Q & A with Robert Charles Wilson
羅伯特‧查爾斯‧威爾森訪談記錄
受訪者：羅伯特．查爾斯．威爾森
採訪者：林翰昌 (《時間迴旋》中文版導讀撰寫人 / 英國利物浦大學科幻研究碩士 )、蘇于軒 ( 貓頭鷹出版社行銷企劃 )
翻譯/整理：林翰昌
What gave you the inspiration to create the story of SPIN?
促使您建構《時間迴旋》故事的靈感為何？
That's a hard question to answer! I suppose, in the abstract, I was thinking about the vast expanse of time in which we live our terribly short human lives. More concretely, I wanted to force that awareness on some present-day, recognizable characters.
這個問題很難回答！說得抽像一點，我當時想到的是我們渺小短暫的生命要如何生存在這廣大浩瀚的 時間洪流之中？更具體地說，我想要將這種體認強加在某些生活在現世，眾人一望即知的人物上。
Your stories always well combine the character-oriented literary fiction and high-concept hard SF. But why do you choose to create a non-reality story instead of real-life story? Is there any special reason or certain purpose?
您的故事總是完美地結合了硬科幻的高越概念和以人物角色為重心的文藝書寫。可是您為何選擇創作 一個虛構的故事，而不是直接描寫現實生活？有什麼特殊的緣由或特定的目的麼？
I have always loved science fiction for its broad horizons and its sense of the inevitable strangeness of the future. And since all stories are, in a sense, "non-reality," I see no reason not to fuse character-driven fiction with concept-driven fiction.
我一直都很熱愛科幻，因為它帶給我們寬廣的視野，以及必然存在於未來世界的驚奇感受。何況，既然所有的故事在某方面而言均屬「非現實」，我實在找不出任何理由，不能把人物與概念這兩股故事的主要驅力揉合在一起。
Does Jazz music influence you? It seems that Jazz music is a part of power which can pacify human being’s heart in your story.
您是否受到爵士樂的影響？在您的故事中，爵士樂似乎是一股撫慰人心的力量。
I was listening to a lot of American jazz when I wrote SPIN. There does seem to be a strange kind of link between jazz and science-fiction -- both are genres that were initially seen as contemptibly "low-class" and raised themselves to respectability. Both adopt a sort of angular, outsider's perspective. Both are capable of great emotional depth, and both occasionally stray into dry intellectuality and sterile self-reference.
當我在撰寫《時間迴旋》的時候的確聽了許多美國爵士樂。爵士樂和科幻之間似乎有著某種奇妙的連結──兩者在起初都被視為卑微而「低等」的類型，慢慢才開始提升地位，獲得尊重。兩者都吸納了某種外來者的觀點與角度。它們均能表達深刻的感情，偶爾也會陷入一本正經的理智，以及枯燥乏味的自我指涉。
There seems to be significant issues in your recent novels, and they indeed dramatically change the fates of humanity and the planet. Do you think the world still changes without such big events, though not so rapidly, but in a way more predictable and better-prepared?
在您近期的小說中似乎都描寫了重大的事件，這些事件也確實對人類與地球的命運產生天翻地覆的變 化。就算這些大事並不存在，您是否認為我們的世界仍然會有所改變，只是並不那麼迅速，而且比較可以預期，讓人有所準備？
Change seldom happens as dramatically or drastically as it does in some of my novels -- but change is always inevitable and never entirely predictable. I think that's the single fundamental theme of all serious science fiction. Change happens...and it seldom conforms to our expectations.
世界的變化很少像我部分小說裡所描寫得那麼徹底，那麼戲劇化──可是改變不但無可避免，而且無 法在事先就能完全預知。我認為這是所有認真的科幻小說最為基本的主題。變化的確會發生，但很少會依照我們的期望來發展。
This one is probably sharp. In the chapter "Rumors of Apocalypse Reach the Berkshires," you've written about Jason's explanation for why most people on the rest of the planet, such as Asians, Africans, believe that "Spin" is a U. S. plot. How did Jason get to such an assertion? Was it because of his faith in Science, or his educational background, or you purposely impose a north-American-centric mindset on him?
