美国国家公共电台 NPR Grim Realities Meet Magic And Absurdity In 'The Wrong Heaven'

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

In the collection of short stories called "The Wrong Heaven," grim realities meet magic and absurdity¹. The stories are all about women wrestling with familiar dilemmas² - love, death, friendship, fertility. But these familiar journeys play out in surreal worlds where a woman can turn into a horse, Jesus and Mary lawn ornaments³ come to life and an angel of death can tell a dying woman she's sexy. Most of the stories have laugh-out-loud funny lines, and they're all written by Amy Bonnaffons. "The Wrong Heaven" is her first book. And hey, I am so glad to be talking to you.

AMY BONNAFFONS: Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.

CHANG: So my first question is, why short stories? What could short stories do for all these ideas you had in this book that one longer plot could not?

BONNAFFONS: I think the short story is such a wonderful form to explore an idea in a relatively⁴ brief space but with a lot of depth. With a novel, I think there's a lot of pressure to kind of build to something and have something play out in a way that feels complete whereas in a short story, there's a way to just kind of, like, dip into a world and see what it has to offer.

CHANG: Yeah. Maybe the story that stuck most with me was the one called "Horse." It's about a woman who instead of undergoing injections to have a baby as her friend is doing, she's having injections to turn into a horse. Why is turning into a horse the opposite of becoming a mother?

BONNAFFONS: Well, it's funny you phrase it that way...

CHANG: (Laughter).

BONNAFFONS: ...Because the idea for the story came to me literally⁵ in a dream. I had woken up from this dream in which I saw a woman injecting herself. And then I woke up with this sentence on my brain that said the opposite of having a baby is becoming a horse.

(LAUGHTER)

BONNAFFONS: And I didn't know exactly what it meant, but it felt right. I was like, uh-huh, yep.

CHANG: But then I was also thinking, but, you know, wild horses, even unfettered wild horses - they need a herd⁶. What do you think of that? Is it possible to remain truly unfettered and alone?

BONNAFFONS: Well...

(LAUGHTER)

BONNAFFONS: Not really. No, I don't think so. And I think part of what that story wrestles⁷ with and that some of the others wrestle⁸ with, too, is that connection with other people is such a sticky thing, right?

CHANG: Yeah.

BONNAFFONS: Like, we all want it, and we need it so deeply. And yet there's all these ways that it can ensnare us. And a lot of the characters are struggling with that in various ways, right? Like, how do I remain myself or figure out what myself is...

CHANG: Yeah.

BONNAFFONS: ...While also being connected to these other people in my life?

CHANG: I want to turn to a story called "The Other One." It's about a lawyer who ends up in a relationship with her law firm partner. But she ends up haunted seeing his ex-wife having a child on her own. And she turns into this crumpled⁹ mess inside a karaoke room. I guess let's just start there. Why would someone want to seek refuge in a karaoke room?

(LAUGHTER)

BONNAFFONS: Well, that's something a friend of mine actually did. She was telling me about it. She was just in Midtown in New York City, wandering around, like, between meetings. And she was like, I've got an hour to kill. Maybe I'll just rent a room and do some karaoke by myself.

CHANG: (Laughter).

BONNAFFONS: And she said she ended up just sobbing¹⁰ through the hour, like singing...

CHANG: Wow.

BONNAFFONS: ...These power ballads¹¹ to herself and, like, really working some stuff out. And so I thought that would be a funny...

CHANG: Oh, my God, that sounds so sad.

(LAUGHTER)

BONNAFFONS: But she said it was really cathartic¹² and wonderful in the end. But I thought, like, what a wonderful kind of stage setting for somebody to just work some stuff out (laughter).

CHANG: Yeah.

BONNAFFONS: So she feels connected and alone at the same time.

CHANG: I was also struck by how she was drawn¹³ to that guy, that - the partner in the law firm. Like, she was almost turned on by being out-argued by him, intellectually dominated by him. And maybe that was one of the things that made her feel powerless at some level.

BONNAFFONS: Yeah. I think that character describes herself as a feminist¹⁴. And I think one thing that interests me and that I write about often is sort of this tension between one's own feminist ideals or political ideals in general and then the situations that one's thrown into in life, right?

CHANG: Yeah. Yeah.

BONNAFFONS: And so why am I attracted to this person who doesn't seem like a feminist himself? (Laughter) Or why do I enjoy being dominated? Why do I want this thing that I'm not supposed to want?

CHANG: As we've said, there's a touch of magical realism in a lot of these stories. Is that the way you've always written as an author?

