双语：J.K.罗琳化名男性写侦探小说被识破销量飙升

2013-07-16 00:00:00来源：沪江英语网

　　J.K. Rowling has written a crime novel calledThe Cuckoo"s Callingunder the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, according to the Daily Telegraph.

　　《每日电讯》报道称，哈利波特之母J.K.罗琳以“罗伯特-盖布瑞斯”的男性笔名，写作了一本犯罪题材小说《布谷鸟在呼唤》。

　　Rowling is reported as saying to the Sunday Times of London, “I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name.”

　　据说，罗琳曾对《星期日泰晤士报》记者说：“我曾想长时间保守这个秘密。化名罗伯特-盖布瑞斯出版小说，我可以摆脱媒体的大肆宣传和公众期待，这是种匿名获取作品反馈的纯粹喜悦，让我感觉非常自由自在。”

　　The novel was published in April by Sphere in the UK - the same imprint as her first fiction novel after Harry Potter, The Casual Vacancy.

　　这部小说于4月由英国Sphere出版社出版，正是罗琳《哈利波特》系列小说之后的第一部科幻小说《偶发空缺》的出版商。

　　Set in London, it features a one-legged private detective called Cormoran Strike, who is hired to investigate the death of a supermodel called Lula Landry. The book's description on Amazon says "You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this."

　　小说背景设在伦敦，讲的是一位独腿私家侦探Cormoran Strike受雇调查超级名模Lula Landry之死的案件。亚马逊网站上评论这本书为“你也许以为你知道名门富豪的生活，但在深度调查之下你会见到他们不为人知的这一面。”

　　Harry Potter fan site The Leaky Cauldron says the book has so far sold just 1,500 copies, and that a second Galbraith book is to be published next year. Update: Since the news broke, New Statesman reports that the book's Amazon sales have gone up more than 150,000%.

　　哈利波特粉丝网站“The Leaky Cauldron”称，这本小说目前只售出1500本，盖布瑞斯署名的第二本小说将于明年出版。但自罗琳身份曝光后，《新政治家杂志》报道这本小说在亚马逊图书网的销量猛增1500倍。

　　The book received a rave review in Publishers Weekly when it was released, which stated that "in a rare feat... Galbraith combines a complex and compelling sleuth and an equally well-formed and unlikely assistant with a baffling crime in his stellar debut."

　　小说刚刚发行之后，就受到《出版人周刊》的高度赞扬，称其是：“罕见的杰作……盖尔布斯的首部小说就塑造了背景复杂、引人注目的侦探和同样见多识广的专家，并将二者同令人困惑的犯罪行动完美结合在一起。”

　　When she first sold the rights to Harry Potter, Rowling was told to use the gender neutral initials J.K. instead of her first name Joanne, because books written by men sold better. This time, she got to adopt an entirely male persona with a Scottish-sounding name, who was given a fictional biography by the publisher:

　　当罗琳第一次出版《哈利波特》时，就曾被告知要用中性化的“J.K.”代替她的名字“乔安妮”，理由是由男性作家出版的小说销路更好。而这次罗琳完全采用了听着像苏格兰人的男性化名，甚至还给了出版商一份虚构的作者简介：

　　Born in 1968, Robert Galbraith is married with two sons. After several years with the Royal Military Police, he was attached to the SIB (Special Investigation Branch), the plain-clothes branch of the RMP. He left the military in 2003 and has been working since then in the civilian security industry. The idea for protagonistCormoran Strike grew directly out of his own experiences and those of his military friends who have returned to the civilian world. 'Robert Galbraith' is a pseudonym.

　　罗伯特-盖布瑞斯，出生于1968年，已婚，育有两子。在皇家宪兵队服役后被派往特别调查组，属于宪兵队便衣组成员。2003年退役后在公共安全局工作至今。书中主角“Cormoran Strike”的故事来源于作者自身经历和其回到普通社会的退伍军人好友。“罗伯特-盖布瑞斯”实为化名。

　　It was reported in 2007 that Rowling had been working on a detective story, but these reports were later discredited.

　　2007年就曾有报道说罗琳正在撰写侦探小说，但后来这些报道被证明是假消息。

本文关键字: 化名男性作家