所以今年決定一改這個惡習，每一本書都要認真地閱讀。遂在購書網站 bookdepository .com 訂購了今年桂冠瑞典詩人 Transtromer 的詩集，除了是因為價格比較便宜外，也可以趁等待的時間上網先翻閱一下作者的背景，吃一點前菜，呷一口清茶，品嚐正餐就更具風味。
於是每天讀一兩篇，全書花了兩個月時間完成，靜靜的讀，誠實地做筆記。出乎意料的是 Transtromer 的句法並沒有想像中的艱澀，卻在平白的字裡行間感受到他敏銳的觀察力。從日常生活的微小動作到規律的社區節奏，皆藉以他豐富的幻想力詩性地表現出來。浪漫，卻不矯情。
例如收錄在 "半完成的天堂" 詩集裡的 "夜曲" ：
....... I lit down ready for sleep. I see the queerest pictures
and signs that crawl themselves behind my eyelids
on the dark's wall. In a slot between waking and dream
a very large envelope tries in vain to push itself through.
..... 我躺下入睡，看見奇異的畫面
和符號，在我的眼皮裡，它們塗抹著自己，
在黑暗的牆壁上。在無眠和夢的裂縫裡，
一個巨大的字母極力推舉著自己，但終於徒勞。
每晚都縈繞在枕旁靜待入睡的你，曾否把這一刻物化成眼簾後任意作畫的黑板 ？ Transtromer 只用要兩行簡短的詩句，給這個時間下了最貼切的定義和比喻。無論是物理上， 生理上，心靈上，都在予以失眠人最深切的體恤。
又例如關於車站，他曾這樣形容：
Transtromer 先設計一個大家熟悉的場景，然後慢慢抽身，從一個宏觀的角度描寫事件。上班族的木無表情比對著進站的列車，生物與死物的角色對調。然後來一個小分段，給讀者稍稍掩卷，感受一下如此貼切的形容，來迎接將開啟的旅程。而直述的時間順序，更令我讀得格外舒爽。
當然北歐的寒冷天氣也是詩人的賣點之一，接近三成的篇幅是以北歐的大自然景色為題材，經常籠罩著有一種凄涼的氛圍。讀者藉著文字旅行，往往感到一陣陣蒼然的悸動。
除此之外，Transtromer 的詩性散文 (prose poem) 也甚具趣味，像翻閱著一本本文學漫畫，圖畫中充滿對話和文史哲理，最後也想在此分享個人最喜歡的一篇，來作這篇閱讀報告的終結。
所有曆史學家都在那裡，他們得站起身，看我的家庭。 沒有話音，但嘴唇在玻璃背後不停地挪動，你會想到一個老掉牙的官僚機構（現在已被一個鬼故事盯上）。 一幢大樓，金框玻璃後掛著死者的肖像，某個早晨玻璃內側結滿了哈氣。 肖像在夜間開始呼吸起來。
但玻璃櫃更為奇特。 目光橫跨過分界線！ 一層閃光的薄膜，一條房屋必須映照的黑河上發光的薄膜。 你無法轉身離去。
On the subway platform.
A crowd among billboards
in a staring dead light.
The train comes and fetches
faces and briefcases.
Darkness next. We sit
like statues in the cars
hauled into the tunnels.
Strain, dreams, strain.
A crowd among billboards
in a staring dead light.
The train comes and fetches
faces and briefcases.
Darkness next. We sit
like statues in the cars
hauled into the tunnels.
Strain, dreams, strain.
在地鐵月台。
廣告牌中擁擠的人群
在凝視的盲光中。
列車到來，收集
面龐與公文包。
接下來是黑暗。我們
如雕像般坐在車廂之中
被拖入山洞。
抑壓，夢境，抑壓。
(節錄自"旅程", 收錄在"完成一半的天堂"，小弟作中文翻譯)
Transtromer 先設計一個大家熟悉的場景，然後慢慢抽身，從一個宏觀的角度描寫事件。上班族的木無表情比對著進站的列車，生物與死物的角色對調。然後來一個小分段，給讀者稍稍掩卷，感受一下如此貼切的形容，來迎接將開啟的旅程。而直述的時間順序，更令我讀得格外舒爽。
當然北歐的寒冷天氣也是詩人的賣點之一，接近三成的篇幅是以北歐的大自然景色為題材，經常籠罩著有一種凄涼的氛圍。讀者藉著文字旅行，往往感到一陣陣蒼然的悸動。
Cold winds hit my eyes, and two or three suns
dance in the kaleidoscope of tears, as I cross
this street I know so well,
where the Greenland summer shines from snowpools.
dance in the kaleidoscope of tears, as I cross
this street I know so well,
where the Greenland summer shines from snowpools.
