读书笔记: “The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy

“The God of Small Things” 是印度作家Arundhati Roy的第一部小說，1997年她年僅37歲便勇奪Booker大獎。 故事的背景很大部分是基於她的個人經歷。 

Roy的爸爸是孟加拉裔的印度教茶葉種植商，媽媽是來自南部Kelara的Syrian Christian（並非敘利亞人，只是和羅馬天主教分支，更接近東正教）的上層社會大族，但他們的婚姻不幸福，Roy兩歲就跟隨離異的母親回到娘家，後來媽媽開設小學，Roy也接受英式教育，16歲入大學讀建築系，畢業後卻改行寫劇本。 自從這本書問世後，她更全力投身於社會運動，反殖民、反核、反戰、反種族歧視、反婦女歧視。。。

打開書，第一章第一段就顯示與眾不同的文采和細膩優美的語言：

“May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dustgreen trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute bluebottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun.”

Roy的文字就像Kelara那繁茂的熱帶植物一樣濃稠，茂盛，充滿畫面感。

情節簡單說，就是一個富有家庭三代的悲劇。 外祖父是親英派的帝國昆蟲學家，對殖民者充滿虔誠的崇拜，整天穿著昂貴的西裝四處走動。 但夜裡卻用銅燈座家暴太太和女兒！ 所謂衣冠禽獸正是這種人吧。 而母親把全部的愛都給了兒子，甚至到不正常的地步。

女兒Ammu長大後為了逃離家庭，急匆匆嫁了人，誰知道丈夫也很暴力，打老婆、打雙胞胎兒女，還酗酒，甚至強迫老婆去獻身給英國人上司，只為了保全飯碗。。。 絕望的Ammu只好帶著兒女回娘家，但是在印度這個社會，她的一生就算已經被毀了。"In the pit of her stomach she carried the cold knowledge that, for her, life had been lived.  She had had one chance.  She made a mistake.  She married the wrong man."

回到娘家的Ammu當然也不好過，沒有地位，只能仰仗哥哥的鼻息過日子。 Ammu雖然不打孩子，但她也用言語恐嚇他們。 “Ammu loved her children (of course), but their wide-eyed vulnerability and their willingness to love people who didn't really love them exasperated her and sometimes made her want to hurt them -- just as an education, a protection.”

比如說當女兒說錯話的時候，她警告：“Do you know what happens when you hurt people?’ Ammu said. ‘When you hurt people, they begin to love you less. That’s what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.”  用收回愛作為懲罰！都是因為缺少愛啊。。。

在一個厄運降臨的晚上，一段不可被接受的偷情引出了兩樁命案，造成了一個家族永遠的分崩離析，更多的悲劇，更多抹不去的傷痛。 

這本小說的情節進展極其緩慢，敘述在時間軸上頻繁地來回跳躍，倒敘、插敘、旁枝再生旁枝。。。每一個人物都有豐富的描述，前因後果，非常的瑣碎，需要很大的耐心。 作者的文字lush，生動，純熟，又極其敏感細膩，非常善用比喻和排比，富含詩意；而作者也毫無遮攔直白地把人性裡最醜惡最黑暗的角落赤裸裸地放大，直刺人心。 比如這段：

“In the next room Baby Kochamma heard the noise and came to find out what it was all about. She saw Grief and Trouble ahead, and secretly, in her heart of hearts, she rejoiced.” 

讀起來很戳心，因為厄運和醜惡貫穿全篇，字裏行間的凝重和憂傷揮之不去。 

書中最悲劇的人物是Velutha，他善良勤奮，但是出生賤民。 印度種姓間的歧視簡直離譜得令人匪夷所思。 賤民被稱為untouchable，不能讓非賤民碰到自己.  不能走到公共道路上，不准用衣物遮蔽上半身，不准帶雨傘，不能進入婆羅門級的家門，如果被叫喚到門口，要摀著嘴說話，以免弄髒了空氣；必須拿著掃把倒著爬，好將他們的腳印掃除，這樣才不會叫意外踩上了他們腳印的人玷污了自己。 

除了種姓制度，還有親英情結，各種宗教之間的抗衡，男尊女卑的文化，更加上共產黨運動。。。 印度真是一個極端錯綜複雜的社會。

這本書不容易讀，裡面有太多沈重、太多殘酷、太多傷痛，但讀完了也叫人思考。 節選一些：

寫親英派喪失自我：
“They were a famly of Anglophiles. Pointed in the wrong direction, trapped outside their own history and unable to retrace their steps because their footprints had been swept away.” 

"Occasionally, when Ammu listened to songs that she loved on the radio, something stirred inside her.  A liquid ache spread under her skin, and she walked out of the world like a witch, to a better, happier place.  On days like this there was something restless and untamed about her."

“Ammu," Chako said, his voice steady and deliberately casual, "is it at all possible for you to prevent your washed-up cynicism from completely coloring everything?" 
Silence filled the car like a saturated sponge. 'Washed-up' cut like a knife through a soft thing. The sun shone with a shuddering sigh. This was the trouble with families. Like invidious doctors, they knew just where it hurt.” 

“In the country that she came from, poised forever between the terror of war and the horror of peace, Worse Things kept happening.” 

“But what was there to say?

Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there was a snuffling in the hollows at the base of a lovely throat. Only that a hard honey-colored shoulder had a semicircle of teethmarks on it. Only that they held each other close, long after it was over. Only that what they shared that night was not happiness, but hideous grief.

Only that once again they broke the Love Laws. That lay down who should be loved. And how. And how much.”