2019年经济学人 美国代孕题材新小说:《农场》(1)

美国代孕题材新小说:《农场》(1)

Books and Arts

来源于《图书与艺术》版块

Book Review

书评

New American fiction

新美国小说

Womb for rent

出租子宫

The Farm. By Joanne Ramos.

《农场》。作者：乔安妮·拉莫斯

For Jane, a job at Golden Oaks, an elegant property north of Manhattan, seems almost too good to be true. She spends her days swaddled in cashmere, engaged in light exercise and nourished by organic superfoods. Her bedroom is far more luxurious¹ than the dormitory in Queens where she and her newborn daughter bunked² with dozens of fellow Filipinas; the pay is much better than her previous jobs. The hitch³ is that she had to leave her child, relinquish⁴ her freedom and carry a baby to term for one of the most powerful women in the world.

曼哈顿北部一处优雅的房产名为黄金橡，对于简而言，在这工作似乎美好得不真实。她每天裹着开司米，进行轻度运动，吃有机超级食品。她的卧室比皇后区的宿舍豪华得多，她和刚出生的女儿与数十名菲律宾同胞同住在这里；薪水比她以前的工作高得多。问题是她不得不离开自己的孩子，放弃自由，为世界上最有权势的女人之一代孕。

This is the unnervingly plausible⁵ set-up for Joanne Ramos’s impressive debut⁶ novel, “The Farm”. The title comes from the employees’ name for this high-end surrogacy outfit⁷, where mostly destitute⁸ women incubate the infants of the 1%. Befitting an era when parents strive to give their offspring ever-more sophisticated advantages, the place is calibrated⁹ to maximise “fetal potential”, with customised diets, wristbands to monitor activity levels and wearable machines that broadcast Mozart’s symphonies and Churchill’s speeches directly into the womb. Hired “hosts” submit to constant scrutiny—there are cameras everywhere. White surrogates are rare and command a premium¹⁰, particularly if they have been to university.

这就是乔安妮·拉莫斯令人印象深刻的处女作《农场》中刻画的令人不安的似是而非的场景。这个书名来自于这家高端代孕机构的员工名字，在这家机构里，大多数贫困女性为1%的人代孕婴儿。在这个时代，父母们努力给后代更多复杂的优势，得益于此，这个地方的标准是最大化“胎儿潜能”，饮食定制，腕带用来监测活动水平，可穿戴设备可以将莫扎特的交响乐和丘吉尔的演讲直接送入子宫。雇佣的“代孕”要接受持续的审查——到处都是摄像头。白人代孕者很少见，而且价格不菲，尤其是如果还上过大学。

1 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

2 bunked   

v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的过去式和过去分词 )；空话，废话

参考例句：

• He bunked with a friend for the night. 他和一个朋友同睡一张床过夜。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We bunked in an old barn. 我们将就着睡在旧谷仓里。 来自辞典例句

3 hitch   

v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉

参考例句：

• They had an eighty-mile journey and decided to hitch hike.他们要走80英里的路程，最后决定搭便车。
• All the candidates are able to answer the questions without any hitch.所有报考者都能对答如流。

4 relinquish   

v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手

参考例句：

• He was forced to relinquish control of the company.他被迫放弃公司的掌控权。
• They will never voluntarily relinquish their independence.他们绝对不会自动放弃独立。

5 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

6 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。

7 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

8 destitute   

adj.缺乏的；穷困的

参考例句：

• They were destitute of necessaries of life.他们缺少生活必需品。
• They are destitute of common sense.他们缺乏常识。

9 calibrated   

v.校准( calibrate的过去式和过去分词 )；使标准化；使合标准；测量（枪的）口径

参考例句：

• Power pesticide dusters can be calibrated and used to apply pertilizer. 动力杀虫剂可以调整用来施肥。 来自辞典例句
• The flexible diaphragm is connected to a plat cantilever-calibrated spring. 柔韧的膜片一扁平的悬臂校正弹簧相连。 来自辞典例句

10 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。