Susan著 小哭译
我有一个问题，一个相当大的问题。
我刚读完《相配》这本书，现在，我真的真的非常想写这本书的读后感。但是，我已经在上一个作文“亲爱的日记2”中用了两个非常长的段落来写这本书了，所以现在，我不知道该怎么去写了。许多我想写的东西都是我上一篇作文的重复，当然也会有很多新的内容。所以，如果这篇文章和前一篇在什么地方有所重复的话，请原谅。
《相配》，我喜爱这本书！它已经成为了我最喜欢的一些书之一了，是“之一”。目前，它正在和我最喜欢的《EONA》在竞争第一名呢。有趣的是，它们都不是单独的一本书。我的意思是说，这两本书都有前集或续集。《EONA》是那本精彩的《EON》（但不如《EONA》精彩）的续集；《相配》是一个三本系列中的第一本。它们的另一个共同点是，这两本书我都有。它们就在我的书架上，互相挨着放呢。《EONA》是我从老师那里得到的，《相配》是我从图书馆得到的。它们是不同类型的书，但是我都爱读。当然，不能象对待很雷同的书一般，要从不同的角度去欣赏才行。
这篇读后感不是关于《EONA》的，而是关于《相配》的。《相配》一书的背景是叫做“社会”的乌托邦/反乌托邦社区。显然，它讲的是未来的事情。不象我以前在一些书中读过的那些乌托邦/反乌托邦社区，“社会”并不使用许多超级先进的技术。他们确实有许多我们现在还没有的先进软件。但是我确信如果某人真的不嫌麻烦地去尝试编制其中之一，他肯定能行，但显然没有人会自找麻烦。我对他们的能力毫不怀疑，他们拥有更多的技术。比如每一个房子都有一个避风港和一个极先进的屏幕/计算机之类的工具（由“官方”监控）；每一个人携带着可以失忆12个小时的药片。对，没有什么比控制大脑或控制天气更先进的了。
“社会”有大量的信息，真的是“大量的”。他们不分昼夜地观察市民，甚至连他们所做的梦也监控，以便他们能够知道对市民来说什么是最好的。每一个个体并不知道太多信息，他们只知道其受训的某一特定学科。但是总体来说，“社会”有许许多多的信息，也有许许多多的统计数据，而那就是他们进行选择时的依据——统计资料。“据统计报告，怀孕的最佳年龄是二十三岁。”猜猜会怎样？“社会”就会为人们做出在二十一岁时结婚的计划，以便他们能在二十三岁左右时生小孩。一旦他们到了三十九岁，就不能再生孩子了，因为据统计报告，超过那个年纪会有非常高的流产风险。或者是三十六岁吧，我记不清了。但是你应该能够明白我说的意思。他们做的每一件事儿都是基于统计数据。
像大部分乌托邦/反乌托邦社区一样，“社会”替你决定着每一件事儿，比如你爱谁、你在哪里工作、你什么时候死亡（这些被用大字体写在书的后面）等等。确实如此。但是《相配》并不像大部分乌托邦/反乌托邦类的书那样让我厌烦，这本书很有吸引力。我觉得大部分乌托邦/反乌托邦类的书都做不到这一点。通常那些书让我烦透了，因为他们的社会太乌七八糟了，并且每一个人似乎都在很愚蠢地做着每一件事儿。《相配》一点也不象那样儿，一点也不让我烦燥不堪。
我想一个原因是“社会”是我看过的最接近乌托邦的一个，它简直完美无暇。“简直”！我的意思是说，让“官方”替你做选择并不算太坏。他们通常总是做出好的决定，因为他们可以在过去的统计数据和现在的信息资料的帮助下来决定未来。这真的是相当好的一个信息整合。那个世界里的人们确实充满了爱心、有着真正的朋友、体验着真实的情感，过着十分幸福的生活。他们并不会被洗脑。他们可以思考，思考得还很深刻。他们做很多我们现在也做着的事情。有人可能差不多开始喜欢那种生活了。你吃着自己所需的最适量的营养，做着最适量的运动，拥有着最完美的健康状况、最完美的婚姻、最完美的生活，甚至最完美的死法。你死在对于死亡（从统计数据）来讲是最好的年纪，家人和朋友围绕在你身边，不会遭受一点点的痛苦。还有，你还可以保存一些自己的身体组织样本，等到将来技术允许时再把你带回来。从生到死一直都是那么地完美，绝没骗你。谁会不喜欢那样呢？
你很可能会喜欢我说的那种生活，反正我是喜欢。那看起来很不错。“官方”把他们市民的利益最大化，每一件事都是完美的。唯一让我不喜欢的事儿、也是主人公开塞不喜欢的事儿就是你没有什么选择。当然，“官方”选择的每一件事儿都是正确的、完美的。但是，选择了什么似乎并不那么重要，而是否拥有选择的权力却很重要。你看，你不能选择和谁结婚，因为有人已经为你做好了选择。虽然那可能是最适合你的人……但你还是想自己去选择，对吧？实际上，这种安排并没有让我多么地恼火。如果他们所做的选择全都是正确的，那也很好啊。但是有的时候他们的选择并不正确。
