It can't be regarded as a classic yet, but it still deserves the honor of "masterpiece".A book, printed to more than 4 million copies, its influence cannot be underestimated anyway. In 1992, "The New York Times" sat firmly on the top spot on the best-seller list, and the movie of the same name based on it won five Oscars this year, which added fuel to the flames. , making this suspense and horror novel a household name all over the world. I saw it at a friend's house about three years ago.That was the original video.I didn't know what kind of story it told before I watched it, but I learned from "Voice of America" ​​that this is an Oscar-winning film; since it is an award-winning film, it always seems to be impressive.So I read it.Unexpectedly, it is such a story that makes people's scalp numb and palms sweaty from beginning to end!Especially the male protagonist's weird brown-purple eyes remained in my mind for a long time, making people feel strangely uneasy and excited. I was afraid of thinking about them, but I couldn't help but think about them, as if I was in the dark when I was a child. Sit on a small stool and listen to the adults telling ghost stories with red eyebrows and green eyes.However, it is such a horrible story, why did it take a name?Although the word "lamb" is mentioned several times in the dialogue between the hero and heroine in the film, the shadow of "lamb" never appears from the beginning to the end.When I first watched the film, I was always in a tense state with numb scalp and sweaty palms, so I didn't think about this problem, so I didn't know much about it until I translated this book this summer.

I got the novel shortly before the start of the summer vacation and spent two days reading it through.It turned out that "The Silence of the Lambs" was mistranslated!Literally, at least it should be translated as "The Silence of the Lambs" (The Silence of the Lambs).But even "The Silence of the Lamb" is not right and does not fit the theme of the whole book.The heroine, Clarice Starling, an intern agent of the FBI, was born in humble beginnings. Her father was a policeman in a small town in her hometown. During a night patrol, she ran into two thieves and drug addicts and died in the line of duty.The mother worked as a maid in a motel during the day and a cook in a cafe at night, struggling to support the family.Two years later, Starling was sent to foster care with her mother's cousin in Montana, leaving her younger siblings with her.Starling was only ten years old at the time.My mother's cousin and her husband are ranchers, and the pasture mainly raises sheep and horses, but most of these animals have some problems, either lame or blind.They are slaughtered to be made into glue or fertilizer, and those taken away alive become dog food.After Starling discovered all this, her childlike innocence was strongly stimulated. She wanted to save these poor animals, but what could a little girl who was only ten years old do?She decides to escape from the pasture, thinking that she can take at least one animal with her - "Hannah", a mare with eye disease, which becomes her good friend after she arrives at the pasture.One night, Starling woke up from the darkness, she heard a terrible scream.It's the spring lambs, they're being slaughtered in the barn.Starling finally made up her mind to escape, otherwise her "Hannah" would also die.So she left the ranch and ended up in what was actually an orphanage sort of charity, the Lutheran Home.

This plot does not occupy much space in the book, but it is Starling's major heart disease. It has carved deep scars on her young heart and directly or indirectly affected her future life path and ideal choices.The family was poor, his father died, and he was a wandering childhood like an orphan. The only way out was to study, to compete in reading, to win in the competition, so as to stand out and win glory for his parents and the Starling family.The seven months of foster care in the Montana ranch taught Starling what it means to be slaughtered and what is the cry of the weak.The lonely and helpless Starling herself is a weak person. From the screams of the lamb being slaughtered, she may vaguely think of her own fate.She could not accept such a fate.she ran away.From then on, she relied on the perseverance and hard work tempered by the years, relying on her "weapon" - defeating all opponents in the competition, fighting against fate step by step, and gradually approaching her ideal.She finished the University of Virginia with a double major in psychology and criminology, and then joined the FBI's Behavioral Science Research Division as a trainee special agent.So far, it should be said that Starling has succeeded. In the history of the Starling family, no member has ever made it this far. Only one of her uncles engraved her college degree on his tombstone as a symbol of honor.However, Starling didn't seem to be satisfied, although her internship in the Behavioral Science Research Department was very good.So, when Jack Crawford, the head of the research department, summoned her and instructed her to contact the "ogre king" Dr. Lecter who was locked up in a mental hospital, Starling felt that the opportunity had come.The so-called "Department of Behavioral Science Research" is just a euphemism. It actually refers to the department of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that specializes in dealing with serial homicides. It is faced with hellish crimes and cruelties, so it goes without saying that a young woman Interns, even seasoned veterans, don't dare to care about it.In fact, one of Crawford's former generals, Will, was slashed in the stomach by Lecter with a linoleum knife, and his face was "painted by Picasso."A nurse in a mental hospital was torn apart by him.An investigator who also wanted to contact him before, ended up not even keeping his own liver, and asked Lecter to eat it mixed with beans.However, all of this did not prevent Starling from resolutely accepting the task assigned by Crawford.Crawford asked if she was "easily spooked"?She tactfully replied: "Not yet." If she answered only "No", it would be too hypocritical and heroic to be believed; if she gave a positive answer, the chance at hand would be lost. .Starling then asked why Crawford picked her for the job, and Crawford replied, "Mostly because you were the one you could find."Crawford actually didn't have much hope at first. He found Starling only because his men couldn't send anyone else, "the same old way-not enough people".But as soon as Starling heard this, she understood in her heart: this is an opportunity, but also a challenge. She must grasp and make good use of this opportunity, accept this challenge, and brilliantly complete the task assigned by Crawford.

