菲利普·罗斯：同时代人的声音

By Nelson Pressley

Philip Roth， whose comic novel Portnoys Complaint brought him literary celebrity after its publication in 1969 and who was eventually hailed1 as one of Americas greatest living authors for the blunt force and controlled fury of his dozens of later works， died May 22 at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 85.

His literary agent， Andrew Wylie， said the cause was congestive heart failure in confirming the death to the Associated Press.

Mr. Roths 1959 debut story collection， Goodbye， Columbus， earned him the first of two National Book Awards.2 He would publish 27 novels， two memoirs and several more story collections by the time he publicly retired from writing in 2012. His lifelong themes included sex and desire， health and mortality， and Jewishness and its obligations—arguably his most definitive subject， given the controversy surrounding his earliest works.

In later years， his focus shifted more frankly to the nation and its discontents， from the rise of Richard Nixon as a political figure in the early Cold War era to the sideshow of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in what became known as Mr. Roths “American Trilogy”： American Pastoral （1997）， I Married a Communist （1998） and The Human Stain （2000）.

“He at once talked about America and American-ness but filtered it through the history of the 20th century at large，” said Aimee Pozorski， an associate professor of English at Central Connecticut State University who had written extensively about Mr. Roth.

“He wrote about the American response to the Holocaust， but also about its effects in Israel and Central and Eastern Europe，” Pozorski said. “He could write about these international issues because he was truly cosmopolitan， a global citizen who was grounded by American culture.”

She called Mr. Roth “the voice of his generation.”

A 2006 survey by the New York Times Book Review of the best books since 1981 found an astonishing six of Mr. Roths novels among the top 22. Well into his senior years， he continued to win the highest laurels of his profession with new， evocative3 works. In 1993， his Operation Shylock： A Confession won the PEN/Faulkner prize； in 1995， Sabbaths Theater won the National Book Award； in 1997， American Pastoral won the Pulitzer Prize.4

His appeal was not limited to elite critical circles， drawing enthusiastic fans such as Bruce Springsteen， the rock musician. Speaking of Mr. Roths “American Trilogy，” Springsteen once observed， “To be in his 60s making work that is so strong， so full of revelations about love and emotional pain， thats the way to live your artistic life. Sustain， sustain， sustain.”

Philip Roth was born on March 19， 1933， to firstgeneration Americans—Herman Roth， an insurance salesman for Metropolitan Life， and his wife， the former Bess Finkel. They were Jews who “were and were not religious，” and they “didnt talk about the past. There was no remembering elsewhere，” he recalled in The Facts.

He winced5 when referred to as an American Jewish writer. “Growing up Jewish as I did and growing up American seemed to me indistinguishable，” he wrote， also in The Facts. “Id come from a small， safe， relatively happy provincial background—my Newark neighborhood in the thirties and forties was just a Jewish Terre Haute.”

Mr. Roth left Newark for Bucknell University in Pennsylvania mainly out of restlessness， to escape his familiar home town and his father.

“I wanted something difficult and dangerous to happen to me. I wanted a hard time. Well， I got it，”Mr. Roth said in 1984. （Explaining the notoriety6 of Portnoys Complaint and his own in an essay titled“Imagining Jews” for the New York Review of Books in 1974， Mr. Roth wrote， “Going wild in public is the last thing in the world that a Jew is expected to do.”）

At Bucknell， he edited the literary magazine， was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and conscientiously began to find his writers voice，7 ruthlessly critiquing a colleague in print and discovering “a flash of talent for comic destruction.”

After graduating from Bucknell in 1954， he received a masters degree in English the next year from the University of Chicago and served in the Army for a year （largely behind a desk in Washington）. He then returned to Chicago and taught English at his alma mater while writing fiction. An early admirer was novelist and future Nobel laureate Saul Bellow8， who told an interviewer that Mr. Roths stories “showed a wonderful wit and great pace.”

When Goodbye， Columbus was accepted for publication in 1958， Mr. Roth resigned his teaching post and moved to Manhattan， but the friction with his antagonists9 wasnt over.