這個問題大概有點尖銳。在〈Rumors of Apocalypse Reach the Berkshires〉這一章中，您筆下的傑森解釋了為什麼地球上其他地區的民眾，像是亞洲人、非洲人等，會認為 「時間迴旋」是美國的陰謀。傑森為何如此斷言？是因為他對科學的信念，或是他的教育背景，還是您刻意將他的心態設定成以北美為中心？
The scientific interpretation of the SPIN -- in so far as there is one -- is presumably held in common by educated people all over the world. But paranoid, superstitious explanations carry more emotional power than tentative, pragmatic ones. This is as true in the U.S. as anywhere else, as Diane's experience demonstrates. Jason's remark presumes that skepticism about American intentions, and awe of American space hardware and weaponry, would make "it's a U.S. plot" a commonplace folk explanation in the Third World.
「時間迴旋」的科學詮釋──到目前就這麼一種──在故事中預設只要是有識之士，不管身處於世界上的哪個角落，都能秉持這樣的觀點。然而，偏執且迷信的說法，比起務實而穩健的論調，更能激發人類的情感。不管是美國還是其他地方，這一點是不會變的，黛安的經驗恰好就是最佳例證。傑森的評論則推斷：由於對美國的意圖產生懷疑，再加上對美國太空硬體設備與武力的畏懼，使得第三世界的民眾會做出「美國陰謀論」這種老掉牙的解釋。
Your new book Axis, which is the sequel to Spin, is going to be published in July. This is the first sequel book you've written. In your opinion, what is the difference between writing a standalone and a series? Would you mind telling more about the fates of the protagonists in this series?
您的新書《軸》，也是《時間迴旋》的續集，將在今年七月出版。這也是您有史以來的第一部續 作。依您之見，撰寫系列小說和獨立作品，有什麼不一樣的地方？您是否介意多透露一些「時間迴旋」系列主角們所將面臨到的命運？
Published in September, actually. You're right that I've never written a sequel. Moreover, Axis is a middle book in a trilogy. (Spin, Axis, Vortex.) Writing a "midle book" was a struggle for me -- especially since I wanted the three books to feel very different from one another. Very few of the characters from Spin reappear in Axis, though they do have a peripheral role to play.
《軸》實際上要等到九月才會出版。你說的沒錯，我之前從來沒寫過續集小說。此外，《軸》其實是三部曲中的第二部（分別為《時間迴旋》、《軸》和《漩渦》）。撰寫這部「中間作品」費了我好一番工夫──特別是我想要在這三本書中呈現出不同的感覺。只有極少數《時間迴旋》裡角色會在《軸》裡重新登場，儘管他們的確在旁支劇情中佔有一席之地。
Axis is set in the New World beyond the Arch. It delves into the motives and purposes of the Hypotheticals, and why they have created a kind of maze of new planets for humanity to explore. But it's also an intimate book, almost a mystery story -- not quite as wide-scale as Spin in its viewpoint.
《軸》的背景是「大拱門」（the Arch）之外的新世界。它深入細究引發「時間迴旋」的「假想智慧生物」（the Hypotheticals）真正的動機與目的，以及他們為什麼要建構一連串迷津般的新行星，以供人類發現、探索。不過它也是一部很私密的小說，幾乎和推理故事沒什麼兩樣──並不像《時間迴旋》那麼巨觀。
Vortex, the third book, will carry the characters introduced in Axis into the very far future, and make some ultimate revelations about the Hypotheticals and their interaction with mankind.
第三部曲《漩渦》，則會將《軸》裡才登場的人物帶往遙遠的未來，並且揭露「假想智慧生物」以及他們與人類互動的終極謎團。
(Before I publish Vortex, however, I've taken some time away from the Spin books to write an unrelated novel set in 22nd century America, to be called "Julian Comstock," based on the current Hugo-nominated novella "Julian: A Christmas Story.")
（在《漩渦》出版之前，我會暫時離開「時間迴旋」系列，撥出時間撰寫一本暫時定名為《朱利安‧ 康斯多克》（Julian Comstock）的小說，這本書設定在廿二世紀的美國，從入圍 2006 年雨果獎最佳中篇的作品──《朱利安──一則耶誕故事》（2006，由 PS Publishing 出版）擴充改寫而成。
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