美国国家公共电台 NPR In Dave Eggers' New Book, Heroic Kids Do The Heavy Lifting

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

These days, it's not uncommon¹ to open up the paper and read about a dying town that's lost its factory or about families struggling economically or about a political battle tearing a community apart. In his latest book, Dave Eggers folds those elements into a supernatural story for young readers about a boy who discovers that a dangerous force is literally² feeding on the despair in his town and even threatens his family. It's called "The Lifters." And he's here to talk more about it. Dave Eggers, welcome to the program.

DAVE EGGERS: Thank you.

CORNISH: So this story is set in a town that once manufactured carnival³ carousels⁵, which sounds very light and fun. But it's a pretty dark place, and it manifests itself in ways kind of big and small. And I wanted you to maybe talk a little bit about that, like how you depict⁶ that through the eyes of a kid who in this story - I think he's about 12.

EGGERS: Yeah, he's 12, and he just moved to this town. It's based a little bit on some of the small towns in rural Pennsylvania where carousels were manufactured about a hundred years ago. And this town was called Carousel⁴. And then to some extent, they've forgotten why they've - were even had that name. He comes as an outsider, and he doesn't know anything about that history either. But slowly he and his sort of partner in crime, 12-year-old girl named Catalina Catalan, discover the history of the town while trying to save it.

CORNISH: Right. The hero of this story - his name is Gran, short for Granite⁷. And he's - I guess you would call him a loner at Carousel Middle School. Although it's kind of worse than being picked on. I mean, he's completely ignored.

EGGERS: Yeah, I don't think he's a loner by choice.

CORNISH: (Laughter).

EGGERS: He's a loner by the decision of the rest of the school to see through him. He's new, and instead of being picked on, he's completely ignored. Gran is so sure that maybe he doesn't even exist that he runs into a brick wall just to prove that he's three-dimensional. So I wanted Gran to have that kind of sensitivity. But Catalina ultimately bolsters⁸ him and gives him a purpose, you know, which I think so many kids want - just, like, a task, a responsibility, some sort of - they're heroes in waiting, really. They just want to be given the opportunity to prove it.

CORNISH: These kids do find a mission because the book starts out this mystery of them - of these sinkholes and building collapses⁹ in the town. And you come to understand that once they stumble on these underground tunnels, that their job is to literally prop¹⁰ up the foundations of the town - right? - using essentially¹¹ junk and - I don't know - the flotsam (laughter) of the manufacturing town.

EGGERS: Yeah, hockey sticks, old poles, gutters¹², you know, anything that's sort of vertical¹³ and could be used as a support. And so everything that lives and breathes above-ground relies on these two young people to prop it all up underground.

CORNISH: At one point, there's a rallying cry from a leader in this effort - right? - to save the town, which I almost printed out to put over my desk, which said, the work ahead will tire us and will frustrate¹⁴ us, and victories will be brief and quickly reversed. Who among you is unwilling¹⁵?

EGGERS: Yeah, that was the head lifter. You know, these kids that sort of are in charge of holding up the town and towns all over the world are called lifters, and that was the head lifter who said that when they're all at a convention of lifters deep in the inner mantle¹⁶ of the earth basically.

CORNISH: But the idea that, like, change is...

EGGERS: Thanks for quoting that. I forgot about that.

CORNISH: (Laughter) Change is hard. It doesn't work at first, (laughter) right? Like, it might not take the first couple of times. It's a rough lesson.

EGGERS: I had kids read this. So I have, like, student readers who read the book and marked it up and told me what was working and what they liked. And everybody loved that speech and that time when all the lifters were gathered. And it just shows, like, kids want to be heroes, and they want to be given that sort of higher purpose. And I think we've got to respect that and give them chances to bring it out.

CORNISH: Can I ask what other notes your student readers gave you (laughter)?

EGGERS: They're astoundingly good editors. They will tell you exactly what's working, exactly what's not working. I took every last edit...

CORNISH: Oh, really?

EGGERS: ...From every last of these kids - oh, yeah.

CORNISH: I'm just imagining a kid writing, like, overwritten...

(LAUGHTER)

CORNISH: ...Like, adverb use.

(LAUGHTER)

EGGERS: You know what? They are the purest readers. They do want to be entertained. And I'll say that sometimes they are easier to please for sure than cynical¹⁷ adult readers because it's all new to them. So this might've been, like, the seventh chapter book some of these kids read or the second or the third. So that's why I feel honored to be part of their reading experience at such a young age 'cause I remember every last book I read in that era. You know, I was not, like, a voracious¹⁸ reader, so I remember that one or two books a year I'd read when I was 10 and 11 and 12 because I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into a chapter book at that age.

CORNISH: In the end, what do you want kids to walk away feeling?

EGGERS: I want them to feel power in their own abilities. And courage matters. Bravery matters. And if you leave, there will be people that will follow. And so those are some of the things I'm hoping readers might take away. And then there's a lot of good, cheap jokes, too.

CORNISH: (Laughter) Dave Eggers - his new book is called "The Lifters." Thank you for speaking with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

EGGERS: Thank you, Audie.

1 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

2 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。

3 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

4 carousel   

n.旋转式行李输送带

参考例句：

• Riding on a carousel makes you feel dizzy.乘旋转木马使你头晕。
• We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.我们看起来就像一群骑在旋转木马上的笨拙的孩子。

5 carousels   

n.喧闹的酒会；旋转木马( carousel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Object carousel and data carousel are both carousels. 对象轮和数据轮都是轮播方式，但是两者存在区别。 来自互联网
• Build dizzy carousels, unbelievable roller-coasters, Ferris wheels, fear halls and other thrilling andand thirsty. 建造眩目的回旋木马，难以置信的云霄飞车，摩天轮，恐怖木屋和其他令人毛骨悚然的设备。 来自互联网

6 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

7 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

8 bolsters   

n.长枕( bolster的名词复数 )；垫子；衬垫；支持物v.支持( bolster的第三人称单数 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He used a couple of bolsters to elevate his head. 他用两个垫枕垫头。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The double-row piles with both inclined and horizontal bolsters also analyzed in consideration of staged excavation. 本文亦分析了考虑开挖过程的安置斜撑与带支撑的双排桩支护结构。 来自互联网

9 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

10 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

11 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。

12 gutters   

（路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地

参考例句：

• Gutters lead the water into the ditch. 排水沟把水排到这条水沟里。
• They were born, they grew up in the gutters. 他们生了下来，以后就在街头长大。

13 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

14 frustrate   

v.使失望；使沮丧；使厌烦

参考例句：

• But this didn't frustrate Einstein.He was content to go as far as he could.但这并没有使爱因斯坦灰心，他对能够更深入地研究而感到满意。
• They made their preparations to frustrate the conspiracy.他们作好准备挫败这个阴谋。

15 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

16 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

17 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

18 voracious   

adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• She's a voracious reader of all kinds of love stories.什么样的爱情故事她都百看不厌。
• Joseph Smith was a voracious book collector.约瑟夫·史密斯是个如饥似渴的藏书家。