In 1962， Mr. Roth shared a panel with Invisible Man author Ralph Ellison and Italian novelist Pietro di Donato during a symposium at Yeshiva University. Again he was denounced10 by questioners who thought he was undermining Jews. Mr. Roth later recycled the incident in The Ghost Writer， and he frequently said the standoff was formative.11

In 1973， Mr. Roth explained the double-edged sword of those early attacks：

“I might turn out to be a bad artist， or no artist at all， but having declared myself for art—the art of Tolstoy， James， Flaubert， and Mann，12 whose appeal was as much in their heroic literary integrity as in their work—I imagined I had sealed myself off from being a morally unacceptable person， in others eyes as well as my own.

“I think now—I didnt then—that this conflict with my Jewish critics was as valuable a struggle as I could have had at the outset of my career… I resented how they read me， but I was never able to complain afterward that they didnt read me； I never felt neglected.”

“Theres always something behind a book to which it has no seeming connection， something invisible to the reader which has helped unleash the writers impulse，” Mr. Roth said of Portnoys Complaint in the 1984 collection Writers at Work. “Im thinking about the rage and rebelliousness that were in the air， the vivid examples I saw around me of angry defiance and hysterical opposition. This gave me a few ideas for my act.”

Portnoys Complaint drew criticism from Jewish groups for its perceived ethnic stereotyping and from others for its sexual explicitness. But it also won praise from prominent reviewers for being playful and moving， a masterpiece on guilt. Writing in the New York Times， author and screenwriter Josh Greenfeld called it a “deliciously funny book， absurd and exuberant， wild and uproarious.”13

The acclaim for the Ghost Writer trilogy—with the writer Zuckerman viewed as a very close stand-in for his creator through Zuckerman Unbound （1981） and The Anatomy Lesson （1983）—rescued Mr. Roth once and for all from the “Portnoys” reputation as a clown prince of sexual provocation14.

“When all of those books were taken together， you had my story，” he said in the 2013 PBS documentary Philip Roth： Unmasked.

Yet earlier he had said： “Nathan Zuckerman is an act. Making fake biography， false history， concocting15 a half-imaginary existence out of the actual drama of my life is my life. There has to be some pleasure in this job， and thats it. To go around in disguise. To act a character. To pass oneself off16 as what one is not. To pretend. The sly and cunning masquerade17.”

“Am I Lonoff18？ Am I Zuckerman？ Am I Portnoy？” Mr. Roth asked in a 1981 interview. “I could be， I suppose. I may be yet. But as of now I am nothing like so sharply delineated19 as a character in a book. I am still amorphous20 Roth.”

菲利普·羅斯，1969年出版的喜剧小说《波特诺的怨诉》让他享誉文学界，在之后的许多作品中，因其钝力和有节制的愤怒而逐渐被公认为美国在世的最伟大的作家之一。5月22日，菲利普·罗斯在曼哈顿一家医院逝世，享年85岁。

他的文学经纪人安德鲁·怀利向美联社证实了罗斯因充血性心力衰竭而辞世的消息。

罗斯凭借1959年出版的处女作小说集《再见，哥伦布》获得了美国国家图书奖，之后，他又获得过一次该奖。2012年封笔之前，罗斯共出版了27部小说、两本回忆录和数本小说集。他坚持一生的写作主题包括性和欲望、健康和死亡、犹太人身份和其责任，这些可以说是他作品中最明确的主题。罗斯的早期作品曾引起很大的争议。

在他的后期作品中，罗斯的关注点转向更坦诚地揭露国家事务及其阴暗面，从冷战初期理查德·尼克松作为政治新星的升起到克林顿-莱温斯基性丑闻事件，组成了罗斯的“美国三部曲”：《美国牧歌》（1997）、《我嫁给了共产党人》（1998）以及《人类的污秽》（2000）。

“他谈论美国和美国性，但是总体上用20世纪的历史过滤了，”中康涅狄格州立大学的副教授艾美·波佐斯基如是说。艾美写过很多关于罗斯的文章。

“他在作品中描写美国人如何看待二战期间德国纳粹对犹太人的大屠杀，同时也写大屠杀对以色列和中东欧造成的影响。”波佐斯基说，“罗斯之所以能在写作中驾驭这些国际问题，是因为他是真正的世界主义者，植根于美国文化的世界公民。”

她将罗斯称为“他那一代人的声音”。

2006年，《纽约时代书评》評选出自1981年以来的最佳书籍，位居榜首的22部小说中，罗斯的小说就占了六本。即便年事渐高，他仍以新颖且能够引起共鸣的作品频获文学最高奖。1993年，他凭借《夏洛克在行动：自白》问鼎国际笔会/福克纳文学奖；1995年，《安息日的剧院》获美国国家图书奖；1997年，《美国牧歌》获普利策文学奖。

