Read It and Keep： Is It Time to Reassess the“Beach Read”？重识“海滩读物”

2016-05-14毛川

英语学习 2016年9期

毛川

“海滩读物”，顾名思义，就是在海滩度假时的读物。这一概念最初见于图书交易出版物上，而如今已被广泛使用。对于“海滩读物”的定义众说纷纭。有人认为所有的惊悚小说都是“海滩读物”，有人以为言情小说才是，而有人则说只有畅销的平装书才算得上“海滩读物”。然而对于阅读者来说，“海滩读物”只是轻松假期的一个消遣，所以只要能够做到带人逃离日常琐事，是哪一种类型又有什么关系呢？

The “beach read” has become such a ubiquitous concept in contemporary literature that we assume it has always been around.2 In fact， the term only emerged in the 1990s， usually in book trade publications such as Booklist and Publishers Weekly.3 It was only around the middle of the decade that it migrated into the general lexicon and became something literary journalists began using.4

Its hard to pinpoint the first usage， but the summer of 1990 is when many writers began， which leads me to believe that somewhere out there is a canny book publicist sitting on the fact that he or she coined the term for a release that summer.5

Vacation reading is not a new concept. Ever since the 19th century， when novels were considered relatively sinful indulgences，6 leisure and fiction-reading have been closely associated. But it was not until the wide popularization of paperbacks in America in the middle of the last century that you began to see the beach so closely entwined with a page-turning thriller.7

Now the term is so ubiquitous that its definitions are a point of contention8. Many people， Ive noticed by informally polling friends， are prone to distinguishing a beach read by genre.9 Some people thought all thrillers are beach reads； others thought all romances10 are. Some people thought only mass market paperbacks are eligible11 for beach read standards.

Some thought a beach read must somehow incorporate summer or a vacation into the plot.12 Others thought it should be more escapist13 than that. Still others thought that the beach read was a way to designate14 the one summer bestseller that everyone was going to read. Gone Girl came up a lot.15 And still others thought the concept is gendered16， that books marketed to women are more prone to being called beach reads. This is perhaps true， but in a survey of the literature， as it were， I found it applied to plenty of male books， and in particular those written by James Patterson17.

Still， the essence of the beach read， most could agree， was more of a mood than anything else： attached to vacation， the book shouldnt have any really weighty themes or social significance.18 It should be enjoyable and easy， with brisk pace and simple diction.19 An element of fantasy is generally involved.

Above all， the reader shouldnt feel theyre doing intellectual work. Its all right if the beach read is a tearjerker， a bone-chiller or an adrenaline pumper： what it must never， ever be is something that gets the old neurons firing.20

“Seriousness” tends to be in the eye of the beholder.21 It takes skill to write appealing， enjoyable， accessible fiction，22 too， as most commercial novelists will insist to their dying day.

But perhaps there is room for more definition creep23. More than a few highly regarded things have been called beach reads over the years. Literary novelists who have a strong handle on plot are often characterized as good vacation reads， because they manage to transport you elsewhere， away from the petty facts of ordinary life.24

Thats what people want in a vacation， after all， and while reading a book about Brooklyn might not quite hold the bragging rights of， say， spending a week in Bora Bora， there is an equal element of escape here.25 So dont judge those beach reads on first impressions—or then again， maybe you should.

1. reassess：重新评价。

2. ubiquitous：普遍存在的，无处不在的；contemporary：当代的，现代的。

3. emerge：出现；publication：出版物。

4. migrate：迁移，迁徙；lexicon：（某一语言、领域等的）词汇；literary：书面的。

5. pinpoint：确切地解释（或找出）； canny：精明的；publicist：广告人员，宣传人员；coin：编造，杜撰（新词语）；release：发行，发布。

6. sinful：有罪的，可耻的；indulgence：沉迷，嗜好。

7. paperback：简装书，平装书；entwine：使紧密相连；thriller：惊悚小说。

8. contention：争论。

9. poll：对……进行民意测验；be prone to：有……倾向的；genre：类型，体裁。

10. romance：言情作品。

11. eligible：符合条件的，合格的。

12. incorporate：纳入，并入；plot：情节。