爱书人的圣地

Whether to immerse yourself in the settings of your favorite books， to get a better perspective on what made the authors tick1） or to engage with a community of like-minded literature-lovers， you will definitely find something to write home about2） in these six bibliophile3）-friendly cities.

不论是为了让自己融入心爱之书的故事背景中，还是为了更好地理解作者的想法或是与一群志同道合的文学爱好者交流，你都一定能在下面介绍的这六个适合爱书人的城市中找到绝对值得大书特书的东西。

Dublin， Ireland 爱尔兰的都柏林

It's only natural that the capital of the country with the gift of gab4） would produce some of the greatest writers in history. Home to the likes of James Joyce， William Butler Yeats， George Bernard Shaw， and Samuel Beckett， Dublin is a literary Mecca5）. It was named a UNESCO City of Literature in 2010， which is a testament to the fact it has produced more Nobel Prize laureates for Literature than any other city in the world. Today， fans of Joyce and all can get a taste of Dublin literary history by visiting the Dublin Writers Museum， the National Print Museum of Ireland and the famous Abbey Theatre.

如果这个以口才出名的国家的首都没有诞生过几个留名青史的伟大作家，那才是桩怪事。作为像詹姆斯・乔伊斯、威廉・巴勒特・叶芝、乔治・萧伯纳和塞缪尔・贝克特这样的大文豪的故乡，都柏林可以说是文学界的麦加圣地。2010年，都柏林被评选为“联合国教科文组织文学之城”，这也证明了一个事实：这里诞生的诺贝尔文学奖得主比世界上其他任何一个城市都多。现在，乔伊斯和其他爱尔兰作家的书迷们可以去探访都柏林作家博物馆、爱尔兰国家印刷博物馆以及著名的艾比剧院，亲身感受都柏林的文学底蕴。

Paris， France 法国的巴黎

Few cities in the world have inspired as many bons mots6） as the City of Lights. Who's to say what inspires the literary air in France's capital， but it's certainly true that it's difficult to admire its beauty without getting a little florid7）. And this is perhaps what inspired so many expat8） writers like Henry Miller and Gertrude Stein to leave their home countries to lift their pens at Paris' cafes. Of course， Paris' homegrown talent is legendary as well. Tributes to Honoré de Balzac， Cyrano de Bergerac， Voltaire， and Jules Verne， among many other giants of French literature， can be found throughout the city in the form of boulevards， memorials， and cafes.

世界上没有几个城市能像这座“不夜城”一般催生如此多的佳作。没人知道是什么孕育了法国首都的文学氛围，但有一点千真万确：不用一点华丽的辞藻很难称赞这座城市之美。可能正是这一点吸引了许多像亨利・米勒和格特鲁德・斯泰因这样的外国作家离开祖国，选择坐在巴黎的咖啡馆执笔写作。当然，巴黎也有大名鼎鼎的本土作家。这里到处都能看到以奥诺雷・德・巴尔扎克、西拉诺・德・贝尔热拉克、伏尔泰、儒勒・凡尔纳以及许多其他法国文坛巨匠的名字命名的林荫大道、纪念碑和咖啡馆，以示敬仰。

Montreal， Canada

加拿大的蒙特利尔

Mordecai Richler's9） vivid portrait of Montreal in the 1940s， The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz， is actually the literary guide to the city. Though much has changed in the 55 years since its publication， there is no question the book still evokes Montreal's distinct electric10） atmosphere. But Richler was not the only one to be fueled by Montreal's reserves of inspiration. Yann Martel's best-selling Life of Pi was finished here. Contemporary novelist Heather O'Neill's Lullabies for Little Criminals casts a light on Montreal's grittier11）， darker corners. Leonard Cohen authored Beautiful Losers in Montreal （and then became a world-famous musician）. In fact， he's still known to hang around Parc du Portugal on Boulevard12） St. Laurent.

莫德凯・里奇勒的《达迪・克拉维茨的学徒》一书生动地描绘了20世纪40年代的蒙特利尔，该书实际上是蒙特利尔的文学指南。虽然蒙特利尔在该书出版以来的55年里发生了许多变化，但这本书无疑仍能激起蒙特利尔独特的热烈兴奋的氛围。不过，里奇勒不是唯一一个被蒙特利尔激发灵感的人。扬・马特尔最畅销的作品《少年派的奇幻漂流》就是在这里完成的。当代小说家海瑟・奥奈尔的《小坏蛋的摇篮曲》则展现了蒙特利尔那些更现实、更阴暗的角落。莱昂纳德・科恩在这里创作了小说《美丽的失败者》，并在之后成了世界著名的音乐家。实际上，据说科恩还常在圣劳伦大街上的葡萄牙社区公园附近闲逛。

Boston， USA 美国的波士顿

Victorian-era Boston was home to some of the greatest literary minds of the 19th century. Like Paris， the city attracted writers and thinkers from abroad in numbers， but also produced its own legends. The likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne， David Thoreau， and Ralph Waldo Emerson lived and wrote in Boston， while expats like Charles Dickens and Henry James were temporary residents. Boston's walking tours of former writer haunts places you in the author's contemporary Victorian world. Boston has also provided a backdrop13） for countless works， from William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury to modern classics like David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. It's hard to find a single block in Boston without some literary connection.