当可以了解所有的情况时，去决定某件事该怎么做就显得很容易；但是当你处理一件未知的事情时……那么，你可能会做出错误的决定。当你控制着所有的事情时，将每一件事情都控制住就很容易；但是当一个外来的干扰因素出现时……就没那么容易了。那件未知的事情，那个外来的因素……嗯，你可能会以为它们根本不存在，甚至永远也不会来。但是它们是存在着的，因为它们正是“人民”本身。
人民不是玩具。他们不是实验室里进行着的实验。他们和你用来玩耍的物品不一样，不是你想用他们做什么就能做的。你不能期望在一个人身上做的实验，完全地适用于另一个人。但“社会”却正在做着这样的事情。他们并没有把人民当做真正的人来对待。在我看来，那是最糟糕的。高高在上的“官方”象对待物品一样地对待人民。他们甚至对待自己也跟对待物品和机器一样——是可预期的、不会改变的、可以追踪的，以及肤浅的。但人类不是机器！他们会思考，他们会创造，他们不是遵照统计和事实来行事的物品。“社会”的运作恰恰缺乏了这部分生活内容。
创造。“社会”绝对地需要那么一点。可是他们却不再创造任何新东西了。他们除掉了过去所有的坏事情，留下了每一件好事情，然后认为他们实现了完美。但是他们没有！事情必须改变！“社会”建立起了一个相当不错的环境，认为事情可以永远这样子继续下去。但那并不是真的！那恰恰缺乏生活的本质！创造！生活需要新事物！新的创意，新的未来！生活不能永远保持不变！如果永远不变的话，那不是生活，那是…..活着。
（这提醒我在《通灵术》系列第二本书《尼古拉斯.费门尔的秘密》中，一个人对他的朋友所说的的一段话。《尼古拉斯.费门尔的秘密》是相当棒的一本书，我很喜爱。书中的那个朋友从不冒险、也从不做任何好玩的事儿，因为怕死所以总是谨慎行事，真的。这个人告诉他的朋友说“你不是在生活，你只是在活着”。我喜欢这句话。）
所以，如果“社会”是完美的（事实上根本不是），那就很好。我是说“完美的”哦。但是，它并不完美，而且永远也不会实现完美。实现完美是小孩子的梦想。你可以努力做得更好，但是你永远也不会达到完美，至少今生不会。但是这个乌托邦/反乌托邦世界，这本书中的“社会”，实际上是离完美最近的一个。不象别的乌托邦/反乌托邦世界，它甚至一点也没有让我厌烦，而这就是我如此喜欢这本书的一个原因。
我喜欢它的另一个原因，是它不仅仅是关于乌托邦/反乌托邦的一本书，它也是一本爱情故事小说。故事最基本的情节是三角恋，所有别的情节都从中衍生出来。开塞的婚姻相配对象（那就是书名的由来！！每一件事儿都在她被相配时发生的。他们每一个人在十六岁的时候开始相配。“社会”在那时会告诉你谁将是你最适合的丈夫/妻子，然后他们在二十一岁的时候结婚。通常，相配的双方互相不认识，因为“社会”中有那么多的城市，所以一个人最适合的相配对象非常有可能并不在他们自己生活的城市）是赞德，她最要好的朋友，一个她这辈子所知道的又聪明、又帅气、又友好又令人惊喜的男孩，从里到外对她都非常地了解。不管怎么样，就在赞德的照片出现在她的屏幕上又消失了之后，凯的脸在屏幕黑掉之前闪现了片刻。
开塞已经认识凯很长时间了。凯从外省来（那里的生活和我们所知道的一样），他的父母被杀死了，他被领养到了开塞的城市。凯神秘莫测。在他所保持着的“绝对普通”的假象背后，有着深深的痛苦和爱，以及除了开塞没人知道的学识。开塞在看到凯的脸和她相配之后，就开始去了解他，而书中的故事情节也就随之展开了。但是……凯的脸出现在她的屏幕上是一个错误。开塞的相配对象还是赞德。为什么会有凯？还有，她和凯相爱吗？当然相爱，但她同时也爱着赞德。她爱他们两个，但是不同的爱。我不想毁掉你去看这本书的兴趣，让我们这么说吧，事情变得相当地复杂。凯被从开塞的生活中带走了，开塞决定打破这个“社会”的禁戒……非常地复杂，非常地传奇。我喜欢赞德和凯相互不嫉妒这一点，他们真的不嫉妒。刚开始的时候有一点点，但是他们俩都知道形势的严重性，所以都试图去做到所能的最好。这就是为什么我真的喜欢他们俩。当然，还有开塞。