Originally, there was nothing unusual about the way things went down, because the purpose of Crawford sending Starling to contact Lecter was mainly to get some psychiatric help from this extraordinary psychiatrist. His answer can contribute to the research of behavioral science to some extent.Starling can use her unique charm to make Lecter, who has been silent for many years, speak, and then hand in the paper smoothly.Lecter did speak, but he didn't want to accept the psychological counseling on the questionnaire, he didn't care about it at all.He is most interested in appreciating other people's suffering with relish and in grabbing their privacy with subtlety.He also likes to show off, showing off his knowledge and shrewdness.He thinks he has extraordinary insight and can see through everything.He considers himself superior in at least his field.So when Starling first appeared in front of him, he saw her humble background and competitive character at a glance.He began to tease the intern like cat and mouse.He began to whet Starling's appetite, unsolicited mention of the murderer the Behavioral Sciences Department had been trying to catch but hadn't been able to catch, the pervert "Buffalo Bill" who had skinned five human beings.His mention really whetted Starling's appetite, thus leading to the thrilling main line of the whole book: hunting down "Buffalo Bill".

Lecter first provided the clues, but he didn't tell you directly; what's more, he stopped talking at every critical moment or whenever you almost figured it out. You told him privately that as a condition for continuing the conversation, he would "reciprocate the favor", and Starling's buried neighbor's childhood story was dug out bit by bit by Lecter in this way.He knew that Starling would stick to the end on the "Buffalo Bill" case, because Lecter knew very clearly from her experience in the Montana ranch that there was actually a voice screaming in Starling's heart, that It is a poor lamb to be slaughtered.The last time they met, Lecter asked Starling, "Do you still wake up in the middle of the night, in iron darkness, and hear lambs screaming?" Starling didn't deny it.Lecter then asked, "If you catch Buffalo Bill yourself...do you think you can stop that lamb from screaming?" Starling said yes.If the screams of lambs that Starling heard in the pasture in her childhood were real, then the screams of lambs that she heard from time to time when she grew up had more symbolic meaning, representing the weak, the victim Those who symbolize the cries of these people in their helplessness.In this book, these weak and victims are all young women, which makes Starling seem more painful.She imagined their situation before they were alive, and recalled the horrors of their victims, and finally everything was condensed into one voice: the lamb was screaming, screaming, screaming!It was a calling, an irresistible drive, and as long as the sound continued for a day, Starling would have no peace. She would have nightmares, wake up in the middle of the night, and break into a place where bold men could smell it. A sinister place that is daunting and daunting.Naturally, Starling succeeded in the end, and she captured and shot Buffalo Bill so she could finally "sleep deep and sweet, for the lamb was quiet".

That's roughly how this chilling story connects to "The Lamb."It can be seen from this that the translation of "The Silence of the Lambs" is obviously inappropriate. I don't know who first gave it such a translated name.I once thought of translating it again, but I finally dismissed the idea because "The Silence of the Lambs" seems to have been recognized by a large number of audiences or readers in our country. Moreover, people who have really studied the original novel and understand the ins and outs of these details are probably not. Not much, most of the attention is still on the story itself.I have also consulted the publishing house, and they also think that changing the name is inappropriate.In this way, it is wrong to make mistakes, and what readers see now is still the so-called (Silence of the Lambs).

