美国国家公共电台 NPR A 'Wine Lover's Daughter' Savors Her Dad's Vintage Story

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Anne Fadiman's father was the very model of the modern, cultivated man. He quoted Shakespeare and Shaw, recited Homer and Sophocles, made clever wisecracks and pointed¹ puns. He was a longtime judge of the Book of the Month Club, the host of a popular radio and TV quiz show. And, boy, did he know wine.

Anne Fadiman, the author and editor, has written a memoir² that winds in and out of one of her father's most personal passions, "The Wine Lover's Daughter." And Anne Fadiman, who's now the Francis Writer in Residence at Yale, joins us from the studios of New England Public Radio. Thanks so much for being with us.

ANNE FADIMAN: Thank you so much for having me.

SIMON: Let me get you to begin as you do in the book - with a very vivid memory of your father.

FADIMAN: I would love to. So here's the very first paragraph.

(Reading) My father was a lousy driver and a two-finger typist, but he could open a wine bottle as deftly³ as any swain ever undressed his lover. Nearly every evening of my childhood, I watched him cut the capsule - the foil sleeve that sheathes⁴ the bottleneck⁵ - with a sharp knife. Then he plunged⁶ the bore of a butterfly corkscrew into the exact center of the cork⁷, twirled the handle and, after the brass⁸ levers rose like two supplicant⁹ arms, pushed them down and gently twisted out the cork. Its pop was satisfying but restrained - not the fustian¹⁰ whoop¹¹ of a champagne¹² cork, but a well-bred thwick. He once said that the cork was one of three inventions that had proved unequivocally beneficial to the human race. The others were the wheel and Kleenex.

SIMON: (Laughter) Your father thought wine was just not another beverage¹³. He thought it was a true force of civilization, didn't he?

FADIMAN: Yes. It was indeed a force of civilization. And, of course, it was a civilizing¹⁴ force in his own life because, along with books, wine represented the sort of cultivated, refined life that he had aspired¹⁵ to when he was growing up poor in Brooklyn. And once prohibition¹⁶ ended, and he could legally buy wine, amassing¹⁷ a really expensive cellar was pretty much the first thing he did with his new money.

SIMON: He seemed to have ambivalent¹⁸ feelings about being Jewish. Help us capture what your father was feeling, if you could.

FADIMAN: Oh, I think ambivalent feelings is - (laughter) I think you're being kind. He fervently¹⁹ wished that he were not Jewish. He had encountered pretty much nothing but anti-Semitism when he was trying to make it in New York. He went to Columbia as an English major and then started graduate school there.

And when he was in grad school, the head of the English department said, Mr. Fadiman, we have room for only one Jew this year, and it's Lionel. Lionel was Lionel Trilling, his best friend. And Lionel Trilling was hired and became one of the most famous academics in the country. And my father left and essentially²⁰ became a popularist, spreading culture among the masses rather than teaching in an elite²¹ institution.

And even though he became much more famous and much wealthier than his friend Lionel Trilling, he always felt inferior, and he always felt that that moment of being rejected because he was Jewish was perhaps the most painful moment of his life - a rubicon he could never recross.

SIMON: Well, then, back to wine. You were there on your father's 80th birthday when he was honored with a famous dinner at the Four Seasons. And he had a - what was it? - half a glass of wine that was put down the year he was born - 1904?

FADIMAN: Yeah. For his 80th birthday, one of his best friends - a wine merchant in New York - had procured²² a bottle of Chateau²³ Lafite Rothschild 1904. So that bottle and he celebrated²⁴ their 80th birthdays together.

SIMON: Well, describe that sip²⁵ of wine - at least your father's face.

FADIMAN: At first, his mouth was sort of pursed in the right position for an incipient²⁶ witticism²⁷ to emerge. It was an expression I knew well. But as soon as the wine - that great historic wine - went into his mouth, he stopped speaking, and he looked contemplative. And then he almost looked as if he might cry not because he was sad but because he was so moved. It was as if he had put history inside himself.

SIMON: Anne Fadiman, how do you feel about wine?

FADIMAN: Oh, I wish I could say I loved wine the way my father does. I was born without his palate. I don't hate it, but it tastes overly strong to me. I can't distinguish between different wines. And all my life, I thought that this was some sort of terrible, fatal character flaw. And then I started wondering, what if it were biological?

And one of the chapters in the book traces my journey to a couple of taste science labs and through some genetic²⁸ testing. And indeed, I found that the causes were biological - an ultra-sensitive palate, particular genetic sensitivity to bitterness and so on. And this was sort of a relief. I thought, oh, my God. Thank God it's not my fault. I'm not just an inferior human being. But it was also so disappointing because I knew that a great pleasure in my father's life was never going to be open to me.

