綻放中的《蓮花》

安妮寶貝的長篇小說《蓮花》，首印量50萬冊，天價稿費200萬元，曾經被媒體報道得沸沸揚揚。

我特意去書店跑了一趟?！段幕涣鳌芬晃毁Y深編輯向我推介《蓮花》，并告訴我作者安妮寶貝是你們寧波人。

這樣，一本《蓮花》就擺在我的面前了：裝幀是如此的素潔，淺白的封面上僅僅蓮花兩字。

翻開閱讀，簡單的故事結構中蘊含著人生之旅的探索，這是一本內涵深刻的書。與作品熱銷相映襯的是安妮的低調。她隱匿，很少接受媒體采訪。如今《蓮花》盛開，卻仍然難覓安妮的影蹤和聲音。

我采訪她，是故鄉之情的牽連。安妮是真誠的，在伊妹兒中，我們彼此進行了一場有關創作和人生的對話。

故鄉是精神源泉的內核

丹虹：因為同鄉，對你的故鄉情懷特別關注。你是寧波哪里人？描述一下老家的居所環境。對于長期漂泊在外的人來說，你是如何理解故鄉意義的？

安妮：在寧波海邊一個村莊出生，父親曾經下放在那里教書，我出生之后就被抱回城里了。童年有一段時間在那里度過。所有的鄉村特征都是一樣的，有田野高山溪澗藍天白云，離自然很近。故鄉是一個人精神源泉的內核，也是始終回不去的地方。

丹虹：說說記憶中的童年往事或感覺，快樂的、抑郁或痛苦的。這些事，這些感覺，對你心靈成長及以后人生帶來過什么影響？

安妮：童年很自在，爬山、下溪澗摸螃蟹抓魚、田野里撒歡……它們使人對自然界的一切都很親近很敏感，心里充滿對天地的熱愛。

丹虹：什么時候離開老家的？到外地讀書或其他原因？

安妮：辭職后就離開了故鄉，在一些城市之間流動，做過廣告、出版、IT、雜志報紙等各種工作，在上海和北京居住的時間比較長。我覺得自己天性里就是一個要走天涯的人，走南闖北過動蕩的生活。這是天性，不能在一個安逸的城市里獲得滿足。

丹虹：在你的一些作品中，不知不覺會散落點點滴滴江南小城溫澤的光亮。?；丶铱纯磫?？回家的日子里做些什么？想些什么？

安妮：不?；丶?，基本上一年一兩次，每次只逗留三五天?；丶揖褪呛图胰嗽谝黄?，什么也不想，什么也不做?；氐郊亦l有時候覺得悶，但心里安寧。

創作是無心插柳水到渠成

丹虹：什么時候起步創作？最初促發的動因是什么？有沒有產生過挫折感？你平時的寫作狀態包括寫作作息時間及心境如何？

安妮：從1998年開始寫作，只是為興趣而寫。一開始作品發在互聯網上，很快擁有大量讀者群。2000年第一本書出版之后離開網絡，沒在上面發表任何作品，也離開網絡的一切是非喧囂。我向來不贊同文學分網絡或非網絡，它只分好的作品與不好的作品，但媒體一直在往我身上貼各種標簽，其實與我毫無關聯。我只想做一個單純的寫作者，嚴肅、獨立的寫作者，與任何流派圈子或分類都沒有關系。也不想做評論學者和出版市場手里的工具，被他們任意誤解。至于創作，一切都是無心插柳水到渠成的狀態，第一本書開始就一直上暢銷排行榜，所以就自然而然地走下來了。如果一件事情里有太多挫折，也許是與自己的愿望相背的，就不會堅持做無用的事情。我的寫作沒有太多挫折，是它選擇了我，不是我選擇了它，所以我對它充滿感恩和尊重?，F在基本上一兩年出一本書，散文和小說間斷地出版，自己參與封面裝幀編輯等其他工作，也做一些歌詞劇本創作、民間采訪等外延工作。我對寫作的心態平和，節奏比較穩定，所以能有條不紊地進展。

丹虹：你一直寫男女情愛或情感，陰郁、掙扎、痛楚，作品充滿蒼涼的美感，引起了許多讀者情緒的共鳴。你讓人入迷并進而使人內省，從觀照中得到某種啟發。真切的情感體驗、深刻的人性洞察，只有經歷過滄桑才能如此透徹，你認為是這樣嗎？

安妮：我的書不是言情，不是簡單的感情故事，也并不只寫男女情愛。書的探索范圍很廣，包括人性范圍里的一切情感和精神內核，有沖突、矛盾、掙扎、自私、光明、黑暗、占有等種種形式和表達，如果用言情的角度去讀，會忽略掉作品更深刻的內涵。作品與作者自身的精神修行路程是同行并進的。所以作者自己的人生和創作的過程都是緊密聯系的，不能脫離。

