上一篇文章除了简介《奇风岁月》，也举出它一些生动的叙述手法，希望读者在欣赏之余，对中英文的写作能有一些新的想法。
妙喻
在这篇的一开始，我想谈谈对我而言意想不到的比喻方式，例如如何形容幽深与黑暗。比如形容湖水的深，作者说，就像人类的罪恶那么深。
“Everybody knew Saxon’s Lake was as deep as sin, and when that car went down into that inky depths it was gone for good and ever.”
形容黑暗：在不见天日的监狱，不只犯人戴上手铐脚镣，连光线也身陷囹圄──”The last I heard of her, she was going to a prison where even the light lay chained.”
而牧师Reverend Lovoy被黄蜂攻击后，手指肿胀的程度以香肠来打比方──”...his fingers swollen like link sausages…”我的脑海里马上看见猪肉摊上那一节一节的生香肠，文字的画面感很强。
中文、英文一家亲
有些英文的写法，会让人很自然地联想起中文的表达。例如，柯力的父亲汤姆从湖里爬出来后，柯力立即「如影随形」地跟着他。
“I jump-started my own legs and followed him as close as a shadow…”
再看看书里是如何形容河里的怪物Old Moses发出的声音。相信你我在听到鼓声或极为低沉的声音时，都曾有过骨头震动的感觉。苏轼在〈惠崇春江晚景〉诗中写下「春江水暖鸭先知」，似有异曲同工之妙。
“It was a low rumble, like the deepest bass note from a church’s pipe organ, so deep your bones hear it before your ears do.”
强化临场感的利器
作者在形容词与比喻手法的使用上，不忘与情境相互呼应。这点在写作上如能娴熟运用，说服力与临场感必定大增。有几段写镇民庆祝复活节群聚教堂，遭黄蜂攻击的场景，其中的字眼如devils, thorny crowns的宗教意味跟发生地点—教堂，就是很「速配」。
“…people…were jumping up and fighting the air as if grappling the devils of the invisible dimension.”
“The air was full of dark, swirling currents that flew into people’s faces and wound around their heads like thorny crowns.”
八月底学校快要开学时，夏天将尽，渐渐地可以看到秋的颜色。简单的一句话，让读者看到色彩，也一语双关。
“Schooldays, golden rule days; those lay ahead, on the gilded rim of autumn.”
当柯力喜欢的女孩子Chile说话时，在情窦初开的男孩眼里看出去，字字句句皆”from her cupid’s- bow mouth”，足见作者在细节描绘上的用心。
戏剧性的对比呈现
情节与人物设计巧妙是这本书好看的主因之一，其中对比的呈现就增添不少戏剧性。刚才谈到教堂里的黄蜂攻击，这群镇民前后的差异有多大呢？
“All at once everybody was up, and what had been a peaceful congregation barely ten seconds before was now a stampede of terror-struck cattle.”
“Coming into church, the Easter crowd had been the model of polite Christian civilization; going out, they were barbarians to the core.“
而柯力的两位爷爷、奶奶，俩俩坐在一起时，一对看起来那么「麻吉」，另一对则是格格不入。
两位可人的奶奶：
”…they got along like daisies in the same bouquet…”
两位颇有自己脾气的爷爷：
”…the two got along like mud and biscuits…”
如见其人的描写技巧
这本书里我印象最深的人物有两位：裸男Vernon与甚么破烂家电都会修理的慢动作老先生Mr. Lightfoot，作者幽默地说Vernon：
“…wearing only the last shade of his summer tan…”
“…naked as the day he escaped the womb…”
而Mr. Lightfoot动作慢到甚么程度呢？
“Marcus Lightftoot…might work at the pace of grass growing.”
“All this had been done at an underwater pace.”
以正常、不结巴的速度讲话时，Mr. Lightfoot是这样说话的：
This is how he spoke, in a voice like a slow leak from a clogged pipe:
“Good…afternoon…to…you,… too,…Miz…Mackenson. …Hey…there, … Cory.”
作者偏偏让他姓Lightfoot，可见创作者的淘气啊。我们来看一看他拜访柯力家时，与柯力以及他母亲之间的互动。
“Mighty fine.” He stopped, looking up at the blue sky. The seconds ticked past. Rebel barked, and I put my hand over his muzzle.
“Day,” Mr. Lightfoot decided.
“Sometimes,” Mr. Lightfoot said.
We waited. I think I could hear my hair growing.
“Just the.”
The world turned beneath us.
“Little things.”
509页以后，有一段Mr. Lightfoot拆炸弹的插曲，事态紧急与缓慢无比、就是快不起来之间的强烈拉锯看得简直令人坐不住，也忍俊不住。这段读者真的要自己看了，以免被剥夺捧腹大笑的权利。
美食无法代吃，好书无法代读
记得古早以前，大一英文课要求我们看一、两本小说，列为考试范围。班上同学，尤其是男生，看到这堆密密麻麻的英文马上投降，结果变成大家考前约一约，一起到图书馆前的阶梯听我讲故事，讲小说里的情节。现在想一想，他们真的损失很大啊，要知道剧情，二手数据多的是，但真正的趣味在阅读、在亲炙文字的本身，就像美食无法代吃一样。
Boy’s Life 里有好多章节的结尾很有味道，余韵绕梁，但如果光看我片段的举例，读者是感受不到的，因为需要前文的铺陈，需要你先进到情境里，才能体会其中的滋味。就像旅行，直接把你空投送到目的地，与旅途上遇见形形色色的人、经历大大小小、出乎意料之外的点缀与惊奇，哪一种来得更趣味盎然呢？
今天这篇与上一篇，我们直接从文字的运用上体验这本小说的美感。下一篇赏析，将着重在书里议题的探讨，我们下次见！