我希望我已经把这本书解释得足够好了。我是如此地喜爱这本书！哦，当然，我也喜欢这本书的外表。嫩绿色的封面，从春天般的绿色过度到浅灰色，封面上唯一的画面是一个透明、纯净、精致且光滑的水晶球，里面有一个穿着绿裙子的女孩。封面看上去绝对地美丽，是我见到过的最好看的封面。我非常地喜欢这个水晶球。水晶球代表着“社会”，而女孩被禁锢其中。第二本的封面是兰色的，女孩在水晶球里打了几个洞，水晶球正在开裂。最后一本的封面是红色的，女孩最后站了起来，脚下是一片玻璃碎片，她终于获得了自由。这些颜色也很重要，它们代表着每一个人带在身上的药片。绿色，是让他们在焦虑时安静下来的；兰色，是帮助他们在只要有水的情况下就可以维持几天生存的；而红色，是用来擦除记忆的。
如果可能，请阅读这本书吧。我是如此地喜爱它。我真的希望你也会喜欢。也许你不会，我不知道。
去读读看吧！
【小哭介绍背景】翻译这篇读后感，同样有着看不懂的地方。我怎么觉得这次是Susan写得不够清楚呢？不过，她好歹写了那么多的字儿，我也从中获得了不少的信息。如果不是翻译这篇文章，我也不会去找乌托邦/反乌托邦这类词条去研究。另外，也是最后她提到的封面一事儿，通过她的解释我越来越明白，为什么她对我给她买的几本中文书如此地看不上！她说那书上的画和文字根本不对应！！！这在她是无法理解的，这简直就是不可原谅的错误！！！我习惯了文图不相衬，我也习惯了根本不去看那些配画和插图。可是Susan不行！她对这些挑剔得要命！！她说的封皮我似乎有点印象，可是我从来也没有觉得那是多么地漂亮！真是透过翻译她的作文，我才明白她的看法是怎么回事儿，原来是有点爱屋及乌啊！可是，水晶球代表着“社会”，她竟然不会因为这个寓意受影响，还说她非常地喜欢这个水晶球，那也不能完全是说她爱屋及乌，她还是很有自己的看法的。估计对水晶球的喜欢是一种不含任何寓意的纯粹的喜欢。
我觉得她一向有自己的看法，这一点自从她来到我们身边，就从来没有被打压过。我们一直努力地保护着她那小小的独立性和创造性，一直鼓励她要有自己的想法，不要迷信任何老师和作者。所有的人都有犯错的可能，在尊重的同时可以毫不犹豫地怀疑，如果能够找到别人书中的错误，正是反映出来了自己在认真地阅读和思考。从她小时候起，我们就会因着她找出书中的差错而大大地表扬她一番，这发展下来的结果，是她眼中的我们，有着一身的毛病。但是，我们仍然一直鼓励她质疑“权威”。
从她近一年来的读后感中，我越来越多地读到了她对作者的“挑战”：）也许这源自我的职业病，有什么样的妈就会教出来什么样的娃。我的“世界桥梁轶事”一课，有一个得分选项是“挑战周老师”，我喜欢学生有思想有个性，挑战老师和权威。当然，挑战是有条件的，要在课下申请、排期，轮到了才能上台去挑战，否则上课时大家都来挑战老师，还不乱套了。不过只要申请及时，得到上台的机会，就有大大的加分！通常挑战一次会有20-30分的加分耶！我一般会在台下给拍照和录像，然后就上传到教学博客，挑战者绝对是越战越勇哎！呵呵，又提当年勇了。但我既然有勇气写这个系列，就必须得情愿把自己摆上台面。大家不是都在说嘛，**孩子后面是个**的妈妈：）我写这个系列，就是想通过孩子的作文让大家知道后面的那个妈干了什么。
Susan文中对近乎完美的乌托邦“社会”所缺乏的创新和改变、以及剥夺了人的自主选择权这些是导致“社会”最后出现大问题的原因这一认识，已经超过了我的理解。她遗传了老爸的特质，喜欢研究哲学问题，没有办法不去思考这些问题。如同我没有办法不去思考着冰箱里还有什么菜，明天早晨我要怎么个顺序才能及时顺利地把他们全部打发出去一样。我能听明白他们父女的辩论，却无法自主地进行这类思考。在一家人讨论哲学和信仰问题的时候，我经常会在某一个时间点被老公或Susan叫停，说是我没有跟上他们的讨论，于是我就只有闭嘴听讲的份儿了。他们说我入世太深，我说他们出世太多。其实，我一边希望他们帮我做家务，一边希望他们阳春白雪：）但他们的基因决定了他们注定是后者。所以Susan不到13岁就会执意受洗，而我却还在半路上磨蹭。
好吧，最后说说我对这个读后感的综合感受，我没有产生要去借书回来一读的冲动。真的没有。可是，我昨天刚刚把那本《钟 》的书给借了回来，准备读读。我也有心读完《钟》后，去把《月亮团队》这本也借回来读读。
附上英文原文：
I have a problem. A pretty big problem.
