群鳥

by Banana Yoshimoto, 吉本芭娜娜, 劉子倩 (Translator)

　　「活著的人事物不管怎樣都會帶領我們走向未來──」
　　想要像飛鳥一樣地活著，朝向嶄新的希望場所乘風而去

　　人心的惡意與狹隘，讓周遭的空氣變得稀薄。
　　被死亡陰影籠罩的倖存者，懷抱想要「活」的決心。人如何找到活下去的勇氣？

　　一對年少戀人，在神即將毀滅世界之前，拚命地活著。

　　真子自小就搬到美國亞利桑那州生活，直到母親和母親友人相繼離世後，年長的真子一肩扛起，照顧也成了孤兒的嵯峨。被各自的親人遺棄在世間的兩人，漸漸成了比姐弟更親密的戀人，揣著無人知曉的哀傷一起回到日本。

　　平日散發強烈卻寧靜的氣質，經歷過巨大創傷的真子，內心執著要與嵯峨孕育新生命，同時一頭栽入心愛的劇場表演，每當置身舞台時她發覺自己可以暫時脫離束縛，將內在的心靈打開。不過，嵯峨又是如何看待孕育生命這件事呢？

　　「在夢中，我總是變成像鳥一樣的精靈。
　　我可以去任何地方，自由自在。」

　　吉本芭娜娜自言受到「超脫樂團」主唱柯本和沙林傑名作《法蘭妮與卓依》所觸動，在她心中醞釀多年，一對經歷過巨大創傷的年輕情侶，無論如何她都要寫下他們。而且「今後當我想起這對情侶，祈求他們能夠得到幸福。」

　　一部散發異常強烈生欲，用盡力氣去逼視活著這件事的芭娜娜小說。鳥的意象投射出靈性、自由、抽象的藝術氣息。直面殘酷人世，卻堅持敏感和孩子氣，不免怒氣騰騰的女主角，讓人不禁聯想到《鶇》。

221 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2014

About the author

Banana Yoshimoto (よしもと ばなな or 吉本 ばなな) is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (吉本 真秀子), a Japanese contemporary writer. She writes her name in hiragana. (See also 吉本芭娜娜 (Chinese).)

Along with having a famous father, poet Takaaki Yoshimoto, Banana's sister, Haruno Yoiko, is a well-known cartoonist in Japan. Growing up in a liberal family, she learned the value of independence from a young age.

She graduated from Nihon University's Art College, majoring in Literature. During that time, she took the pseudonym "Banana" after her love of banana flowers, a name she recognizes as both "cute" and "purposefully androgynous."

Despite her success, Yoshimoto remains a down-to-earth and obscure figure. Whenever she appears in public she eschews make-up and dresses simply. She keeps her personal life guarded, and reveals little about her certified Rolfing practitioner, Hiroyoshi Tahata and son (born in 2003). Instead, she talks about her writing. Each day she takes half an hour to write at her computer, and she says, "I tend to feel guilty because I write these stories almost for fun."

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

애리조나의 새도나에서 자살을 선택한 엄마들과 그로 인해 ‘부모라는 세계가 산산히 부서져버린’ 채 홀로 남겨진 사가와 마코. 죽음이라는 절망과 상실의 상처를 안고 힘겹게 살아남은 아이들은 일본으로 다시 돌아와 성인이 된다. 서로에게 의지하며 온기를 느끼고, 부서져 내릴 것 같은 서로를 아끼고 사랑해주며, 언젠가는 아기를 많이 낳아 자신들이 잃었던 가정을 다시 꾸리고 싶어하는 그들의 모습이 내내 안쓰러웠다. 부디 그 아이들이 행복할 수 있기를. 어른들이 남기고 간 삶의 무게로 인해 너무 무거워지지 않기를. 그냥 자연스럽게, 슬픔과 상실의 기억으로 가득차 있는 골짜기 위를 새처럼 가볍게 날아가듯 그렇게 살아갈 수 있기를 바란다. 이 책의 첫 페이지에 등장하는 아오바 이치코의 <살아남은 우리들>의 선율이 책의 내용과 묘하게 어울어져 계속 듣게 된다.

[David Raz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't get what this book is about. The whole thing sounded like simplistic, shallow mumbo-jumbo to me. Maybe it was the translation, or maybe she is supposed to, but the protagonist comes of childishly immature. There is supposed to be some understanding and some growing up and change in her life, but it is unclear how or by what means.
On the bright side, it wasn't too long, so rather than stop reading I pulled through to the end, which I didn't get just like the rest of it. 1.5 stars, rounded to two stars.

[Hodaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

הספר מתמודד עם נושא המוות והאבל בצורה שקטה ועוצמתית זה לא ספר דרמטי הוא מדבר על התחושות הקטנות שמרכיבות את הכאב וניסיון למצוא שקט פנימי בתוך עולם שמתרסק
סגנון כתיבה מינימליסטי אבל מדויק זה ספר על אובדן אבל גם על אהבה מסוג אחר

[Nir Hezroni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quiet, but runs deep. beautifully written.