當我穿過那如此熟悉的街道，
那條街道的水窪閃照出格陵蘭的夏天，
冷風激打我的雙眼，以及兩三個太陽
在宛如萬花筒的淚水中跳躍。
(取自"橫道線", 收錄在詩集"真理障礙物"，小弟作中文翻譯)
除此之外，Transtromer 的詩性散文 (prose poem) 也甚具趣味，像翻閱著一本本文學漫畫，圖畫中充滿對話和文史哲理，最後也想在此分享個人最喜歡的一篇，來作這篇閱讀報告的終結。
詩集"在黑暗中看見"
The bookcase
It was brought from the dead woman's apartment. It stood empty a few days, empty until I filled it with books, all the bound ones, those bulky tomes. With that act I had let in the underworld. Something swelled up from below, mounted slowly, inexorably, like mercury in a gigantic thermometer. You must not turn your head away.
The swarthy volumes, their closed faces. They're like the Algerians who stood at the Friedrichstrasse border crossing, waiting for the Volkspolizei to check their passports. My own passport lay a long time in various glass cubicles. And the fog all over Berlin that day, it is also in this bookcase. An old despair lives in there, it tastes of Passchendaele and the Treaty of Versailles – the taste, in fact, is older than that. The black heavy tomes –I come back to them – they are themselves a sort of passport, and they are so fat because they have accumulated so many stamps through the centuries. There is one trip, apparently, for which your baggage can't be heavy enough, once you've embarked, when finally you . . .
All the old historians are there, and are invited to climb up and look into our family. Nothing can be heard, but the lips move all the time behind the glass ("Passchendaele" ...). One is reminded of a venerable government office – now follows a true ghost story –a grand building where portraits of long-dead men hang behind glass, and one morning there appeared a blur on the inside of the glass. They had begun breathing during the night.
The bookcase is even more powerful. Glares straight across the zone boundary! A shimmering membrane, the shimmering membrane of a dark river in which the room is forced to mirror itself. And you must not turn your head away.
The swarthy volumes, their closed faces. They're like the Algerians who stood at the Friedrichstrasse border crossing, waiting for the Volkspolizei to check their passports. My own passport lay a long time in various glass cubicles. And the fog all over Berlin that day, it is also in this bookcase. An old despair lives in there, it tastes of Passchendaele and the Treaty of Versailles – the taste, in fact, is older than that. The black heavy tomes –I come back to them – they are themselves a sort of passport, and they are so fat because they have accumulated so many stamps through the centuries. There is one trip, apparently, for which your baggage can't be heavy enough, once you've embarked, when finally you . . .
All the old historians are there, and are invited to climb up and look into our family. Nothing can be heard, but the lips move all the time behind the glass ("Passchendaele" ...). One is reminded of a venerable government office – now follows a true ghost story –a grand building where portraits of long-dead men hang behind glass, and one morning there appeared a blur on the inside of the glass. They had begun breathing during the night.
The bookcase is even more powerful. Glares straight across the zone boundary! A shimmering membrane, the shimmering membrane of a dark river in which the room is forced to mirror itself. And you must not turn your head away.
書櫃
它是從死者的屋裡弄來的。 在我放入沉重的新書前——精裝本——空了幾天，空著。 我因 此把深淵放了進來。 某種東西從底下到來，緩慢但不可阻擋地上升，像一根大水銀柱裡的水銀。 你無法轉身離去。
黑暗的冊子，緊閉的面孔。 他們像站在分界線弗里德里希大街上的阿爾及利亞人，等待人民警察檢查護照。 我的護照很久以前已和玻璃盒子放在一起。 柏林那天的霧也在櫃子裡面。 這裡有一種年邁的絕望，含有帕生達爾大戰和凡爾賽條約的滋味。 比這滋味更老。 黑色、沉重的書籍——等一會兒再說它們——它們其實是一種護照，厚得足以在數百年內收集如此多的圖章。 人當然不會攜帶這些沉重的行李，在他上路前，在他終於……
黑暗的冊子，緊閉的面孔。 他們像站在分界線弗里德里希大街上的阿爾及利亞人，等待人民警察檢查護照。 我的護照很久以前已和玻璃盒子放在一起。 柏林那天的霧也在櫃子裡面。 這裡有一種年邁的絕望，含有帕生達爾大戰和凡爾賽條約的滋味。 比這滋味更老。 黑色、沉重的書籍——等一會兒再說它們——它們其實是一種護照，厚得足以在數百年內收集如此多的圖章。 人當然不會攜帶這些沉重的行李，在他上路前，在他終於……
但玻璃櫃更為奇特。 目光橫跨過分界線！ 一層閃光的薄膜，一條房屋必須映照的黑河上發光的薄膜。 你無法轉身離去。