他的作品不仅得到了评论界精英的关注，也同样吸引了诸如摇滚音乐家布鲁斯·斯普林斯汀这样的狂热粉丝。谈到罗斯先生的“美国三部曲”时，斯普林斯汀曾评论道：“步入耳顺之年的罗斯，其作品风格愈加厚重，充满关于爱和情感之痛的领悟。这才是度过艺术人生的方法。让艺术之树常青。”

菲利普·罗斯出生于1933年3月19日，父母是第一代美国移民。父亲赫尔曼·罗斯是大都会人寿保险公司的一名推销员，母亲是贝丝·芬克尔。罗斯在《事实》中这样回忆父母：作为犹太人，他们有信仰，又没有信仰。他们从不谈论过去，因为记忆无处可寻。”

当提到他是犹太裔美国作家时，他皱了皱眉。“对我来说，犹太人和美国人这两种身份几乎难以区分，”罗斯在《事实》中写道，“我来自一个安全、相对快乐的小地方，在三四十年代，我居住的纽瓦克社区只是一个犹太人聚居地。”

因为不安于现状，想逃离熟悉的家乡和父亲，罗斯离开纽瓦克，前往宾夕法尼亚州的巴克内尔大学。

“我希望一些困难危险的事情发生。我需要一点艰难时光。好吧，我真如愿了。”罗斯在1984年如是说。（在1974年为《纽约书评》写的题为《想象犹太人》的文章里，罗斯对《波特诺的怨诉》和自己的声名狼藉作了如下解释：“当众发狂是犹太人最不希望做的事情。”）

在巴克内尔大学，罗斯编辑了一本校园文学杂志，加入了美国大学优等生荣誉学会，开始认真地寻找自己作为作家的声音，并无情地用文字批判一位同行，初露“一丝喜剧破坏力的天赋”。

1954年，罗斯从巴克内尔大学毕业。次年，他获得芝加哥大学英语文学硕士学位并参军一年（绝大多数时间是在华盛顿的办公室里度过）。随后，罗斯返回母校芝加哥大学教授英文，同时进行小说创作。作家索尔·贝娄，后来的诺贝尔文学奖获得者，早年起就很欣赏罗斯。他曾在接受采访时表示，罗斯的小说“展现了无比的睿智和极强的节奏”。

1958年，出版社同意出版小说《再见，哥伦布》，罗斯辞去教职，搬去曼哈顿居住，但他和反对者的摩擦并未就此终结。

1962年，罗斯在耶什华大学的一次研讨会中，与《隐形人》作者拉尔夫·埃里森和意大利作家皮埃特罗·多纳托一起参加小组讨论。会上，罗斯再次遭到提问者的谴责，认为他损害了犹太人的名誉。罗斯后来在《鬼作家》中还原了该事件，并不断强调那次僵局对他的影响是关键性的。

1973年，罗斯这样解释早年这些抨击的双刃剑作用：

“我可能会成为一个不好的艺术家，或者根本成不了艺术家。但既然选择了投身艺术——托尔斯泰、詹姆斯、福楼拜和曼的艺术，他们的吸引力在于其英雄般的文学正直性，也在于他们的作品——我想我已经拒绝成为一位道德败坏的人，不管在他人看来，还是我的自我感觉，都是如此。”

“现在我认为——过去我没这么想——我与犹太批评家的冲突对我来说是宝贵的经历，这就像刚开始写作时我的挣扎一样……我痛恨他们那样解读我的作品，但至少我不用抱怨他们根本不读我的作品；我从未感到自己的作品遭受冷遇。”

“一本书的背后总有一些看似无关，读者无法解读的东西，来帮助作家释放情感，”罗斯在1984年作品集《工作中的作家》中这样谈论《波特诺的怨诉》。“写这本书时，我脑子里想着周遭的愤怒和反叛，我身边那些愤怒反抗和歇斯底里反对的活生生的例子。它们都给了我创作的灵感。”

《波特诺的怨诉》因其感知的种族刻板印象遭到犹太群体的批评，也因其赤裸裸的性描写饱受非议。不过，也有知名评论家对它大加褒奖，认为这部作品既有趣又感人，堪称一部关于罪的杰作。作家和编剧乔希·格林菲尔德为《纽约时报》撰文称《波特诺的怨诉》是“一本非常有趣的书，荒诞又充满生气，狂野又让人捧腹大笑。”

