【英语语言学习】回忆的伤痛

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

 

Hayley Kincain is 15 years old and on the run with her father, Andy. He's come home from the war in Iraq, honored for his service, and haunted by it. He drinks and does drugs, can't hold a job, is unreliable behind the wheel of his 18-wheeler, and often seems to be the real adolescent in the family. Father and daughter try to stop running by moving back to Andy's hometown in upstate New York, but the war still goes on inside of him and threatens to make Hayley one more casualty.

 

"The Impossible Knife of Memory" is Laurie Halse Anderson's newest novel for young readers. Laurie Halse Anderson is one of the best-known writers of literature for young adults and children in the world, including the celebrated¹ book "Speak," and a trilogy on the American Revolution that begins with the books "Chains" and "Forge."

 

She has twice been nominated for the National Book Award, and joins us now from our member station KUOW in Seattle. Thanks so much for being with us.

 

LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON: Thank you so much for inviting² me.

 

SIMON: You say this book is personal. How so?

 

ANDERSON: This book is personal for two reasons. I started thinking about it when my nephew came home from his tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, and I watched his struggles to kind of reorient himself and slip back into life. And it brought back a lot of memories from own experience with my father, who was a World War II vet³. His troops were sent to Dachau shortly after the concentration camp was opened in 1945, when my dad was 18. And what he saw and experienced there continues to haunt him. When I was a teenager, those memories and ghosts took over my family's lives for many years, and created a lot of heartbreak.

 

SIMON: Can you talk about that?

 

ANDERSON: Well, I had a lovely, wonderful childhood. My father was a college chaplain at Syracuse University. We had a lot of college students in our house, which is always fun when you're a little kid. And our life seemed to me - at that point - fantastic. I mean, it was joy and love, and lots of laughter. But my dad became more serious and began drinking, as, I think, the pressures of his job mounted.

 

Also, there was a lot of Vietnam War protest. So the concept of war and death was very much in our lives. And then, just as I was going into seventh grade, Dad lost his job as a minister because of his own issues - his drinking, and other problems. It felt like we were being kicked out of Eden. My dad didn't work for several years, and this man who I've revered⁴ and loved so much became a stranger. He was with us physically⁵, but he wasn't with us emotionally.

 

And I think the worst part was - is that we couldn't talk about what was happening. We didn't discuss things like that in our family. And I was very confused. I was angry, and I was scared. You know, I was frequently thinking that he was going to be dead when I got home from school.

 

SIMON: Yeah. So how much does this blue-haired, whip-smart handful who is Hayley Kincain resemble Laurie Halse Anderson?

 

ANDERSON: Well, I don't have blue hair. And whip-smart is probably up for discussion. But I think she is what I wish I had been. She's much braver than I was, as a kid - and tougher, too. You know, she confronts her dad in a way I never had the courage to.

 

SIMON: When you write from inside the skin of a teenager, how do you keep your impressions fresh?

 

ANDERSON: People who knew me back in the day say that I haven't changed much since I was 15. If I have a secret weapon, I think that might be what it is. I have this theory that adolescence⁶ is a repeated experience. You go through a second adolescence - sadly, I think - when you hit your middle age. You know, and then your kids leave home, and then there's these giant rounds of transition in our lives. You know, you find you're sort of experiencing the same kinds of things; concerns about your body and your place, and your identity in the world.

 

SIMON: Can Hayley understand her father and - I don't mind saying - the hell he's seen in war any more than he can understand the daughter who is this teenage girl, and the hell she's seen in him?

 

ANDERSON: Wow. That's a wonderful question. I think that's sort of the path that they're trying so hard to walk down together, you know. The memories that have trapped her father have also trapped Hayley, and I think this is something that vets⁷ struggle with mightily⁸ - 'cause not only do they have their own pain that they're processing, but they love their children; and to see their pain infecting their kids is devastating⁹. I don't think, you know, Hayley doesn't have the maturity¹⁰ to fully¹¹ understand what her father is experiencing, which is why she gets angry at him, and why she's disappointed. But her painful memories are the good ones. She remembers that dad who loved her and could take care of her. And sometimes, it hurts to look back on the good days when the days that they're in right now are so bleak¹².

 

SIMON: Do you feel that kind of support wasn't there for your father?

 

ANDERSON: No. It didn't exist. It didn't exist at all. We didn't even - I don't even think the phrase post-traumatic stress disorder¹³ had been discussed. It certainly wasn't discussed when he came home from World War II. I think we began to talk about it when the Vietnam soldiers began to come home. But, you know, that greatest generation, they were supposed to come home and put those memories in their footlocker and get on with life. And they tried; they really did try. But there's an awful lot of them who were broken.

 

SIMON: You recently helped your father get resettled into a home.

 

ANDERSON: Yeah.

 

SIMON: What's his life like now? What's he like?

 

ANDERSON: It's interesting. He's a little disoriented. He's a very independent man. We moved our parents back up north about 10 years ago because they had gotten to the point where they needed some help. And caring for my dad - my mom passed away in 2009 - has been a remarkable¹⁴ experience, really lovely. And all my old frustrations¹⁵ with him are gone. They just faded away. And seeing that even today, you know, at 86, he's still struggling with his memories of his war experience is pretty profound. His memory is fading; he's beginning to have some dementia. And it's interesting because I got him a book the other day about the P-51 bombers¹⁶ that he used to work on - he was also a mechanic - and when he was paging through the pictures of the young men working on the planes, he became very emotional. Those months and years when he was 18, 19, 20 are more vivid in his mind than pretty much any experience he's had since.

SIMON: Laurie Halse Anderson - her new novel, "The Impossible Knife of Memory." Thanks so much for being with us.

 

ANDERSON: Oh, this has been really fun. Thank you very much.

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 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。

3 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

4 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 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。

7 vets   

abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• I helped train many young vets and veterinary nurses too. 我还帮助培训了许多年青的兽医和护士。 来自互联网
• In fact, we've expanded mental health counseling and services for our vets. 实际上，我们已经扩大了退伍军人的心理健康咨询和服务。 来自互联网

8 mightily   

ad.强烈地；非常地

参考例句：

• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet. 他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
• This seemed mightily to relieve him. 干完这件事后，他似乎轻松了许多。

9 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

10 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

13 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。

14 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

15 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。

16 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》