從美國異族通婚說起
以我們今天的眼光看待Marilyn和James的婚姻似乎沒什么不妥，但在1958年，白人和亞裔通婚這種事情是不被社會所接受的，被認(rèn)為是違法和錯誤的。這就好比用我們現(xiàn)在的眼光看《西廂記》中的張生和崔鶯鶯，他們不過是男女的一場自由戀愛，但在當(dāng)時的社會背景下，卻是違返社會道德價值觀的，同樣不被社會所接受的。同樣的故事在不同背景下承載的份量是完全不一樣的。
第二章有一段這樣的描寫，這不是故事，在美國歷史確有其事。
Just days before, hundreds of miles away, another couple had married, too—a white man, a black woman, who would share a most appropriate name: Loving. In four months they would be arrested in Virginia, the law reminding them that Almighty God had never intended white, black, yellow, and red to mix, that there should be no mongrel citizens, no obliteration of racial pride. It would be four years before they protested, and four years more before the court concurred, but many more years before the people around them would, too. Some,?like Marilyn’s mother, never would.
1958年，維吉尼亞警察闖入一對異族夫婦——黑人女子米爾德里德和她白人丈夫理查德.洛文的家中把兩人逮捕，理由是維吉尼亞州禁止異族通婚。洛文夫婦和維吉尼亞州政府的官司后來一路打到美國最高法院。1967年，最高法院九名大法官一致裁決，禁止不同種族男女通婚違反憲法。
從最高法院那次裁決到幾十年后的今天，美國人對異族通婚的看法也發(fā)生了翻天覆地的變化。幾十年前，人們認(rèn)為異族通婚是錯誤甚至是非法的。而在今天美國人的心中，種族的界線變得越來越模糊。但即便如此，并不是所有人接受異族通婚。
這讓我想起一位前同事，他是美國第五代移民。有次他給我看一張他們大家庭的合影，大概二十人左右，老老少少，男男女，有白人面孔，有華人面孔。他指著照片娘說，你看，我們家族里的女孩子都嫁給外國人了，但是男人都不會娶洋妞。即使在今天種族邊界越來越模糊，華裔男人娶洋妞的還屬于少數(shù)。
倒退幾十年，Marilyn和James婚姻的確實讓人擔(dān)心，難怪Marilyn的媽媽說了下面這段話，想想你的孩子們吧！你將無片容身，后悔終生的！
“Think about your children,” she said. “Where will you live? You won’t fit in anywhere. You’ll be sorry for the rest of your life.”
他們兩個人的婚姻可以說從一開始就注定是個悲劇。一個人想尋找一個異類，一個人想尋找一個混在人群中不顯眼的人，看似搭調(diào)的組合，卻被他們自己的結(jié)婚誓言出賣了：這個婚姻缺乏彼此之間的了解，沒有互相信任的基礎(chǔ)。 這是愛情嗎？
A few months later, when they married, they would make a pact: to let the past drift away, to stop asking questions, to look forward from then on, never back.
這樣的家庭在當(dāng)時成為封閉的家庭當(dāng)然不能完全怪罪于James或者M(jìn)arilyn。她們不外出，不娛樂，沒有party, 沒有牌友，沒有獵友，沒有午餐伙伴，不去教堂。社會對異族婚姻不認(rèn)可，對混血兒不認(rèn)可，也許封閉是一種自我保護(hù)。但是James和Marilyn的教育無疑是失敗的，把自己的夢想強(qiáng)加于女兒，認(rèn)為唯有讀書高。一個脫離社會孤立存在的家庭，加上父母封閉的教育，孩子怎么才能正常成長？
婚禮和葬禮從兩方面進(jìn)一步烘托出這個家庭的孤單，與社會的脫節(jié)，人物性格的缺陷。
Words
1. She jerked herself free and the lipstick went flying, then?skittered?to a stop on the floor tiles. ”
skitter（to run or move very quickly and lightly）
感覺這個詞用在這里畫面感很強(qiáng)，要讓我譯成中文，居然不知道用哪個詞好。
仿寫個句子：The coin slipped off from my hand, then skittered to a stop down the desk.
2.Then she?took his lapel in her fist, pulled his face to hers, and kissed him.
took his lapel in her fist 一把抓住衣領(lǐng), 可以感覺動作強(qiáng)烈
3. James has the car windows?rolled up tight, but the breeze shakes the leaves of the trees on the banks and?corrugates?the surface of the water”
the breeze corrugates the surface of the water 微風(fēng)吹著湖面，泛著波紋
關(guān)于James性格的一些片段描述
James那種害怕跟別人不一樣，因為他的出身，他的父母，從小就跟別人不一樣，即使美國本土出生，卻沒有歸宿感。家庭對他的影響實在太大了。
1. He had mentioned once,?in passing, that his parents had worked at a school,?leaving it at that,?hoping she’d think teacher.