To be honest, it is not a great literary work.If you want to talk about "ideology", it is not without it, or it just exposes the dark reality of American society, but such a statement is really a cliché, and it seems too superficial, so I prefer not to talk about its ideology. It's just a novel that tells a story, and it doesn't matter whether you think or not. As for the "artistic quality", it may not be so brilliant, so you can roughly feel it once you read its text.However, this is a best-selling novel after all, and readers' enthusiastic purchase and reading cannot be for no reason.What is the reason for the best-selling?What is it that holds the readers so tightly that they can finish the book in one breath without letting go?

As soon as the book came out, it also attracted widespread attention from the critics.Among the many comments, there is one word that appears the most, and that is "suspense".Indeed, Thomas Harris is a master of suspense.Just as Lecter provided Starling with clues about "Buffalo Bill," Harris also "stingily" told us his story.He talked and stopped, shot a shot to change places, whetted our appetite, and then walked away casually, recreating a tension, a point of interest, and making readers follow him breathlessly, accepting one after another. A surprise.Creating suspense is a long-standing tradition of detective novels, and it is also the place of its life. Whether an ordinary story can be interpreted with twists and turns becomes the first factor that determines the success or failure of detective novels.Harris has also written novels with the same or similar themes before, such as "Black Sunday", "Red Dragon", etc., but obviously, the creation of suspense is not as successful as in the novel.

There is another point that many critics have also mentioned: horror.Most detective novels involve murder, and murder itself is terrifying enough. In the eyes of ordinary people, bloody scenes are always horrible.Harris seems to have given little consideration to the readers in the choice of murderous nature, and he can't help but bring you a strong stimulus: skinning people!And describe to you the specific idea of ​​peeling human skin to make clothes in detail and even with relish: where to slit, where to welt, where to make pleats... Many friends who have watched the movie said that many scenes were too scary, even I Some of my American friends also said that they often have nightmares after watching the film.However, compared with the novel, the film is nothing more than a small one, and many detailed descriptions have been omitted in the film.Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a "horror novel".During the more than one hundred days of translation, I experienced the torment of nightmares and woke up several times in the middle of the night feeling the entanglement of fear.Humans are strange animals. They want to hear and see things they have never heard or seen. This is why everyone still reads them knowingly that they are horror novels. The situation is roughly the same as the children listening to ghost stories I mentioned at the beginning. As if, they all felt a strange stimulation or trembling.

There are not many main characters in the novel, apart from Starling, they are Lecter, Crawford and "Buffalo Bill".I thought Lecter was the most successful one.He was imprisoned in a mental hospital almost all the time, and although he was later moved to Memphis, he was still imprisoned like a trapped animal.His activity space is no more than a small cell, and he has no contact with anyone other than the guards.It is difficult to describe such a character.Harris knows this very well, so as soon as he appears on the stage, it is a whole paragraph of dialogue, with few comments and comments from the author.In the dialogue, Lecter's personality traits are vividly displayed.