I just finished this book, ‘Matched’, and now, I really really really want to write abook review about it. But, I’ve already dedicated two very long paragraphs to the book in my last piece of writing, ‘Dear Diar 2’, so now, I’m not sure how to proceed. A lot of the stuff I’ll write about might be repeating what I wrote earlier, but there’ll be a lot of new things too. So, sorry if some parts of this seems to be a bit repetative.
‘Matched’. I love that book! It’s became one of my favorite books ever. One of them. Currently, it’s competing for number one with my favorite book ever, ‘Eona’. The interesting thing is, both or them are not single books, meaning there are books that came before or after them. ‘Eona’ is the sequel to the wonderful (but not as wonderful as Eona) book, Eon. Matched is the first book in a triology. Another thing thing they have in common is, I own both of the books. I have them on my bookshelf, next to eachother. Eona I got from my teacher, Matched I got from the library. They are very different books, but I love them both. In different ways, of course. Other than those similarities, they can not be any different.
This book review isn’t about Eona, it’s about Matched. The setting in Matched is of a utopian/dystopian community, called the Society. Aparently, it’s set in the future. Unlike a lot of u/d (utopian/dystopian) communities I’ve read about in books, the Society doesn’t use a lot of super-advanced technology. They do have a lot of advanced softwares that we don’t have today, but I’m sure if someone actually bothered to try and make one of those, they can. No one would bother to, though. I’m sure of that. There are more techonology, though. Every house has a port, a highly advanced screen/computer thing (monitored by Officials). Everyone carries around tablets that causes 12-hour memory loss. But nothing super advanced like mind control or climate control.