這句話中有兩個插入語很好的表現(xiàn)了James即小心翼翼的小心思，in passing, leaving it at that, 順便提了一下和點到即止，
in passing：If something is said in passing, it is said while talking about something else and is not the main subject of a conversation.
leave it at that：to say or do no more about something.
2. In the fifth grade, he had stopped speaking Chinese to his parents,?afraid of tinting his English with an accent; long before that, he had stopped speaking to his parents at school at all.
因為害怕有口音，就不再跟父母講中文。在學(xué)校也根本不跟父母說話。
3. He was afraid to tell Marilyn these things, afraid that once he admitted them, she would see him as he had always seen himself:?a scrawny outcast,?feeding on scraps,?reciting his lines and trying to pass.An imposter.He was afraid she would never see him any other way.
outcast 異類，feeding on scraps 吃剩飯長大，reciting his lines and trying to pass一心背書考試，imposter冒名頂替的騙子
James把這向個標(biāo)簽勞勞的貼在自己身上，極度自卑。
4. His father had gone six months later. Complications of pneumonia, the doctors had said, but James had known the truth:?his father simply hadn’t wanted to live alone.
James的媽媽死于腦瘤，他的爸爸因不愿獨(dú)活，在他的母親去世六個月后隨他而去。
James的爸爸明明還有兒子可以依靠，為什么說獨(dú)活？足以見得James在生活中并不能帶給父親一絲一毫的關(guān)愛和精神支持。
5. A few months later, when they married,?they would make a pact:?to let the past drift away, to stop asking questions, to look forward from then on, never back.
James的婚姻。這個看似美好的婚姻契約，一點也不美好。stop asking question這一條似乎暗示了兩個根本不了解的人走在一起
Summary (CH1-3)
On May 3, 1977, Lydia was dead. But her parents, James and Marilyn thought she was missing. After they reported police, the police officer suggested they call all of Lydia's friends. They made a call list. After all the calls, they discovered their perfect daughter, in their eyes, ?has no friends. She always pretended she was on the phone with her friends, gossiping. She always pretended she went out with her friends, but always alone. However, her brother, Nath knew his sister's secrets.?
After a few days, the police dragged the lake nearby and found Lydia's body. How did this happen? What is about her family? Their parents? Her mother, Marilyn wants to stand out, but her farther James Lee wants to blend in.
In 1955, Marilyn enrolled in introductory physic with excellent high grades. She was the only one girl in the class, and by midterm, she set the curve for every exam. In her junior year, she ?met James Lee who taught the course of ?The Cowboy in American Culture, and fell love with him. In the eyes of Marilyn, James was different from other young men she knew. She kissed James in his office across the desk after the first James' lecture. She believed ?this man was she wanted in her life.
James was the second generation of Chinese immigration and born in American, but he never felt belong there. When he was six, his family moved to Iowa, where his parents worked for a small boarding school as worker. Undoubtedly, he had a gift for learning. He passed the entrance exam easily, attended the school for free and ?spent 12 years there, but he never felt at home. He knew he was different, and ?he just wanted to look like anyone else. He tried to blend in the society, listening to the radios, reading comics, saving his pocket money for double features, learning the rules of the new board games. But he was still alone, not attending the dances, rallies, or proms. He had no friends.
When Marilyn kissed the him, he could not believe it. Why did he love Marilyn? When she came to his office, he had not even recognized her. That is the reason he came to love her: because she had blend in so perfectly.?
They fell in love quickly and spent all that year autumn together. ?It seemed that everything was going on well. James thought he ?was going to be hired by Harvard. ?Marilyn would graduate next year and head off to medical school. However, nothing quite as planned. Harvard ?did not hire him and Marilyn was pregnant.Instead of Harvard, an offer from humble Middlewood College. ?Instead of medical school, a wedding. Before the wedding, Marilyn's mother tried to stop the marriage, but it did work. After the wedding, she never saw her mother again.
Next was Lydia's funeral. Nath believed that Jack knew something about his sister's death. At the cemetery, Nath caught Jack, questioning him. But their conversation and ?fight was interrupted by their parents, Nath got nothing with Jacking leaving with his mother.