SIMON: Yeah. Perhaps your father's best known quote - and I remember first coming upon it years ago - was, when you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before. You see more in you than was there before. Let me turn your father's best-remembered line back on you. When you look back at your life and your relationship in this memoir, did you see more in him than you had before? Or did you just know more about you than you did before?

FADIMAN: I think both. I wrote this book in order to try to understand my father better by understanding something that he really loved. But I learned more about myself, as well - not just about why I don't like wine but about the ways in which I individuated, I guess you could say. I never thought much about what made me able to become a successful writer while so many of other children of the famous live forever beneath their parents' shadows. What was it about me? What was it about my relationship with my father that ended up liberating²⁹ me instead of crippling me? So both. It was a journey of mutual³⁰ understanding.

SIMON: Anne Fadiman - her memoir "The Wine Lover's Daughter." Thanks so much for being with us.

FADIMAN: Thank you, Scott. I enjoyed every minute.

1 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

2 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

3 deftly   

adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He deftly folded the typed sheets and replaced them in the envelope. 他灵巧地将打有字的纸折好重新放回信封。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. 这一下终于让他发现了她的兴趣所在，于是他熟练地继续谈这个话题。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

4 sheathes   

v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的第三人称单数 )；包，覆盖

参考例句：

5 bottleneck   

n.瓶颈口，交通易阻的狭口；妨生产流程的一环

参考例句：

• The transportation bottleneck has blocked the movement of the cargo.运输的困难阻塞了货物的流通。
• China's strained railroads already become a bottleneck for the economy.中国紧张的铁路运输已经成为经济增长的瓶颈。

6 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

7 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

8 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

9 supplicant   

adj.恳求的n.恳求者

参考例句：

• Her rendering of it fell somewhere between that of teacher and supplicant. 她表达这首诗的方式是介乎教学和祈求之间。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦
• He flung himself down in the flat submissive posture of a mere supplicant. 他以一个卑微的哀求者绝对谦恭的姿态猛地趴在地上。 来自辞典例句

10 fustian   

n.浮夸的；厚粗棉布

参考例句：

• Fustian can't disguise the author's meager plot.浮夸的文章掩饰不住这个作者的贫乏情节。
• His fustian shirt,sanguineflowered,trembles its Spanish tassels at his secrets.他身上穿的是件印有血红色大花的粗斜纹布衬衫，每当他吐露秘密时，西班牙式的流苏就颤悠。

11 whoop   

n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息

参考例句：

• He gave a whoop of joy when he saw his new bicycle.他看到自己的新自行车时，高兴得叫了起来。
• Everybody is planning to whoop it up this weekend.大家都打算在这个周末好好欢闹一番。

12 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

13 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

14 civilizing   

v.使文明，使开化( civilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls in a class tend to have a civilizing influence on the boys. 班上的女生往往能让男生文雅起来。
• It exerts a civilizing influence on mankind. 这产生了教化人类的影响。 来自辞典例句

15 aspired   

v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She aspired to a scientific career. 她有志于科学事业。
• Britain,France,the United States and Japan all aspired to hegemony after the end of World War I. 第一次世界大战后，英、法、美、日都想争夺霸权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

17 amassing   

v.积累，积聚( amass的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of taxonomy must necessarily involve the amassing of an encyclopaedic knowledge of plants. 分类学研究一定要积累广博的植物知识。 来自辞典例句
• Build your trophy room while amassing awards and accolades. 建立您的奖杯积累奖项和荣誉。 来自互联网

18 ambivalent   

adj.含糊不定的；(态度等)矛盾的

参考例句：

• She remained ambivalent about her marriage.她对于自己的婚事仍然拿不定主意。
• Although she professed fear of the Russians,she seemed to have ambivalent feelings toward Philby himself.虽然她承认害怕俄国人，然而她似乎对菲尔比本人有一种矛盾的感情。

19 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

20 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

21 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

22 procured   

v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条

参考例句：

• These cars are to be procured through open tender. 这些汽车要用公开招标的办法购买。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A friend procured a position in the bank for my big brother. 一位朋友为我哥哥谋得了一个银行的职位。 来自《用法词典》

23 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

24 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。

25 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

26 incipient   

adj.起初的，发端的，初期的

参考例句：

• The anxiety has been sharpened by the incipient mining boom.采矿业初期的蓬勃发展加剧了这种担忧。
• What we see then is an incipient global inflation.因此，我们看到的是初期阶段的全球通胀.

27 witticism   

n.谐语，妙语

参考例句：

• He tries to lighten his lectures with an occasional witticism.他有时想用俏皮话使课堂活跃。
• His witticism was as sharp as a marble.他的打趣话十分枯燥无味。

28 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

29 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

30 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。