The Society have a lot of information. A LOT of information. They observe their citizens, day and night, even monitor their dreams. That way, they can know what’s best for them. Each individual don’t know too much. They only know about the certain subject they’re trained in. But overall, the Society have lots and lots of information. A lot of statistics too. That’s what they use for their choices—statistics. “It is reported that statistically, the best age for conceiving children is twenty-three”. And guess what? The Society would plan for people to marry at twenty-one, so they would have children at about twenty-three. And no more childbirth once they reach thirty-nine, because it is reported that there are very high risks of miscarriage over that age. Or thiry-six. I can’t remember. But you get the idea. Everything is based on statistics.
Like most u/d communities, the Society decides everything for you. Who you love, where you work, when you die (that’s written in huge letters on the back of the book). Literally. But unlike most u/d books, Matched doesn’t annoy me as much. It was captivating, which most u/d books fail to do for me. They usually annoy the hell out of me because of how messed up their society is and how everyone too stupid to do anything about. Matched doesn’t annoy me like that.
I think one reason is because the Society is the closest to utopia I have every seen. It’s almost perfect. Almost. I mean, having the officials choose isn’t really too bad. The usually always make good decisions, because they have statistics from the past and information from the present to help them decide for the future. It’s a pretty good combination, really. The people in that world actually love, have real friends, feel real feelings, and live really happy lives. They’re not brianwashed either. They can think, and think pretty well. They do a lot of the things we do today. Someone can almost get to like that kind of life. You eat just the right amount of nutritions for you, exercise just the right amount, have perfect health, perfect marriage, perfect life, even perfect death. You die, at the best age for death (from statistics), surrounded by family and friends, and don’t have to suffer for an instant. And, you have some tissue samples of yourself preserved just in case they can bring you back with techonology in the future. A perfect life. All the way, from beginning to end. No lie. Who wouldn’t like that?
Like I said, you can almost get to like that kind of life. So can I. It doen’t seem bad. The Officials seems to have their citizens best interests at heart, everything’s perfect. The only thing that really ticks me off, and also ticks Cassia, the main character, off too, is the fact that you don’t have much choices. Sure, everything the officials choose are right and perfect, but it’s act of making the choice that’s important, not the actual choice. You don’t get to choose who to marry. That’s all decided for you. Even though it’s the best person possible for you… you still want to be able to choose, right? Actually, that doesn’t really make me too mad. If all their choices are right, that’s great. But sometimes their choices aren’t.
It’s easy to decide about something when you know everything. But when you’re dealing with something unknow…then, you may make the wrong decision. It’s easy to keep everything under control when you control everything. But if an outside factor comes in… it’s not so easy. That unknown thing, that outside factor… you’d think they don’t, and never will, exist. But they do. People.
People are not toys. They’re not lab experiments. They’re not like an object you can play around with, and do with them whatever you want. You don’t experiment on one person so you know what’s best for another. But that’s what the Society’s doing. They don't treat people like actual people. That’s the worst thing, in my opinion. The high-level Officials treat them like objects. They even treat themselves like objects, like machines. Predictable, unchangable, trackable, shallow. But humans aren’t machines! They think, they create, they aren’t objects that should follow statistics and fact. That’s the part of life the Society is missing.
Creation. The Society desperately needs a bit of that. They don’t create anything new. They got rid of everything bad in the past, left everything good, and think they’re achieved perfection. But they haven’t! Things have to change! The Society set up a fairly wonderful environment, and think that things can remain that way forever. But that’s not true! They’re missing the very essence of life! Creation! They need new things! New ideas, new futures! Things can’t remain the same forever! That’s not living. That’s… surviving. Not living.
(This reminds me of a quote in The Necromancer, Book Two in the Secrets of Nicholas Famel. Awesome book, loved it. A guy said to his friend, who never takes risks and never do anything fun, who always plays it safe, because he might get killed, literally. The guy tells him “You are not living, you are surviving”. I love that quote.)
So, if the Society was perfect (which it is not, not really), it would be great. Perfect. But it’s not perfect. And it will never achieve perfection. Achieving perfection is a child’s dream. You can try to be better, but you’ll never be perfect. Not in this life, anyway. But this u/d world, the Society, is the actually the closest thing to perfection ever. It didn’t even annoy me a bit, unlike other u/d worlds. That’s one of the reasons I liked the book so much.
