George R. R. Martin: A Lifetime of Fantasy乔治·R.R.马丁的奇幻人生

文/肖恩·斯凯里斯布里克 译/凌岚

By Sean Scarisbrick

George R. R. Martin’s life has revolved around fantasy. His full name is George Raymond Richard Martin, and he was born on September 20, 1948. He grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey. It was from his hometown that he first looked toward the fantastical, as he watched ships traveling the straight of Kill Van Kull1新泽西州巴约纳市（也译作贝永市）与纽约州斯塔滕岛之间的水域称为范库尔水道，水道上有著名的巴约纳桥，1931年建成通车，1985年被定为国家历史性地标土木工程。from around the world. He felt transported around the world as he watched foreign trade ships in constant movement.

[2] He also began writing fantasy as a child, and he sold—and dramatically read—his stories to his friends. In Marist High School, Martin became more heavily involved in the comic book world, and began writing short stories set in these fantastical worlds.He gained a following at comic book conventions, and people often looked forward to reading his innovative works. When he was 21, he sold ‘The Hero’ toGalaxy, thus marking his first professional sale.

[3] He studied journalism at Northwestern University, and he graduated with a B.S. in 1970 and M.S. in 1971. At this time, Martin became eligible to be drafted for the Vietnam War, but he was a staunch advocate against the war;he received conscientious-objector2指基于道德或宗教信仰原因不肯服兵役的人。联合国人权委员会第1995/83号决议指出：“正在服兵役的人不应被排除在依良心拒服兵役权之外。”第1998/77号决议再次确认：“正在服兵役的人员可能会出现基于良心的反对意见。”一些国际组织将5月15日定为“国际良心反对者日”。status and served instead as a VISTA3即Volunteers in Service to America。volunteer from 1972 to 1974.

[4] Later on, Martin became a professor at Clarke University and a chess teacher. He taught journalism from 1976 to 1979, when he realized that his true passion was writing. He quit his job at Clarke and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico to pursue his dream of writing.

[5] The projection of his writing career is incredibly interesting,especially since we are familiar with Martin’s current works. In fact,he began his career not with fantasy but writing science-fiction and horror.When his book,The Armageddon Rag(1983), did not receive the success he had hoped for, he moved onto television. He worked on the television shows,Twilight Zone,Max Headroom, andBeauty and the Beast4此剧于1990年《正大综艺》开播时引进中国，是当年《正大剧场》所播的第一个剧集，官方译名为《侠胆雄狮》，与同名童话电影《美女与野兽》并无关联。.

[6] In 1991, Martin began writing what he is most famous for,A Song of Ice and Fire. This marked his move from science-fiction and horror, asA Song of Ice and Fireis an epic fantasy series that was inspired by the War of the Roses5又称蔷薇战争（1455年─1485年），是英王爱德华三世（1327—1377年在位）的两支后裔兰开斯特家族和约克家族的支持者为了争夺英格兰王位而发生的断续内战。, a tumultuous time in England when the Lancasters and Yorks fought for power, andIvanhoe6又译《劫后英雄传》，英国著名的历史小说家和诗人沃尔特·司各特爵士的代表作之一。小说描写“狮心王”理查东征时失踪，其弟约翰趁机夺位，后理查得到一些诺曼人和撒克逊贵族塞得利克之子艾凡赫及绿林好汉罗宾汉等人的帮助，终于战胜约翰，重登王位，肃清叛逆。, a story of medieval England written by Sir Walter Scott.

[7]A Song of Ice and Fireis a sevenpart series of fantasy written for adults.A Game of Throneswas published in 1996,A Clash of Kingsin 1998,A Storm of Swordsin 2000,A Feast for Crowsin 2005, andA Dance with Dragonsin 2011.

[8] Martin writes each chapter from the perspective of a specific character,providing a limited point of view7小说常见的叙事视角有“全知视角（omniscient point of view）”和“有限视角（limitedpoint of view）”。for each section. The reader is able to understand the inner workings of the individual, but the reader is barred from an omnipotent understanding of the text.The world he has created has magic,but there is much more than that. While magic exists, it exists on the periphery,and the inner turmoil of the characters is much more important.

[9] His work also has a level of realness that is astonishing in a work of fantasy. Characters are imperfect, and many make questionable moral choices.In the end, however, Martin shows that both good and bad happen to both the morally elevated and the corrupt. He has made it clear that any character can die at any point, which has led to a lot of heartbreak from readers.

[10] In 2011,A Song of Ice and Firebecame a television series titledGame of Thrones. Martin has been closely involved with the production.It has currently run for six seasons, and viewers anxiously await the seventh season8《权力的游戏》第7季将于2017年7月16日在HBO首播，这一季只有7集。to answer their questions from the season six finale.

[11] His fans are also waiting forThe Winds of WinterandA Dream of Spring,the next books in the series, to answer the questions Martin and the television show have not yet addressed. Martin,however, has no plans to rush. He has made it clear that he will continue to write the books while working on the television show and writing other novels. The television producers know the ultimate trajectory for the series,and the show has in some cases spread beyond the scope of the book.

[12] In addition to the novels in the series, he has publishedA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a story that is set in the same world asA Song of Ice and Fire. He wrote the parts of this book throughout the course of writing the original series, showing his versatility and admirable stubbornness to continue writing as he desires.