《波特诺的怨诉》让罗斯被称为性挑逗的小丑王子，而《鬼作家》三部曲赢得的赞誉成功挽救了罗斯的名声。三部曲中，《被释放的祖克曼》（1981）和《解剖课》（1983）中的主人公小说家祖克曼被认为非常接近作家本人。

在2013年美国公共电视网纪录片《走近菲利普·罗斯》中，罗斯说：“把我的全部作品联系在一起，你们就知道我的故事了。”

不过，早前他也曾说：“内森·祖克曼只是一出表演。编造假的传记、错的历史，从我生活中真实的剧情里调制出半想象的存在，这才是我的生活。得给写作找点乐趣，但也仅此而已。也就是说乔装打扮之后出门。去扮演一个不是自己的角色。去伪装。狡猾奸诈的掩饰。”

“我是洛诺夫？还是祖克曼？抑或是波特诺？”罗斯在1981年的一次采访中问道。“我可能会是他们，我觉得，现在还不是。不过，现在的我绝不是一本书里详细描述的一个人物。我只是无法定义的罗斯。”

1. hail： 称赞，赞扬。

2. debut： 初次表演，初次露面；National Book Awards： 美国国家图书奖，美国文学界的最高荣誉之一，它与普利策小说奖被视为美国最重要的两个文学奖项。该奖始于1950年，每年举行一次，颁发给前一年出版作品的美国作家。

3. evocative： 引起记忆的，唤起感情的。

4. PEN/Faulkner prize： 福克纳文学奖，又称为国际笔会/福克纳文学奖，由美国国家图书奖得主玛利·李·司徒（Mary Lee Settle）于1980年创立；the Pulitzer Prize： 普利策文学奖。该奖不是一个独立的奖项，而是美国普利策奖众多分支中的一个。约瑟夫·普利策在去世前第七年（1904年）立下遗嘱，将自己的财产捐献给美国哥伦比亚大学，由他们建立一个新闻学院。这笔高达200万美元的款项中，有四分之一被用来设立奖项，后成为普利策奖的基金。

5. wince： （因疼痛或因看到、听到或记起不快之事而）皱起脸，皱眉蹙额。

6. notoriety： 恶名，臭名昭著。

7. Phi Beta Kappa honor society： 美国大学优等生荣誉学会，是美国历史最悠久的学术荣誉机构，该名称来源于希腊文，意为“智慧、学习和知识引领生活”，该学会旨在倡导卓越文理教育，会员为美国大学中最优秀的学生；consicentiously： 认真地，尽责地。

8. Saul Bellow： 索尔·贝娄（1915—2005），美国作家，被称为美国当代文学发言人，于1976年获得诺贝尔文学奖。

9. antagonist： 敌手，反对者。

10. denounce： 公开指责，正式指控。

11. standoff： 僵局，对峙；formative： （对某事物或性格的发展）有持续重大影响的。

12. Tolstoy： 列夫·托尔斯泰（1828—1910），19世纪中期俄国批判现实主义作家、思想家，哲学家，代表作有《战争与和平》、《安娜·卡列尼娜》、《复活》等；James：亨利·詹姆斯（1843—1916），19世纪美国继霍桑、麦尔维尔之后最伟大的小说家，也是美国乃至世界文学史上的大文豪，被一致认为是心理分析小说的开创者之一，他对人的行为的认识有独到之处，是20世纪小说的意识流写作技巧的先驱；Flaubert： 居斯塔夫·福楼拜（1821—1880），法国著名作家，其成就主要表现在对19世纪法国社会风俗人情进行真实细致描写记录的同时，超时代、超意识地对现代小说审美趋向进行探索；Mann： 托马斯·曼（1875—1955），德国小说家和散文家，是德国20世纪最著名的现实主义作家和人道主义者，受叔本华、尼采哲学思想影响。

13. exuberant： 充满生气的；uproarious： 引人捧腹大笑的，非常可笑的。

14. provocation： 挑衅，挑拨。

15. concoct： 虚构，杜撰。

16. pass off： 冒充。

17. masquerade： // 掩藏，掩饰。

18. Lonoff： 罗斯《鬼作家》中的人物。

19. delineate：（详细地）描述，描画。

20. amorphous： // 無固定形状（或结构）的，不规则的。