Memory Wall: Stories

　　對艾瑪和魯佛而言，記憶是無數個在塑膠捲片裡上演的世界。只要在頭殼開四個接口，戴上緊扣接口的頭盔，再將一部特製的機器插上電源、放入膠捲，過去種種就會如實地啟動。數以千計釘在牆上的膠捲，是七十四歲的艾瑪活生生的一生，也是十五歲的魯佛剛剛竊得的一生，膠片帶領他成為失智前的她，從她記憶裡挖掘出的祕密，拯救了另一對父子的性命。

　　對一一三村的村民來說，記憶是一直以來生活的這個村子。所以他們才會在三峽大壩興建在即瘋狂地拆搬：有個鄰居一整天站在梯子上拔屋頂的釘子；另一個乾脆挖起街道的石板，還有人拆毛氈、窗戶的裝飾板條……只要能帶的全都帶走，因為對他們而言，這都是記憶的一部分。

　　一名父母雙亡的少女從美國堪薩斯州飛到立陶宛投靠外公，意外經歷一段與母親年少時同樣的冒險，在涅姆納斯河釣到傳說中已絕種的鱘魚。對她而言，記憶能把神話變成真實；為此她要繼續活下去，即便那怙恃俱失的巨大憂傷時不時就把她割得肝腸寸斷。

　　全美最佳短篇小說新銳杜爾，運用他幾近海明威式的精練語言，吸引我們走入浩瀚又具異域風情的殿堂，結合歷史上重大的事件：二次大戰、物種絕跡、猶太逃亡、興建大壩遷村及交替著現代人的常見疾病：失智、不孕、癌症、癲癇、心臟病……等，不同時空下發生的每個故事，都將賦予記憶詭奇、深情、動人心魄的內涵，提醒我們生命的莊嚴與美好。

　　過去的事無法改變，但記憶可以蛻變，透過杜爾筆下的記憶人生，你會看見時間迂迴轉進的軌跡，在過往記憶中找出前進希望的新路徑，重塑新的世界。

　　Set on four continents, Anthony Doerr's new stories are about memory, the source of meaning and coherence in our lives, the fragile thread that connects us to ourselves and to others. Every hour, says Doerr, all over the globe, an infinite number of memories disappear. Yet at the same time children, surveying territory that is entirely new to them, push back the darkness, form fresh memories, and remake the world.

　　In the luminous and beautiful title story, a young boy in South Africa comes to possess an old woman's secret, a piece of the past with the power to redeem a life. In "The River Nemunas," a teenage orphan moves from Kansas to Lithuania to live with her grandfather, and discovers a world in which myth becomes real. "Village 113," winner of an O'Henry Prize, is about the building of the Three Gorges Dam and the seed keeper who guards the history of a village soon to be submerged. And in "Afterworld," the radiant, cathartic final story, a woman who escaped the Holocaust is haunted by visions of her childhood friends in Germany, yet finds solace in the tender ministrations of her grandson.

　　Every story in Memory Wall is a reminder of the grandeur of life--of the mysterious beauty of seeds, of fossils, of sturgeon, of clouds, of radios, of leaves, of the breathtaking fortune of living in this universe. Doerr's language, his witness, his imagination, and his humanity are unparalleled in fiction today.

　　★本書中譯版《記憶牆：七篇捕捉記憶風景的故事》由生命潛能出版。

作者簡介

安東尼．杜爾 Anthony Doerr

　　短篇小說分別曾獲三次歐亨利小說獎（O. Henry Prizes）、一次全國雜誌獎和手推車獎（Pushcart Prize），並曾收錄在《美國最佳短篇小說》、《安可新美國短篇小說選》（The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories）、《斯克里布納當代小說選》（The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Fiction）中，榮獲邦諾書局新秀獎（Barnes & Noble Discover Prize）、羅馬獎（the Rome Prize）和紐約公共圖書館幼獅文學獎（Young Lions Fiction Award）的推崇及肯定。二○○七年，〈格蘭塔〉（Granta）雜誌將他列入二十一位全美最佳青年小說家的排名中。他歷來的作品包括《撿貝殼的人》（The Shell Collector）、《關於恩典》（About Grace）、《羅馬四季》（Four Seasons in Rome）等書。

　　目前杜爾在華倫威爾森學院（Warren Wilson College）的文藝創作碩士班任教，與妻子和兩個兒子住在愛達荷州的波伊西市（Boise）。更多有關杜爾的資訊，請參訪網站：www.anthonydoerr.com

　　Anthony Doerr was awarded the 2010 Story Prize for Memory Wall. His other books include The Shell Collector, About Grace, and Four Seasons in Rome. His books have been a New York Times Notable Book, an American Library Association Book of the Year, a "Book of the Year" in the Washington Post, and he has won the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, the Rome Prize, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton, and shared the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award. His book reviews have appeared in the New York Times and Der Spiegel, and he writes the “On Science” column for the Boston Globe. Doerr is the Writer-in-Residence for the state of Idaho.