丹虹：《蓮花》推出后，下步有什么新的創作計劃？你的一些作品具有畫面感，是否有考慮改編成影視作品的打算？你在國內出版界已樹立了金字招牌，國外市場如何？

安妮：我在寫新書，2007年會有新書出版，里面有文字有自己拍的攝影作品，然后會準備下一個長篇小說。小說有的賣給王家衛的影視公司，他們續了兩次約，拖了五年了還沒找到合適的方式拍出來，可見我的作品也不是太容易改成電影，因為作品里負載的精神信息超過情節架構。目前日本、美國、英國、臺灣等地都在來信聯絡和籌備作品的出版，有些地區明年就會有正式的單行本出版。

《蓮花》可算是一本同時具備形式和內核的小說

丹虹：你一向低調，而媒體在推介這本書時評價很高，認為與你以往作品相比，《蓮花》遠遠超越，有人把它提到哲學的高度，也有人說《蓮花》僅僅披上件玄色的外衣，所以很想聽聽你自己對《蓮花》的評介。

安妮：《蓮花》就我自己而言，是目前寫作里最為成熟的一本，因為書一本一本持續出版，讀者能感覺到作者在自己的精神道路上漸行漸遠，而這種變化也是一個創作者應該具備的對自己的要求，因為這就是修行的過程。覺得它尚可算是一本同時具備形式和內核的小說，重要的是它有孤立的氣息，沒有同類。有太多小說充滿野心和矯飾，不好讀，也不真誠，它們是成堆出現的，《蓮花》與任何一本這樣的小說不同。

丹虹：很欽佩你嚴肅的創作態度。去墨脫的路途隨時會有不測，一部《蓮花》是一次生命的冒險，你是在旅途過程中產生創作《蓮花》的靈感，還是有了《蓮花》的意象才前往西藏去親歷體驗？

安妮：去墨脫，只是因為想去那里看看。很多年前在地理雜志里看到關于它的介紹，就想去看看，不管多難總抵達那里。這是一個旅行計劃，與寫作沒關系，但去了之后我覺得值得為它寫一本小說。

丹虹：讀《蓮花》的過程中，讀者不知不覺會產生錯覺，即把作者和女主人公攪在一起，你即是她。所以我看《蓮花》時就曾揣測這是作者的自傳。如果故事里有自己的影子，寫到深處似乎很難抽離吧？

安妮：書中人物與作者之間的關系，會有精神上彼此映照和交融的地方，但不會是純粹的自傳性關聯。虛構小說需要藝術化處理，情節為主題而設定。

丹虹：面對《蓮花》的暢銷，你有何感觸？

安妮：一本書被出版和出現在書店之后，它就基本上和作者脫離了關系，只留待讀者去閱讀和觀照，以此獲得再一次的生命。寫完《蓮花》，我覺得走完了一段路，稍做休息就要尋找新的出發地，獲得新的路徑。

希望趨向更為成熟潔凈

丹虹：你作品中的人物常常是漂泊的，在虛無之境的邊緣徘徊，有著一種宿命感。故事中的愛情是激烈的，而激烈過后卻是幻滅。你對愛情抱有希望嗎？

安妮：我相信感情的光明、溫暖、開放、解脫，相信這樣的感情需經歷過痛楚、黑暗、虛無、行動才能獲得。其實這里面并沒有迷惘，有的只是行動者和不行動者之間的區別。在行動的人總是要與危險同行的，但他們很有力量。

丹虹：您生活中還有哪些愛好？旅游比較喜歡哪種地域風情？

安妮：愛好非常多，種花、養貓、逛古董市場、聽昆曲、收集老家具和舊物、聽音樂、看電影，包括宗教哲學、天文、地理、植物學、考古等各種學科……什么都想研究一下。旅行比較隨性，但喜歡有歷史感的比較古老孤僻的地方。

丹虹：網上看到你的照片，外形與氣質俱佳，神情獨特。感覺你是唯美的。你筆下的人物總是按你特定的審美來塑造他們的形象，女主人公總是穿白色棉布裙，縷絲花衣，手腕上戴銀鐲子等，您為何如此執意地固守一格？

安妮：我喜歡自然清淡個性獨立的人，男人也好，女人也好，總覺得人該具備某些與眾不同的特質，覺得這樣的女孩子是美的，就愿意這樣子去寫她。一個寫作者在他的文字里保留一點個人偏好和審美感覺，應該是合理的。

