…words.words.words

最近迷戀Berger的書，這本我們在此相遇同樣有著優雅的標題跟獨特的文體。8個短篇，從里斯本、日內瓦、克拉科夫到馬德里，作者帶著我們一邊旅行，一邊回憶前半生遇過的人。文字在想像與現實間跳躍，過去與現在交疊，鬼魂與生人同行，是懷舊的文字，也是希望的文字。

故事的開頭是作者在里斯本遇到他死去15年的母親，母親說，人死了以後，可以自由選擇他們想住在這世上的哪個地方，他們最後總是會決定留在人間。他們沿路敘舊與回憶過往，話語中有同情、有爭辯、有笑語，大部分是閒聊，母親保持著在小孩面前的威嚴與自信，彷彿死亡只是到了另外一個地方換個方式繼續生活。故事裡面還有一位從紐西蘭來的代課老師，也是他的第一位人生導師，他在歐洲各處移動，做過各種不同的工作，一生多采多姿，後來告老還鄉。他與他的鬼魂在在克拉科夫的市場裡面喝啤酒，閒聊，看人家下棋。另外有個悲傷的故事是一位6歲時教他寫字、畫畫、園藝、木工等各種啟蒙學習的老師，他的鬼魂出現在馬德里的旅館，從對話中可以看出他一絲不苟的個性。作者把這些人物放進旅行文學裡，有城市歷史與景點環境的描繪，有在當地所遇到的人物，也有這些曾經出現在生命中的鬼魂們。

抄一段書：

All my books have been about you, I suddenly say.

Nonsense! Maybe you wrote them so I should be there, keeping you company. And I was. Yet they were about everything in the world but me! I’ve had to wait until now, until you are an old man in Lisboa, for you to be writing this very short story about me.

……

Why did you never read any of my books?

I liked the books which took me to another life. That’s why I read the books I did. Many. Each one about real life, but not about what was happening to me when I found my bookmark and went on reading. When I read, I lost all sense of time. Women always wonder about other lives, most men are far too ambitious to understand this. Other lives, other lives which you have lived before, or which you could have lived. And your books, I hoped, were about another life which I only wanted to imagine, not live, imagine by myself on my own, without any words. So it was better I didn’t read them. I could see them through the glass door of the bookcase. That was enough for me.

I risk to write nonsense these days….

想起了一些遇過的人，每個人都留給了我一些東西，成為我身體裡的一部分，願你們安好。