维多利亚时代的波士顿是19世纪一些文坛骄子的故乡。同巴黎一样，波士顿既吸引了大批国外的作家和思想家，也孕育了许多本土的传奇人物。像纳撒尼尔・霍桑、戴维・梭罗、拉尔夫・瓦尔多・爱默生这些作家都曾在这里生活、创作，查尔斯・狄更斯和亨利・詹姆斯等外籍作家则曾在这里暂住。徒步游览已故作家经常出入的地方会让你感觉仿佛身处他们生活的维多利亚时代。波士顿还为无数文学作品提供了故事背景，从威廉・福克纳的《喧哗与骚动》，到像大卫・福斯特・华莱士的《无尽的玩笑》和玛格丽特・阿特伍德的《女仆的故事》这样的当代经典都是这样。在波士顿很难找出一个与文学毫无渊源的街区。

Edinburgh， Scotland

Edinburgh was UNESCO's first City of Literature and rightfully so， for there is really no other city that is best seen through the pages of a book. Edinburgh's narrative runs the gamut14） from philosophy （David Hume and Adam Smith） to poetry （Robert Burns） to printing （the Encyclopedia Britannica was first printed here）. And next to Robert Burns， its most famous literary natives are Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott， no mere lightweights themselves. Meanwhile， modern novels like Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting and Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus prove that the inkwells15） of Edinburgh's scribes aren't yet empty.

苏格兰的爱丁堡

爱丁堡是联合国教科文组织评选出的首个文学之城，理应如此，因为世界上确实没有哪个城市比爱丁堡更适合通过书页来了解。爱丁堡的成就从哲学（大卫・休谟和亚当・斯密）、诗歌（罗伯特・彭斯）到印刷业（《大英百科全书》最初在这里印刷出版）无所不包。除了罗伯特・彭斯之外，爱丁堡最著名的本土文学家还有罗伯特・路易斯・斯蒂文森和沃尔特・司各特爵士，这两位的成就也毫不逊色。另外，当代小说如欧文・威尔士的《猜火车》和伊恩・兰金的《雷博思探长》系列都证明了爱丁堡的作家们依旧文思如泉涌。

London， England 英国伦敦

London's reputation as a centre of literature needs no lengthy justification. From William Shakespeare to Charles Dickens and Bond to Sherlock Holmes， London has played host to some of the most famous authors and characters in the entire pantheon16） of English literature. Fortunately for the bibliophile， there are innumerable literary touchstones to be explored in this capital city. The British Library in London stocks some 14 million books. Fans of The Bard17） can find a reconstruction of the iconic Globe Theatre， for which Shakespeare wrote the majority of his works. 221B Baker St. is the real-life address of the fictional Holmes and Watson. And when you tire from a landmark tour， grab a pint or a coffee at one of the numerous pubs and cafes where famous names like P. G. Wodehouse， Agatha Christie， and Joseph Rudyard Kipling penned their best-known works.

伦敦作为文学中心的名气无需长篇大论的证明。从威廉・莎士比亚到查尔斯・狄更斯，从邦德到夏洛克・福尔摩斯，伦敦孕育了整个英国文学圣殿里的诸多大文豪和最有名的文学人物。在这座首都城市里，有无数景点可以证明伦敦是文学之都，并供人们探索，这对爱书人来说自然是幸事。位于伦敦的大英图书馆有藏书1400万册。喜欢莎士比亚的读者可以去参观重建后的地标性建筑环球剧场――莎士比亚的大部分作品都是为这座剧院创作的。福尔摩斯和华生虽然是虚构的人物，但他们生活的贝克街221B却是真实存在的。当游览名胜感到疲倦时，你还可以在随处可见的酒吧和咖啡馆中随便挑一家，喝杯啤酒或是来杯咖啡，诸如P. G. 伍德豪斯、阿加莎・克里斯蒂和约瑟夫・鲁德亚德・吉卜林等著名作家当年就是在这些地方创作了他们的代表作。

1. what makes sb. tick： 使某人这样做的原因；使某人做事的动机

2. something to write home about： 值得大书特书之事；非常出色的事

3. bibliophile [?b?bli?fa?l] n. 图书收藏者；书籍爱好者

4. the gift of gab： 口才

5. Mecca [?mek?] n. 麦加（沙特阿拉伯西部城市）；向往的地方；圣地

6. bon mot： 妙语

7. florid [?fl?r?d] adj. 绚丽的；花里胡哨的

8. expat [eks?p?t] adj. 移居国外的；n. 移居国外者

9. Mordecai Richler： 莫德凯・里奇勒（1931～2001），加拿大著名作家、编剧、评论家

10. electric [??lektr?k] adj. 热烈兴奋的

11. gritty [?r?ti] adj. （描述）反映现实的，写实的

12. boulevard [?bu?l?v?d] n. 林荫大道

13. backdrop [?b?kdr?p] n. 背景

14. run the gamut： 囊括……的全部

15. inkwell [???kwel] n. 墨水池

16. pantheon [?p?nθi?n] n. 万神殿

17. The Bard： 全名为The Bard of Avon，埃文河畔的诗人，莎士比亚的别称，因为莎士比亚出生并安息在英国埃文河畔的斯特拉特福。