"Futile Resistance: A Reflection in Dubliners"

三年里第二次读了，依旧觉得晦涩难懂又上头，很有种“痛并快乐着”的感觉。上次是出差期间读原版，在各种火车飞机上读得半睡半醒。

这次学乖了，先找来译文温习一下，再细细去嚼原版文字。乔伊斯笔下呈现一个黑白照片般的都柏林，照片里每个人都是矫饰和幸运的反义词。他们蝇营狗苟，能想到最远的也不过去了伦敦的同学和来自巴黎的赛车手；他们被剥夺登上大雅之堂的权利，偶有些许火光也总会被生活或他们自身扑灭。

Little Chandler坐在书桌前的自白，仿佛是乔伊斯本人一般，“He watched the scene and thought of life; and (as always happened when he thought of life) he became sad. A gentle melancholy took possession of him. He felt how useless it was to struggle against fortune, this being the burden of wisdom which the ages had bequeathed to him.” 他在书中描述都柏林的死气沉沉、道德败坏、光彩全失，但他也说 "We are foolish, comic, motionless, corrupted yet we are worthy of sympathy too."

如果某些人无法对“真实”本身共情，那么他一定也没有真正生活过。