is the author of "The Whole Thing Together." Thanks so much for joining us.

BRASHARES: Thank you for having me.

1 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。

2 amicable   

adj.和平的，友好的；友善的

参考例句：

• The two nations reached an amicable agreement.两国达成了一项友好协议。
• The two nations settled their quarrel in an amicable way.两国以和睦友好的方式解决了他们的争端。

3 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

4 grievance   

n.怨愤，气恼，委屈

参考例句：

• He will not easily forget his grievance.他不会轻易忘掉他的委屈。
• He had been nursing a grievance against his boss for months.几个月来他对老板一直心怀不满。

5 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

6 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

7 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 conceit   

n.自负，自高自大

参考例句：

• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。
• She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。

10 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 flirtation   

n.调情，调戏，挑逗

参考例句：

• a brief and unsuccessful flirtation with the property market 对房地产市场一时兴起、并不成功的介入
• At recess Tom continued his flirtation with Amy with jubilant self-satisfaction. 课间休息的时候，汤姆继续和艾美逗乐，一副得意洋洋、心满意足的样子。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

14 tactile   

adj.触觉的，有触觉的，能触知的

参考例句：

• Norris is an expert in the tactile and the tangible.诺里斯创作最精到之处便是，他描绘的人物使人看得见摸得着。
• Tactile communication uses touch rather than sight or hearing.触觉交流，是用触摸感觉，而不是用看或听来感觉。