前言
我知道，許多人不喜歡《THE CATCHER IN THE RYE》。太正常了，其實(shí)《麥田里的守望者》這個(gè)標(biāo)題的翻譯就是讓人誤解。翻開整本書，全篇都是粗言穢語、絮絮叨叨、各種對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)的不滿等等，整篇無非就是一個(gè)不良少年逃學(xué)記而已，Not a big deal！更何況如果譯者序或出版前言中包括“本書揭露了資本主義社會(huì)腐朽的精神文明本質(zhì)”等尖銳深刻的解讀，讀者不喜歡就太正常了。我首次讀的時(shí)候也不喜歡，因?yàn)槟菚r(shí)我很正常。
以下試圖以幾個(gè)未經(jīng)充份論證的“事實(shí)”來說明這部作品的優(yōu)越性，通過討論來幫助大家認(rèn)識(shí)這部作品。
事實(shí)1. 相關(guān)主題下的最佳作品
如果你感到疑惑，為何這部小說大名鼎鼎，得到了無數(shù)的好評(píng)，能成為經(jīng)典？要說列舉理由的話也許很難，但是要說一個(gè)事實(shí)的話，似乎就比較簡單，而難以反駁。這么說吧，在人類的文學(xué)史中，有哪一本小說講“青春”、“教育”能如這本那么深刻、感人、有力？淺薄如我，我真找不到在這方面可以與之匹敵的小說。故此，它自有其應(yīng)有的地位。
不要拿它與《紅樓夢》、《戰(zhàn)爭與和平》、《生存與命運(yùn)》、《魔山》、《百年孤獨(dú)》等經(jīng)典去比，沒有可比性。不過，即使不考慮該小說的題材、背景等因素，兩大特點(diǎn)也會(huì)讓它屹立于世界文學(xué)之林：現(xiàn)實(shí)感、詩意。
事實(shí)2. 主人公性格特征的普遍性及特殊性
客觀地說，主人公Holden當(dāng)然有非常令人可喜的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，甚至可以說極具人格魅力。盡管如此，從最膚淺的認(rèn)識(shí)上看，他確實(shí)就是一個(gè)讓人討厭的小混混，其鮮明特點(diǎn)就是：滿嘴的污言穢語，一肚子的怨氣，對(duì)任何事物都表示不滿。
然而，考慮整本小說的主題：青春。難道這個(gè)世界上的年輕人不都是對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)充滿了不滿的一個(gè)群體嗎？青春期的叛逆比比皆是，何必大驚小怪。既然如此，極力渲染一下Holden的各種不滿、怨氣，只不過是對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)的一種藝術(shù)性表達(dá)而已啊。
也許你讀到這里會(huì)站出來抗議，“我就是一個(gè)年輕人，我就沒有類似Holden的那種怨氣！”那我只能恭喜你，好孩子！其次，我也只能遺憾地說，你沒有Holden的怨氣，也就缺少了Holden的善良。善良、憂郁、悲天憫人就是Holden的性格上的特殊性。這種普遍性與特殊性共同塑造了一個(gè)血肉豐滿的中學(xué)生形象。
事實(shí)3. 主人公性格特征的多樣性與融合性消解了所謂的對(duì)立性
作者通過故事表達(dá)了其對(duì)青春期叛逆的態(tài)度與策略。其中這一段被廣為引用：
What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.
多數(shù)讀者將其解讀為，“教育者應(yīng)該對(duì)青春期的孩子保持一種守望者（Catcher）的態(tài)度”。但是請讀者不要忘記，說這句話的人，或者說保持這種理想的人就是主人公Holden。而這個(gè)Holden在故事中就是那個(gè)“要掉下山崖”的小孩。因此，“教育者”與“被教育者”沒有對(duì)立起來，“拯救者”與“被拯救者”沒有對(duì)立起來，而是巧妙地融為一體。這樣的融合在全書當(dāng)中多次出現(xiàn)，實(shí)屬非常巧妙的表現(xiàn)藝術(shù)。
主人公Holden體現(xiàn)出若干矛盾的性格，我稱為矛盾的融合。也許大家都記得Holden滿嘴噴臟話，可是大家是否記得Holden在他妹妹的學(xué)校看到“F**k you”這種臟字時(shí)的反應(yīng)呢？首先他想：
It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they'd wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them--all cockeyed, naturally--what it meant, and how they'd all think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days.
然后呢？這個(gè)滿嘴臟話的孩子對(duì)臟字也無法容忍，他要消滅“臟字”，他又一次成為戰(zhàn)斗者：
But I rubbed it out anyway, finally.
之后在博物館幫助兩位逃學(xué)的小朋友參觀木乃伊的那一段，Holden又發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)可怕的“F**k you”，他覺醒了：
That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose.
準(zhǔn)確地說，他早在妹妹的學(xué)校就明白了：
It's hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the "Fuck you" signs in the world. It's impossible.
Holden這個(gè)需要被拯救的孩子一直在扮演拯救世界者的角色，雖然他的“戰(zhàn)斗”總以失敗告終，他無助，他知道不可能，他只是固執(zhí)地選擇抗?fàn)帯Ｗ罱K他沒能離家出走，說不清是因?yàn)槊妹眠@個(gè)天使拯救了他，還是因?yàn)樗枰让妹脧亩攘俗约骸]有對(duì)立，只有融合。
事實(shí)4. “守望”是一種高超而又獨(dú)特的教學(xué)理念
“守望”態(tài)度在全書中通過不同的場景進(jìn)行了多次的闡釋。除了上文給出的引文，還包括，Holden出逃的晚上在出租車上與司機(jī)關(guān)于鴨子與魚的討論：
"If you was a fish, Mother Nature'd take care of you, wouldn't she? Right? You don't think them fish just die when it gets to be winter, do ya?"
又比如這一段，Holden與其前任教師在晚上關(guān)于某位同學(xué)的一次對(duì)話：
I mean you can't help it sometimes. What I think is, you're supposed to leave somebody alone if he's at least being interesting and he's getting all excited about something.
還包括在游樂場中妹妹玩旋轉(zhuǎn)木馬時(shí)Holden的思考：
All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them.
這些對(duì)話都與“守望”的理念一致，可視為不同角度的闡釋。更往大了說，這也與在中國古典中所謂的“無為之教”異曲同工。作為一名教學(xué)工作者，對(duì)此深以為然也！“無為”并非無所作為，每一位教學(xué)者都盡其所能地做自己的工作，其應(yīng)有這樣的覺悟：對(duì)某些事物保持不作為。在小說的最后，作者的這一段勸喻，可作為對(duì)“教育”的一個(gè)重要注解。
Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them--if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.
小結(jié)
2017年5月底重讀此作品，有感而匆匆寫下以上短評(píng)。二十年的從教生涯告訴我，認(rèn)真地教誨學(xué)生最終就是認(rèn)真地教誨自己，所謂對(duì)學(xué)生的救贖無法就是對(duì)自己對(duì)救贖。不是否認(rèn)教學(xué)、教育對(duì)學(xué)生的影響，而是需要強(qiáng)調(diào)這種教育的“相對(duì)性”。當(dāng)這種“教育”與“被教育”完美融合，那么：It's history. It's poetry.
2017.06.04晚起草
2017.06.05晚修改