丹虹：您現在獨身？作為你的家鄉人希望你有個好歸宿，當你長途旅行回來家里有一盞燈，為你暖暖地亮著；還希望你有孩子，使你對生命有一份新的寄托。

安妮：對生活的心態一直在調整中，希望能隨著年齡增長趨向更為成熟潔凈。對一切采取順其自然，然后感恩和惜福。希望以后能有孩子，我喜歡孩子。

Anne Babe and Her Latest Novel Lotus

In China’s current literary landscape， Anne Babe is a mysterious yet sensational writer: she was paid a staggering royalty of 2 million yuan for her novel Lotus and 500，000 copies were printed for its first edition. I bought a copy of Lotus， not because it was on a national list of top bestsellers， but because a senior editor of the Cultural Dialogue recommended it to me. He remarked that he liked the novel very much and that the author was from my hometown Ningbo.

I was intrigued. Anne Babe enjoys a high-profile national reputation， but keeps an extreme low profile. Her penname is a popular among novel readers， but few know her real name.

I interviewed her through emails and we talked about life and writing. The following are excerpts from the interview.

Anne Babe was born in a seaside village near Ningbo where her father was transferred to work as a teacher. She was taken back to Ningbo shortly after she was born. But some of her childhood years were spent in the village where she hiked in hills， caught crabs and fish in streams， and roamed farming fields.

Anne Babe left Ningbo after she resigned from her job. She travels from city to city， working as a copy editor for advertising， publishing， IT， news media， and magazines. Relatively， she has stayed a long while in both Beijing and Shanghai. She feels that she is born to wander all over the world， leading a free life. She believes this is her nature. She can never be contented with a comfortable life in a city. She comes home once or twice a year for a short stay of three to five days. She enjoys staying with her family members， doing nothing and thinking of nothing. Though family life may feel a bit dull， she feels composed at home.

Anne Babe started writing for public in 1998， just for fun. Her first few literary works were published online， attracting a large audience. She then abstained from using the online media for publishing her books after her first book was printed in 2000. She stays away from rights and wrongs of the Internet netizen communities. She never likes classifying literary works into online literature and offline literature. There are only good works and bad works. The media keeps identifying her with various labels， but in her eyes， these labels have nothing to do with her. She is a serious and independent writer with pure dedication to writing but without any strings attached to any literary groups or circles. And she has no intention to be utilized by some literary critics and publishing houses as a tool for commercial purposes. She has achieved success without effort. Things just come out naturally. Since her first book reached the bestsellers list， she has got no worries about her next book. She feels no frustration with her writing. It is the books that choose her， not the other way around. For this reason， she respects her books. Nowadays， she writes a book one or two years， either a novel or a collection of essays. She takes part in layout designs for her books. She also creates some lyrics or plays and does some interviews.

Lotus is the most mature novel she has written so far. Her readers can feel that she has journeyed spiritually farther and farther from one book to another. This change is what a writer requires herself to be qualified for， because it is the only way a writer cultivates herself. Lotus， in her eyes， stands out in terms of both form and content. Meanwhile， a great number of books on the market are full of ambition and pretension and they are dishonest and are difficult to read. Lotus is different from all these books.

Triggered off by a story she had read years before in a geographic magazine， she traveled to Medog， Tibet merely for satisfying her curiosity. She wanted to see it with her own eyes， no matter how difficult the travel would be. It was only a travel plan at that time. But after the visit， she thought it was worth a novel.

The author and the heroine of the book might have something in common， but it is by no means autobiographical. The fiction has artistic touches and plots were created to serve the central idea. Once Lotus， a bestseller， appears in bookstores， it no longer has anything to do with the author， she believes. Let the readers read and understand it so that it will acquire a new life. With Lotus written， Anne Babe feels that she has covered part of her life journey. After a break， she will seek a new path to a new destination.

In answering a question about whether she has faith in love， she says she is sure that love shines， warms， liberates and extricates and that such a love can only be obtained through pain and actions. There is no confusion in love， but there exists a difference between action and no action. Those who do things will run into risk but they have strength.

Her hobbies? They are various. She loves raising flowers， keeping pet cats， roaming antique shops， enjoying Kunqu Opera， collecting old furniture and other antiques， listening to music， watching films， reading books concerning religion， philosophy， astronomy， geography， botany， archaeology， etc. She has a wide range of interests. She is not particular about her tour destinations， but she prefers a place full of history， a place that is ancient and far away from anywhere.

She is writing a book now and a book will come out in 2007， which will have photos she takes. And then she will write another novel. She has sold the film rights of a book to a film company， and the contract has been renewed twice， but so far they haven't found a way to film the book. She feels that it might testify to the conclusion that her books might be difficult for filmmakers， for there are more spiritual contents than plots. She has kept in touch with overseas publishers and some separate editions will come out in some regions next year.

(Translated by David)