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美国国家公共电台 NPR In 'Imaginary Friend,' Stephen Chbosky Squeezes Horror From Everyday Life

时间:2019-10-08 08:55来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Christopher and his mother Kate are on the run from her abusive mate. They find shelter in Mill Grove1, a small town in Pennsylvania, where Kate finds a job, and 7-year-old Christopher begins to hear voices from clouds that lure2 him into the woods, where he hears the voice of another little boy crying. "Imaginary Friend" is the title of the new novel, a horror story by Stephen Chbosky, who 20 years ago wrote the bestselling coming-of-age novel "The Perks3 of Being a Wallflower" - has also directed films, including "Wonder" and the TV series "Jericho."

Stephen Chbosky joins us now from the studios of NPR West. Thanks so much for being with us.

STEPHEN CHBOSKY: Thank you for having me.

SIMON: Tell us about Christopher. He - truly the kind of little boy who doesn't hurt a caterpillar4.

CHBOSKY: Yeah. You know, it's something I - starting with Charlie with "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," I like to write about innocent kids being put into precarious5 situations. In "Perks," you know, it's high school. And in this one, as you said, it's clouds that may be staring back at him and a woods that may or may not have an evil presence in them.

SIMON: I guess we all look into the sky at the shapes of clouds. What moved you to the voices part?

CHBOSKY: The original idea was - I just thought about when we were all little kids. We all have this experience where you lay on the ground - or roof if you're a city kid - and you look up in the clouds, and you see the shapes. You say, oh, looks like a dog, a hammer, a face, whatever. And my what if was, what if a little boy realized that, for the last two weeks, it was always the same face looking at him? That's where it started.

And then I thought of this moment outside of his school, where he's all alone. And the last of the buses pull away. And he looks up. And what was a small face is now almost as big as the sky. And he says to the cloud, hello? Can you hear me? And there's a little thunderclap in the distance that could be a coincidence. So he says, if you can hear me, blink6 your left eye. And the cloud slowly does, un-blinks, and then floats away.

That's what I had. And it was fascinating to me. And I wanted to know where that cloud was going. And I wanted to know why it was going. And I wanted to know what was behind it. And a 10 year journey later, I have all the answers.

SIMON: I love Special Ed.

CHBOSKY: (Laughter) Thank you. Yeah. Eddie that they all call Special Ed, yes.

SIMON: Well, tell us about Christopher's friend.

CHBOSKY: Well, Christopher's friend, you know, he's loosely, loosely based on this boy that I knew as a little, little kid, named Eric Olson, who lived up the street. And Eric, I'll never forget, he drove his father's car when he was, I think, 3 years old across the street and into the neighbor's yard. And he always brought bacon on the bus. I remember that, as well. And I just - I was very fond of Eric. He moved away to Appleton, Wis. And I lost touch with him. But I always loved the - I always loved him. And I always loved the idea of this kind of wild kid. So, you know, with Christopher having an innocent friend - much like Charlie had Patrick, you know, Christopher has a wild friend.

SIMON: And without giving away too much, Christopher disappears into the Mission Street woods.

CHBOSKY: Mmm hmm.

SIMON: He's not the same when he gets out, is he?

CHBOSKY: He's not, no. He comes out. And there is a voice, a presence that he feels. And there's this one moment I'll never forget when, you know, he walks into the woods late at night, where there's this tree. And he sees this white plastic bag on the ground. And he picks it up. And he starts talking to the white plastic bag as if it's somebody real that is his imaginary friend.

And that voice and the ability to feel it and maybe the ability to read better and to know numbers better and to understand maybe what people are feeling - little by little, bit by bit, these powers come to him. And he doesn't know if it's real or if it's imaginary.

SIMON: By the way, when you say a moment I'll never forget, that's a moment you created, right?

CHBOSKY: Yeah, I guess technically7 it is. But I have to say, when you throw yourself into a book - even more than a movie, quite frankly8, because I - you know, I've done both - it becomes very real to you. Even the very notion9 of what is real and what is imaginary changes as you throw yourself into all these pages. You know, these characters on some days were as real to me as anyone I was passing in the street.

