《哈利波特》作者JK羅琳再出新作《臨時空缺》

JK Rowling's new novel arrives with the high drama and state secrecy of a royal birth. Its due date is announced in February, and in April the disclosure of its title, The Casual Vacancy, makes international news. The release of the cover image in July commands headlines again, and Fleet Street commissions a "design guru" to deconstruct its inscrutable aesthetic, in search of clues as to what might lie within. Waterstones predicts the novel will be "the bestselling fiction title this year". Literary critics begin to publish preliminary reviews, revealing what they think they will think about a book they have not yet even read.

JK羅琳的新小說帶着有如皇室出生般的國家機密以及很高的戲劇性面世。其截稿日期在2月宣佈，並於4月書名曝光。 《臨時空缺》成爲了國際新聞，7月的封面再次把它作爲頭條新聞發佈，艦隊街（英國媒體）委託某“設計權威”去解構其高深莫測的藝術性，挖掘小說哪些地方有可能撒謊的線索。水石（英國連鎖書店）預測該書將成爲“今年最暢銷的虛幻小說”。文學批評家開始發表初步評論，揭示他們將如何看待一本他們甚至還沒讀過的書的看法。

I am required to sign more legal documents than would typically be involved in buying a house before I am allowed to read The Casual Vacancy, under tight security in the London offices of Little, Brown. Even the publishers have been forbidden to read it, and they relinquish the manuscript gingerly, reverently, as though handling a priceless Ming vase. Afterwards, I am instructed never to disclose the address of Rowling's Edinburgh office where the interview will take place.

在我被允許閱讀《臨時空缺》之前，我需要在布朗倫敦辦事處的嚴密安全監控下籤署比買房子牽涉得還要多的法律文件。即便出版商已被禁止閱讀，他們還是小心翼翼、恭恭敬敬地交出手稿，就像捧着一個無價的明代花瓶。後來，我被告知決不能透露採訪進行的地址，即羅琳的愛丁堡工作室。

In the 15 years since she published her first Harry Potter, Rowling has become both universally known and almost unrecognisable. The scruffy redhead who used to write in the cafes of Leith has slowly transformed into a glossy couture blonde, unknowable behind an impregnable sheen of wealth and control. Once a penniless single mother, she became the first person on earth to make $1bn by writing books, but her rare public appearances suggested a faint ice maiden quality.

自她出版了第一部《哈利波特》以來的15年，羅琳既是舉世聞名的又幾乎是無法辨認的。那個經常在利斯咖啡屋寫作的紅髮散亂的女子，已經慢慢轉變爲一個穿着高級訂製服的光彩照人的金髮女郎，在堅不可摧的財富和控制力背後無法辨認。儘管一個身無分文的單身母親成爲了第一個通過寫作掙得10億美元的人，但她罕見的公開露面暗示了她淡淡的冰美人氣質。

Rowling is completely relaxed about this arrangement. Warm and animated, quick to laugh, she chatters so freely that her publicist gets jumpy and tells her to lower her voice. "Am I speaking too loud?" She doesn't look a bit concerned. "Well, I can't get passionate and whisper!" When I tell her I loved the book, her arms shoot up in celebration. "Oh my God! I'm so happy! That's so amazing to hear. Thank you so much! You've made me incredibly happy. Oh my God!" Anyone listening would take her for a debut author, meeting her first ever fan.

羅琳對這樣的安排完全放鬆。她溫暖且充滿活力，很快地笑，隨心所欲地談話，以至於她的公關變得緊張兮兮，告訴她要降低音調。“我說話太大聲嗎？”她看上去一點都不困擾。“嗯，我不能得到熱情和呢喃！”當我告訴她我喜歡這本書，她拍手慶祝。 “噢，天哪，我太高興了！聽到這太棒了。太感謝你了，你讓我高興極了。噢，天哪！”任何人聽到這些話都會把她當做一個第一次出版書籍的作者在會見她的第一個粉絲。

In a way, that's what she is. Rowling has written seven Harry Potter books, and sold more than 450m copies, but her first novel for adults is unlike them in every respect. "Obviously I need to be in some form of vehicle to have a decent idea," she laughs. Having dreamed up Potter on a train, "This time I was on a plane. And I thought: local election! And I just knew. I had that totally physical response you get to an idea that you know will work. It's a rush of adrenaline, it's chemical. I had it with Harry Potter and I had it with this. So that's how I know."

某種程度上，這就是她。羅琳寫了七部《哈利•波特》系列叢書，售出四億五千多冊，但她的第一部成人小說在任何方面都不像 《哈利波特》系列。“很顯然，我需要某種形式的載體以獲得一個不錯的想法，”她笑着說。曾經夢見波特在火車上，“這次我是在飛機上。於是我想到：地方選舉！我只知道，對於某個你知道會奏效的想法我是完全身體上的反應。這是腎上腺素的一次應激，它是化學反應，我曾與《哈利•波特》有過化學反應，我與這本書也有。所以這就是我所知道的。”