The Golden Compass

作者：Philip Pullman
出版社：Scholastic
中譯版：《黃金羅盤》，繆思出版

▎《黃金羅盤》靈感來自中世紀英國詩人的經典《失樂園》，透過兒童純真的眼光揭示成人世界的虛偽。故事中充滿玄機的平行世界巧妙譬喻現實，深具寓意。

▎「普曼想像出一個沒有神的世界，裡面還是充滿了希望。」作者在書中重新詮釋宗教意義，發人深省，獲得倫敦時報高度評價。

預估閱讀時間：02:40
文章難度：★★★★☆

The Golden Compass 早期書名為 Northern Lights
圖片來源：wikimedia common

Visit a different Earth through the eyes of Lyra Belacqua, a ward of Oxford University who is sent off down a path to her own warped destiny. During a rash of child disappearances, she goes looking for her missing best friend, sending her on a journey that begins in London and ends at the North Pole. Readers of The Golden Compass will spend their time with the book in a state of delighted suspense, learning how deep this rabbit hole goes.

透過故事主人翁的雙眼，一起探索神秘的平行宇宙。Lyra是一位受牛津大學監護的孤兒，有著曲折離奇的命運。一連串的兒童失蹤事件，開啟了她尋找好友下落的旅程，自倫敦啟程，結束於北極。讓我們盡情享受書中刺激的懸疑感，一步步發掘這深不見底的謎團。

Pullman's vivid characterization brings to life such memorable heroes as an armored polar bear (my favorite character by far in a book filled with characters much deserving such adoration), the mysterious witches of the north, river-dwelling traveling "gyptians", a Texan air balloonist, and many others. The book's narrative gives us an exacting and well-placed window into the book's world, which is underpinned with achingly elegant philosophical and theological ideas.

作者Pullman在書中創造了許多性格生動、令人難忘的英雄，例如身穿盔甲的武裝北極熊（這是在眾多吸引人的角色中我最喜歡的一位）、神秘的北極女巫族、傍河而居、四處遷徙的吉普賽人、來自德州的熱氣球舵手…等眾多角色。本書的敘事讓我們以一個絕佳的角度，窺視書中以優雅的哲學與神學思想構築的世界。

To lay them out too clearly in review would risk spoiling some of the book's genius, suffice it to say that this is a book that is exquisitely layered and considered -- the work of a master storyteller in all respects. Pullman's writing allows the reader to see for themselves what the world is like and how it works, peering deeply into this other Earth's mysteries and piecing together its rules and plots by their own mental powers.

作者在書中精心鋪陳了許多段落，精彩的程度教人不敢在此透露太多細節，以免暴露了藏在書中的驚喜。由各種角度來看，都是一本精彩的大師之作。 Pullman在巧妙的譬喻，讓人能藉著窺視故事中神秘的平行世界，反觀自我與真實世界的樣貌；精心安排的故事線，也讓讀者能在拼湊故事情節與邏輯的過程中，用力的動腦思考。

Though this book is often labeled as "YA" (Young Adult) or children's fiction, any adult overlooking The Golden Compass because of these labels would be denying themselves a rewarding time with a modern day classic. Follow the scrappy, quick-witted Lyra as she learns the power of a mystical artifact that is likely older than what we would call “time”, and chases the pieces of a world-shattering enigma to a final confrontation in the frozen far north. Upon finishing this book, you will be relieved to recall that there are two more books in the trilogy.

雖然這本書被歸類為青少年或兒童讀物，但也絕對是一本不容大人們錯過的現代經典。跟著好勝、聰明機智的Lyra一起發現比「時間」更為古老的神秘力量，接著追尋這震驚世界的謎團，最終與邪惡力量決戰北極。若你讀完這本書後才想起這是一部三部曲作品，相信你會感到非常的慶幸，因為接著還有兩部令人期待的作品可以繼續看下去。

文/Max Power

本文收錄於英語島English Island 2018年6月號
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