This is a highly accomplished psychiatrist, but ironically, he is himself a psychopath, or rather a psychopath, "a psychopath who knows he's committing a crime but doesn't care, Purely against society."As a psychiatrist, he consulted with people with mental disorders. In the conversations with patients, he learned all kinds of private things about people, and he seemed to be extremely interested in things no matter how big or small.When he's exhausted a man's story and there's nothing worth bothering to find out, he kills the man.He repeated this game again and again, full of secrets of all kinds of people, and his extensive knowledge of books gave him an extremely deep understanding of human nature and extraordinary insight. Nothing he said or did could escape his strange "maroon" eyes.Therefore, when Starling first appeared in front of him, he saw through the intern at a glance. He is also good at showing off.Citing classics when making high-level remarks, and beating around the bush when answering questions.He is willing to show his eloquence and knowledge, and he cares very much about his image in the eyes of others.Starling's acknowledgment that he was an expert in his field made him willing to talk to her, but at the same time he struggled to maintain his shrewd, first-rate image. But Lecter is an evil devil after all.He is more interested in creating pain for others, and when others groan in pain, he appreciates it with a sense of accomplishment.In order to get clues to solve the "Buffalo Bill" case, Starling looked for him again and again. Martin, who is a U.S. senator, had to turn to him after his daughter Catherine was kidnapped by "Buffalo Bill".As a prisoner, Lecter was content with that.He knew that with so many lives in his hand, he would never get out of the cell alive, so the only way left was to "play".So he played.He was playing with Starling, giving the clues he had, truthfully and falsely, and asking her to "reciprocate" and tell him her privacy.He played with Chilton, the director of the mental hospital; when he first entered the mental hospital many years ago, Chilton tried to get some psychological answers from him, but he gave all wrong answers and Chilton Unbeknownst to him, Lecter later wrote an article in a relevant publication, mocking Chilton.He also played with Senator Martin, and after the senator agreed to him a series of favorable quid pro quo, he finally said the real name of "Buffalo Bill" "Billy Rubin", and the investigators worked hard to finally confirm that , "Billy Rubin" is just a play on words played by Lecter, a combination of "humor in a mental hospital" means "bilirubin", which is a major pigment in feces. It happened to be the color of Dean Chilton's hair. ... Lecter stayed in the cell for too long, his heart was like a pitch-black hell, unable to shine a ray of sunshine.He is determined to use all possible means to tease all established orders and norms. The astonishment of the novel is that it is this devil who finally escapes—who spends months in secret using the barrel of a ballpoint pen that a visiting psychiatric researcher inadvertently left in his cell. Time grinds out a key to unlock the handcuffs!By the end of the book, "Buffalo Bill" was killed by Starling, but Lecter was once again at large.He had plastic surgery and makeup, ready to go to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Starling was finally able to "sleep deeply and sweetly" because "the lamb has been quiet".However, since there are still monsters like Lecter lurking in the vast crowd, it is hard to guarantee that the "silent lamb" will not cry again.This, perhaps, is an important factor why this novel has its own heavy weight, which is different from ordinary detective novels that end successfully. It is worth noting that Harris arranged for the daughter of a U.S. senator as the last victim of "Buffalo Bill", which should be said to enhance the novel's realistic criticism to some extent.As the book alludes to through Starling's inner workings, what if it were an ordinary girl, with jet-jet planes flying around and demented men running around for her?The answer speaks for itself. As the main murderer and hunted object in the novel, "Buffalo Bill" is a focus of readers' attention.He appeared late, and appeared and disappeared from time to time after his appearance, which added to the mystery and terror that shrouded him. "Buffalo Bill" is his nickname. His real name is James Garm. It has nothing to do with Cody, the US Army scout who first got this nickname; Jaime Garm preys on young women and skins them to fashion his ideal women's clothing.Here is a transsexual who is thoroughly immersed in his own wicked world.Gumm had an unhappy childhood.His mother was a beautiful woman (his father didn't know who it was), but she failed in the "Miss Sacramento" pageant and became obsessed with alcohol.Gumm was sent to foster care at the age of two.The conditions of the foster home were unsatisfactory, so when he was ten years old, Gumm was taken back by his grandparents. Two years later, he killed his grandparents.He was sent to a vocational education school, where he studied and fell in love with sewing.Later, when the junior school closed, Gumm wandered into the society automatically. He worked in restaurants, antique shops, and leather clothing companies, and finally worked under a tailor named Mrs. Lippmann.When the old lady died, Gumb inherited everything from her—a huge house and a lot of money.From then on, he stopped working for others, and devoted himself to looking for his ideal woman everywhere, getting them home, putting them in dungeons to raise them like livestock, and slaughtering them after a few days.He also took medicine and injections to wear women's clothes at first, but apart from his voice becoming a bit weird, the effect was not ideal.He was frustrated when he saw his breasts, which were only slightly protruding.He applied for sex reassignment surgery but was rejected by the medical center because of his criminal record as a teenager.Therefore, he had no choice but to realize his dream by himself, making a "women's vest with boobs" out of real leather.The fat girls in the front all have more or less problems, and Catherine "this item" is the most ideal material.He devotes himself to his "work" with the same excitement and excitement every time, and before Catherine was operated on, he had an indescribable and unstoppable creative impulse.After reading this, our hearts are almost lifted to our throats.Of course, Gumm didn't succeed, and this "thing that lived on other people's tears" finally fell under Starling's gun, ending his sinful life. The language of the novel is rather colloquial, not wonderful, but very vivid.From this point of view, for a literary work that is not good at ideology or artistry, its readability is the decisive factor whether it can be spread, and whether it can create a few full-bodied characters with unique personalities is also a decisive factor. Whether the work can leave a deep and long-lasting memory in the hearts of readers.At this point, (The Silence of the Lambs) provides an excellent reference for creators of popular novels. Yang Haocheng At the end of 1997 at Nanjing Normal University