[13] But how will the story continue?What is going to happen in Westeros9维斯特洛大陆，也被称为日落国度（the Sunset Kingdoms），是《冰与火之歌》世界中四块已知大陆中最西面的一块，小说的大多数故事情节都发生在维斯特洛大陆上。,and more importantly: when are we going to find out? Martin’s skill as a writer has kept readers and viewers enthralled. Many hope he will finish the next book before the next season of the show begins, but no one knows with Martin10know with sb/sth是不规范的英语用法（主流英文词典皆未收入此词组），正规出版物中比较少见，通常用于否定的语境，常见于句型You never know with sb/sth，表示某事物、某人（群）复杂多变，难以理解、预测。英国著名推理小说家契斯（James Hadley Chase）的小说《你永远无法猜透女人》（You Never Know with Women），可能是这个词组最能上台面的一次了。. He always keeps his readers guessing. ■

乔治·R.R.马丁的人生一直围绕着奇幻展开。他全名叫乔治·雷蒙德·理查德·马丁，1948年9月20日出生，在新泽西州巴约纳长大。就是在自己的家乡，看着范库尔水道上来自世界各地的船只，他开始向往奇幻世界。看见外国商船川流不息，他感到自己仿佛乘船周游了世界。

[2]他开始写奇幻故事也是在童年时期，写故事卖给朋友们——还声情并茂地读给他们听。就读马里斯特高中期间，马丁深深沉浸在漫画书的世界里，并开始创作发生在这些奇幻世界里的短篇故事。通过参加漫展，他有了粉丝，人们常对他富有创意的作品充满期待。21岁那年，他的作品“英雄”被《银河科幻》杂志买断，成为他作家生涯的第一笔生意。

[3]他在西北大学学习新闻学，并于1970年和1971年分别获得学士和硕士学位。此时，马丁符合征兵条件该入伍参与越战，但他坚决反战；后来，他以“良心反对者”身份于1972年到1974年加入为美国服务志愿队当志愿者。

[4]而后，马丁成为克拉克大学的教授和国际象棋老师。1976年到1979年教授新闻学期间，他意识到自己真正热爱的是写作。于是，他辞去克拉克的教职，搬到新墨西哥州圣菲市，开始追求自己的写作梦。

[5]他的写作事业发展轨迹相当有趣，尤其是我们熟悉了马丁现在的作品之后再来回顾。其实，他最初写的不是奇幻故事，而是科幻和恐怖故事。当他的长篇小说《末日狂歌》（1983）没有取得预期的成功时，他转向了电视行业。他参与制作的电视节目包括《阴阳魔界》《双面麦克斯》和《侠胆雄狮》。

[6] 1991年，马丁开始创作他最著名的作品《冰与火之歌》。这是他从科幻和恐怖转型的标志，因为《冰与火之歌》是一部史诗奇幻系列，灵感来源于玫瑰战争——英国历史上兰开斯特家族和约克家族激战争权的那段混乱时期，以及沃尔特·司各特爵士所写的中世纪英国故事《艾凡赫》。

[7]《冰与火之歌》是一部为成人所写的系列奇幻故事，分为七卷，现已出版五卷：1996年《权力的游戏》，1998年《列王的纷争》，2000年《冰雨的风暴》，2005年《群鸦的盛宴》，2011年《魔龙的狂舞》。

[8]每一章马丁都通过某个角色的视角来写，每一部分都提供一个有限视角。读者可以理解人物的内心活动，却无法全方位了解整个故事。他创造的这个世界是有魔法的，但却不止于此。虽然魔法存在，却只是边缘化的存在，人物内心的剧烈挣扎重要得多。

[9]作为奇幻故事，马丁的作品同时具有一种惊人的真实感。角色并非完人，很多角色还做出了道德上有问题的选择。不过，最终，马丁告诉大家，无论道德高尚的人还是腐朽堕落的人，都会有福也有祸。他也清楚表明，任何角色都随时可能死去，这让很多读者心碎不已。

[10] 2011年，《冰与火之歌》被改编成电视剧，名为《权力的游戏》，马丁一直深度参与该剧的制作。该剧现已播出6季，观众们焦急等待着第7季开播，来解答第6季终集留下的疑问。

[11]粉丝们还期待着系列小说接下来的新卷《凛冬的寒风》和《春晓的梦想》，希望马丁和电视剧尚未说明的一些问题可以得到解答。然而马丁可不想赶时间。他已经表明，他将会继续创作这部小说，同时参与电视剧的工作并撰写其他小说。电视剧的制作人知道剧情的最终轨迹，电视剧在某些方面已经扩展到了原著范围之外。

[12]除了这套系列小说，马丁还出版了《七王国的骑士》，故事也发生在《冰与火之歌》所设定的世界里。马丁在创作原系列小说的过程中，一点一点写完了这本外传，既表明了他的多才多艺，也表现了他令人钦佩的固执，坚持按自己的想法写作。

[13]但是故事会怎样继续？维斯特洛究竟会发生些什么？更重要的是，我们什么时候才能知道？作家马丁创作技能高超，让读者和观众沉迷在作品中。很多人希望他能在新一季电视剧开播前写完下一卷，但没人知道马丁会怎么做。他总是让读者猜不透。 □