SIMON: Why is it that nothing is more frightening to us than what's beneath our beds?

CHBOSKY: I don't know. You know, one thing that was really enjoyable to me writing a imaginary friend was taking all of those, shall we say, tropes of childhood, all these things that we're all familiar with - you're afraid of the closet, you're afraid of what's behind the bathroom door, what's underneath10 the bed. And really something as simple as Saturday morning cartoons and the idea of like, you know, we all had this experience of watching these cartoons. And what if, you know, suddenly he's watching this little TV show that I made up called "Bad Cat." And Bad Cat's doing - you know, he's seen the episode11 a million times. And Bad Cat stops and suddenly looks at the screen and says, oh, hi, Christopher. You enjoying the show? Wow. And as Christopher says, how do you know my name? Oh, you're my No. 1 fan. Of course I know your name, buddy12.

And I love taking all those things, those universal experiences that we've all had and turning them just slightly to make us look at the world in a slightly different way.

SIMON: When you write, do you hear voices?

CHBOSKY: Oh, of course. Yeah, (laughter) 100%. You know, sometimes too much. I remember writing "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." And I had to stop after about halfway13 through the book because I would walk around, and I would talk like Charlie. I couldn't do it anymore. So you have to take a break. And so in this case, even though it - I wrote this book, "Imaginary Friend," over the course of 10 years, I had to take a big break some - you know, to - whether it is to make "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" movie or write "Beauty and the Beast" screenplay or to direct "Wonder," all these things I stopped, partly because I had other professional opportunities, but partly because it got to be a little too close to home.

SIMON: Stephen Chbosky, his novel, after 20 years, "Imaginary Friend." Thanks so much for being with us.

CHBOSKY: Thank you so much. It was a great time.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 grove v5wyy     
n.林子,小树林,园林
参考例句:
  • On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
  • The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。
2 lure l8Gz2     
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引
参考例句:
  • Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
  • He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。
3 perks 6e5f1a81b34c045ce1dd0ea94a32e614     
额外津贴,附带福利,外快( perk的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Perks offered by the firm include a car and free health insurance. 公司给予的额外待遇包括一辆汽车和免费健康保险。
  • Are there any perks that go with your job? 你的工作有什么津贴吗?
4 caterpillar ir5zf     
n.毛虫,蝴蝶的幼虫
参考例句:
  • A butterfly is produced by metamorphosis from a caterpillar.蝴蝶是由毛虫脱胎变成的。
  • A caterpillar must pass through the cocoon stage to become a butterfly.毛毛虫必须经过茧的阶段才能变成蝴蝶。
5 precarious Lu5yV     
adj.不安定的,靠不住的;根据不足的
参考例句:
  • Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
  • He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家,他过得是朝不保夕的生活。
6 blink CW4ze     
vi.眨眼睛,闪烁;vt.眨(眼睛),使闪烁
参考例句:
  • In a blink of an eye he had disappeared.一眨眼的工夫他就没影了。
  • The boy disappeared around the corner in a blink of an eye.一眨眼,这男孩就在拐角处不见了。
7 technically wqYwV     
adv.专门地,技术上地
参考例句:
  • Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说,这是最先进的设备。
  • The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说,西红柿是一种水果,尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。
8 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
9 notion O5Zz9     
n.概念,意念,看法
参考例句:
  • One common Chinese notion is that the elders ought to be respected.中国人共有的一种观念是长者应受到尊敬。
  • He had a sudden notion to visit all his relatives.他心血来潮,突然想去拜访他所有的亲戚。
10 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
11 episode Titzy     
n.(作品的一段)情节,插曲,系列事件中之一
参考例句:
  • The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
  • This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。
12 buddy 3xGz0E     
n.(美口)密友,伙伴
参考例句:
  • Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气,老兄。有什么麻烦吗?
  • Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了,你这家伙!
13 halfway Xrvzdq     
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途
参考例句:
  • We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路,天就黑了。
  • In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上,最忌讳的是有始无终。
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TAG标签:   NPR  美国国家电台  英语听力
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