Such Small Hands

　　「每隔一段時間，就會出現一部小說，它並非紀錄真實，而是創造出了全新的真實，精準捕捉了人類最深沉黑暗的情感。卡夫卡做到了。布魯諾‧舒茲做到了。現在，西班牙作家Andrés Barba以令人戰慄的《Such Small Hands》做到了。」──艾德蒙‧懷特(Edmund White)

　　當Marina出現的那一天，這所專門收容女孩的孤兒院裡，原本平靜的一切都改變了。

　　父母雙雙在車禍中喪生，當時人在後座的Marina活了下來，被送至孤兒院，她發現那裡就像外星世界一樣神秘、令人生畏。但她及時將這個小宇宙重新塑造為自己的王國。她起初被排擠，之後因為殺死了一隻毛毛蟲而贏得其他女孩的尊敬，Marina意識到了「權力」的存在，發覺自己能夠操控他人。不久之後，她發明了一個每晚進行的遊戲：每天晚上，由女孩們的其中一個人扮演洋娃娃。Marina會為她化妝，接著大家就會一起和「洋娃娃」玩。Marina告訴女孩們：「『她』會是一個好洋娃娃，我們會對她很好。」那個遊戲黑暗、情色而暴力。

　　Andrés Barba透過令人入迷的、如歌的文字，寫出失去的哀傷，及對於歸屬和認同感的渴望及追尋。小說的視角流暢地在Marina和孤兒院的其他女孩們身上轉換，描繪出前青春期女孩們充滿陰謀的謎樣世界，他筆下對詭譎晦暗的情感的敘述令人讚嘆，同時也讓人震驚不安。他的文字簡潔而富含詩意，整部作品僅有112頁，但這個故事的份量和帶來的衝擊遠遠不只如此。

　　請做好心理準備，一旦翻開書頁，這個故事絕對會停留在你的腦海裡好一陣子。(文/博客來編譯)

　　Her father died instantly, her mother in the hospital. She has learned to say this flatly and without emotion, the way she says her name (Marina), her doll's name (also Marina) and her age (seven). Her parents were killed in a car crash and now she lives in the orphanage with the other little girls. But Marina is not like the other little girls.In the curious, hyperreal, feverishly serious world of childhood, Marina and the girls play games of desire and warfare. The daily rituals of playtime, lunchtime and bedtime are charged with a horror; horror is licked by the dark flames of love. When Marina introduces the girls to Marina the Doll, she sets in motion a chain of events from which there can be no release.With shades of Daphne du Maurier, Shirley Jackson, Guillermo Del Toro and Mariana Enriquez, Such Small Hands is a beautifully controlled tour-de-force, a bedtime story to keep readers awake.

作者簡介

　　ANDRES BARBA is the author of twelve novels. He has worked as a teacher of Spanish to foreigners at Complutense University in Madrid and now gives writing workshops. He was selected as one of Granta's Best of Young Spanish Novelists. His writing has been translated into eight languages. LISA DILLMAN is a senior lecturer at Emory College. In 2016 she won the Best Translated Book Award for Signs Preceding the End of the World.