美国国家公共电台 NPR Tamora Pierce Writes One For The Boys (But Just One) In 'Tempests And Slaughter'

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Going to talk now to an author of fantasy novels who has been beloved for so long that both our books editor and producer - 12 years of age apart - kept her books in their school lockers¹. Young adult novelist Tamora Pierce is one of J. R. R. Tolkien's heirs. But over the last few decades, she has expanded high fantasy to include gender², race, war and violence. Fellow fantasy writers cite her as an influence, as you can see if you flip³ through the blurbs⁴ at the front of her new book "Tempests And Slaughter⁵." Tamora Pierce joins us now from the studios of Syracuse Public Media in upstate New York.

Thanks so much for being with us.

TAMORA PIERCE: Thank you for inviting⁶ me.

SIMON: We'll try and set this up. It's one of the - I hope I get the pronunciation correct - Numair Chronicles.

PIERCE: Yes, it is the story of a very popular character. He's an incredibly powerful wizard, or mage. And this is his story from the time he was about 10 or 11 or 12. He's the youngest student at the university in Carthak, to the south. So he is struggling to master being among older teenagers. He is struggling to master the lessons. And his magic, already strong, is beginning to grow on him.

SIMON: The protagonist⁷ of this book is a young man - Arram.

PIERCE: Yes, Arram is my first male hero.

SIMON: Yeah.

PIERCE: I'm going back to girls.

SIMON: Well, what made you switch to a male? I mean, Alanna is the heroine that is kind of at the center of so much of your universe - or have you been in the past. What made you decide to try and write from a male point of view?

PIERCE: I thought it was fair. I thought I owed the boys some. And Arram is so popular and gets into so much trouble that I knew I could do it, which was an act of hubris⁸ on my part that still leaves me breathless. See, I'm kind of notorious for one thing in particular as a writer. I am pretty straightforward⁹ about teenagers and sex.

SIMON: Yeah.

PIERCE: And...

SIMON: I noticed.

PIERCE: ...The girls...

SIMON: You're much more straightforward than I've been with our daughters, let me put it that way.

(LAUGHTER)

PIERCE: I've lost count of the mothers and fathers who have come to me and said, thank you for explaining it to them.

SIMON: (Laughter) Yeah.

PIERCE: The thing was, in my first book, I had a girl disguised as a boy. And when you're a girl disguised as a boy going through puberty, the changes in your body become a major part of the plot. So I just stuck with it as I went on. And when I was working on this book, I got to a point I went - oh, my God. I can skip it, but that wouldn't be right.

SIMON: Yeah.

PIERCE: So I went to my writing partner Bruce Coville. And first he laughed himself silly at me. But all those embarrassing little questions, he answered them for me. But it was important. It had to be done. I had to be as fair to the guys as I was to the girls, which is one reason why I'm going back to girls after this is over.

SIMON: (Laughter) Well, I enjoyed the result. Can I ask you to go back to a time - I guess you were in the sixth grade - you were washing dishes and your father overheard you.

PIERCE: And instead of saying, Tammy, people think you're nuts if you talk to yourself - 'cause I'd tell myself stories while I did the dishes - what he said was, you should write a book. And if he thought so, it was important to me. So instead of going (scoffing), I asked him what I should write about. And he thought about it for a minute and he says, how about travels in a time machine? And the thing that really made it stick - that told me more than words, 'cause he wasn't that kind of guy - that this was a big deal for him, he said I could use his typewriter. And up until that moment, if I had touched the typewriter, I would be missing that hand today.

So I knew more than him telling me that this was a big deal for him. So I sat down to the typewriter and, one finger at a time, I started on a girl traveling with a time machine. And that carried me to Blackbeard and to ancient Egypt and through a year before my parents broke up and the typewriter went with my dad. But by then, I was hooked.

SIMON: You made reference to your parents splitting up. Did you write your way through that?

PIERCE: I had to. My mother was a brilliant woman, but she was also a severely¹⁰ disturbed woman. And this was the time when courts automatically awarded custody¹¹ to the mother. So yes, I wrote and wrote and wrote. And unfortunately, in 10th grade, she and I had a major fight. And I did not write fiction of my own for another five years. I wrote bad poetry, which is why I'm still a little leery of poetry today.

SIMON: Is - your mother's no longer with us?

PIERCE: No, no. She passed on in the '90s. And it was a shame because she taught me about religious history. She taught me about art. She taught me about literature, which I wasn't as appreciative¹² of as maybe I should have been. But my mother never got it. For some reason, she was threatened by my writing, maybe 'cause it was something my dad had given me.

SIMON: As you survey the YA world, a lot more women heroes, aren't there?

PIERCE: Oh, my heavens, yes.

SIMON: And you're often cited as being responsible for opening that door.

PIERCE: Yeah, I don't know. I think they would have happened anyway. The third wave of feminism really gave young women permission to just break out. The idea that, yes, you can be a strong woman, but there are roles opening up in traditionally masculine fields. And if they're opening out here, then why can't they open out in fantasy?

SIMON: And whatever is next, will some of the force and impetus¹³ of the #MeToo movement wind up in your characters?

PIERCE: I think so. I think - I try very hard to include elements of reality in everything I do. I think the one thing fantasy does - and science fiction as well - is we give kids exposure to parts of the real world at a safe distance so that they can read about it and think about it and turn it over, close the book, go away, talk about it with people they trust and come back and think about it again. So definitely the #MeToo movement - I would like to see way more of that because I've been so energized¹⁴ by women finally coming forward and people having to listen to them. That is just so important to me.

SIMON: Tamora Pierce - her new book, "Tempests And Slaughter."

Thanks so much for being with us.

PIERCE: Thank you for having me here. It was so wonderful to talk to you.

1 lockers   

n.寄物柜( locker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I care about more lockers for the teachers. 我关心教师要有更多的储物柜。 来自辞典例句
• Passengers are requested to stow their hand-baggage in the lockers above the seats. 旅客须将随身携带的行李放入座位上方的贮藏柜里。 来自辞典例句

2 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

3 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

4 blurbs   

n.（尤指印在书籍等护封上的）简介，推荐广告( blurb的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The author got all his friends to write blurbs for his book. 这位作者让他所有的朋友给他的新书写了广告式的短评。 来自互联网
• Blurbs, Admonitions and table cells (see Tables) may now contain paragraphs. 短评、警告和表格单元（见表格）现在可以包含段落。 来自互联网

5 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

6 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

7 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

8 hubris   

n.傲慢，骄傲

参考例句：

• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。
• The very hubris of French claims alarmed the other powers.法国贪婪的胃口使其他大国惊恐不安。

9 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

10 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

11 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

12 appreciative   

adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的

参考例句：

• She was deeply appreciative of your help.她对你的帮助深表感激。
• We are very appreciative of their support in this respect.我们十分感谢他们在这方面的支持。

13 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

14 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句