BONNAFFONS: No, not always. So when I started the MFA program that I did, I had only written realistically. So actually, the very first story in this collection, "The Wrong Heaven," I had started writing that story, and it was very different at the time. The character had a son, which she doesn't in this version. And she and her son were having some tensions over, like, she wanted him to go to church, and he didn't want to go to - and I was just frustrated¹⁵ the story wasn't working. And it was, like, probably 2 a.m. or something. And just out of sheer frustration¹⁶ I was like, well, what if Jesus just started talking to her? And I had so much fun writing that section that I was like, why don't I do this more often?

CHANG: Yeah.

BONNAFFONS: And so from then on I kind of never looked back. I just never saw that line again as something that I couldn't cross. Like, if I felt tempted¹⁷ to cross it, I just did.

CHANG: There's a piece of dialogue I want you to read...

BONNAFFONS: Sure.

CHANG: ...From the Jesus and Mary story.

BONNAFFONS: Sure. (Reading) You are loved, said Mary. So, she said, how can we help you today, Cheryl? Well, I said, I guess I'd just like to feel like you're on my side. Mary nodded sympathetically. I think you're doing a bang-up job, she said, under the circumstances. She had a slight British accent like Julie Andrews. Look, said Jesus, don't take it the wrong way, what I'm about to say - it's just my personality - but have you considered the lilies of the field, the birds, the wild beasts? Do they wonder who's on their side? He made air quotes. I don't know, I said. They don't, he said.

CHANG: Why did you want to give Jesus this sarcastic¹⁸, kind of jerky personality?

BONNAFFONS: (Laughter) It just kind of came out that way when I had him start talking (laughter).

CHANG: Let's talk about your relationship with God, Amy.

(LAUGHTER)

BONNAFFONS: Yeah. You know, Jesus kind of is represented weirdly¹⁹ in our culture I think.

CHANG: What do you mean?

BONNAFFONS: Like, I think in this completely neutered way. I grew up going to a very progressive episcopal church where Jesus was basically considered and presented to us as, like, a political radical²⁰, which I think is an amazing way to look at what he did. And in popular culture it's either he's dead or he's kind of, like, surrounded by baby lambs. So perhaps that's where it came from. But of course I (laughter) - I took it a little bit further than that. This is not the political radical Jesus.

CHANG: It's the steely, gritty Jesus.

BONNAFFONS: Right. It's - and I think it's the Jesus who deep down wants you to be your best self and is just frustrated with you...

CHANG: Yeah. Yeah.

BONNAFFONS: ...That you're not getting there. And he's kind of giving you some tough love.

CHANG: Amy Bonnaffons - her new book of short stories is called "The Wrong Heaven." Thank you very much for joining us.

BONNAFFONS: Thank you so much for having me.

1 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

2 dilemmas   

n.左右为难( dilemma的名词复数 )；窘境，困境

参考例句：

• They dealt with their dilemmas by mixing perhaps unintentionally an explosive brew. 他们――也许是无意地――把爆炸性的佐料混合在一起，以此来应付困难处境。 来自辞典例句
• Ten years later we encountered the same dilemmas in Vietnam. 十年后，我们又在越南遇到了同样进退两难的局面。 来自辞典例句

3 ornaments   

n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The shelves were chock-a-block with ornaments. 架子上堆满了装饰品。
• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments. 一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

7 wrestles   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的第三人称单数 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• The book also wrestles with the idea of individualism. 书中也与个人英雄主义的观念进行搏斗。 来自互联网
• He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. 和我们搏斗的人锻炼了我们的勇气，磨练了我们的技能。 来自互联网

8 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

9 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

10 sobbing   

<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的

参考例句：

• I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
• Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。

11 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

12 cathartic   

adj.宣泄情绪的；n.泻剂

参考例句：

• His laughter was cathartic,an animal yelp that brought tears to his eyes.他哈哈大笑以宣泄情绪，声音如野兽般尖厉，眼泪都笑出来了。
• The drug had a cathartic effect.这药有导泻的作用。

13 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。

14 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

15 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

17 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

18 sarcastic   

adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的

参考例句：

• I squashed him with a sarcastic remark.我说了一句讽刺的话把他给镇住了。
• She poked fun at people's shortcomings with sarcastic remarks.她冷嘲热讽地拿别人的缺点开玩笑。

19 weirdly   

古怪地

参考例句：

• Another special characteristic of Kweilin is its weirdly-shaped mountain grottoes. 桂林的另一特点是其形态怪异的岩洞。
• The country was weirdly transformed. 地势古怪地变了样。

20 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。