Also, I liked it because it’s more than just a utopia/dystopia book. It’s also a romance novel. The most basic plot of the story where everything else steams from is the romance, the love triangle. Cassia’s match (That’s where the title came from!! Everything began when she was matched. Matching happens to everone when they’re sixteen. That’s when the Society tells you who your perfect husband/wife is going to be. Marriage comes at age twenty-one. Usually, matches don’t know eachother, since there are so many cities in the Society that a person’s perfect match is very unlikely to be in their own city) was Xander, a smart, handsome, kind, and amazing boy she’s known for her whole life. Her best friend, actually, the person that know her, inside out. However, right after Xander’s picture appears on her screen, it disapeared, and another face flashed for an instant before the screen fades to black. Ky.
Cassia’s known Ky for a long time too. Ky is from the Outer Provinces (where life is as we know it), and his parents got killed and he got adopted and moved into Cassia’s city. Ky is mysterious and deep. Behind the “totally average” facade that he keeps is a deep well of suffering, love, and knowledge that no one but Cassia knows. She got to know him during the course of the book, after she saw his face as her match. But… Ky’s face appearing on her screen was a mistake. Cassia’s match is still Xander. Why, then, do they love eachother so? Of course, she loves Xander too. She loves both of them, but it’s different, the way she loves them. I won’t spoil the book for you. Let’s just say, things got really complicated. Ky got taken away from Cassia, Cassia decided to break free of the Society… real complicated. Real awesome. What I loved was the fact that neither Xander now Ky got jealous of eachother, not really. They were a little jealous at first, but both understood the gravity of the situation, and tried to make the best of what they could. That’s why I really like both of them. And Cassia, of course.
I hope I’ve explained this book well enough. I just love this book so much! Oh, of course, and there’s the way it looks. The fresh green cover, fading from spring-like green to pale white, with a girl in a green dress inside a transparent, pure, delicate, smooth crystal sphere as the only picture on the cover. It looks absolutely beautiful, best book cover I’ve ever seen. I love the sphere so much. That represents the Society, and the girl is trapped inside. The next book is blue, with the girl punching a few holes in the sphere and the sphere is cracking. The last one, red, is of the girl finally standing up, with glass pieces around her feet. Free at last. The colors are important too. They represent the tablets everyone carries with them. Green, to calm them down when they get anxiety attacks. Blue, to help them survive for days as long as they have water. And red. The one that erases memory.
Please, if possible, read the book. I loved it so much. I really hope you will too. Or maybe not. I don’t know.
Just go read it!
| 雨林 (2013-09-25 12:08:42) |
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读到Susan已经能够阅读和讨论这样深刻的题目，我自己会觉得惭愧。 也许家长可以给她更多的空间让孩子自己去决定一些事情了。 不知这个建议对不对。 |
| 夕林 (2013-09-25 16:52:31) |
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我女儿叫我读了：The giver, 是类似的书，很有意思。谢谢分享。 |
| 周小哭 (2013-09-25 19:39:39) |
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谢谢分享书单，这是我最喜欢的东西！我马上就在网上预订，看看Susan 是否也会喜欢 |
| 周小哭 (2013-09-25 19:38:28) |
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对啊！！！我知道她自己现在在亚马逊上借书，觉得已经根本管不住了啊。如果她愿意分享她的阅读书单，我想可能就算是不错的了。假如我让她觉得不够宽容，她可能连读了什么都不会告诉我。我这两天正想着如何套套话，让她把阅读清单给我看看呢。最好她还能跟我说说读后感，哪怕不写出来也好，至少我可以了解全面一点啊。 |
| 周小哭 (2013-09-26 01:35:22) |
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刚问过Susan，她说七年级上，在橡树园的时候，读过1.5遍，当时写了读后感；转来H村后，七年级下，老师又要他们读了一遍。这次她是跳着读的，没有写过读后感。可是当我一说这本书，她就说有印象，非常地好看，非常好！我已经在网上订了，看来就留给我自己看了：）谢谢分享好书，盼望能够继续分享！！ |
| 夕林 (2013-09-26 13:15:56) |
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你真是雷厉风行呀！的确是本好书。我佩服西方作家的想象力。 |
不过这个书名有点熟悉，怀疑 Susan读过，如果读过，我让她写个读后感出来哈。