Dogs and Monsters

《深夜小狗神祕習題》作者最新短篇集——8 則結合希臘神話與當代寓言的故事，直視死亡、道德與愛，在命運的縫隙中，照見人性的溫柔與殘酷。

出自《深夜小狗神祕習題》與《海豚》作者——被《倫敦時報》譽為「才華令人不寒而慄」的 Mark Haddon，本書收錄八篇令人目眩神迷、充滿同理心的故事，以希臘神話與現代反烏托邦想像為素材，探討凡人的有限生命、道德選擇，以及愛如何在不同形式中變形與延展。

希臘神話數千年來始終吸引人們，在其中看見關於命運、狂妄（hubris）與存在偶然性的啟示。Mark Haddon 直探這些古老寓言的核心，並以全新的視角重新詮釋它們。黎明女神厄俄斯（Eos）請求宙斯賜予她的戀人提托諾斯（Tithonus）永生，卻忘了要求永保青春。在〈世界的靜默邊界〉中，Haddon 想像提托諾斯歷經數千年逐漸衰老的人生，將「挑戰諸神的懲戒寓言」轉化為一場引人入勝的沉思——關於站在死亡之外觀看死亡，以及肉身之愛如何隨時間轉化為更深沉、更動人的情感。

在〈母親的故事〉裡，Haddon 重新詮釋牛頭怪的神話：迷宮中的怪物，源自國王之妻帕西淮（Pasiphae）被視為畸形的慾望。Haddon 將這則故事轉化為一則令人心碎的寓言，書寫一位母親對受傷孩子的愛，並揭露父權結構中更為真實、殘酷的怪物。

其他故事則挪用當代的「神話母題」——基因工程、逃避未來的企圖、青少年排擠的殘忍性——展現現代人同樣受制於無常與命運擺布，正如古希臘人所深深著迷的那些力量。

全書文字柔韌而精準，充分展現 Haddon 驚人的觀察力，無論是對物質世界的細微變化，或對人類心理運作的洞察。他的視野清醒而銳利，卻始終保有堅定而溫柔的同理心。

From the “terrifyingly talented” (London Times) author of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG-IN THE NIGHT-TIME and THE PORPOISE, eight mesmerizingly imaginative, deeply-humane stories that use Greek myths and contemporary dystopian narratives to examine mortality, moral choices and the many variants of love.

Greek myths have fascinated people for millenia, seeing in them lessons about fate and hubris and the contingency of existence.  Mark Haddon digs into the heart of these ancient fables and sees them anew.  The dawn goddess Eos asked asks Zeus to give her lover Tithonus eternal life, but forgets to ask for eternal youth.  In “The Quiet Limit of the World” Haddon imagines Tithonus’ life as he slowly ages over thousands of years, turning the cautionary tale of tempting the gods into a spellbinding meditation on witnessing death from the outside, and ultimately, how carnal love evolves into something richer and more poignant with time.  In “The Mother’s Story,” Haddon takes the myth of the minotaur in his labyrinth, in which the beast is the spawn of the monstrous lust of the king’s wife Pasiphae, and turns it into a wrenching parable of maternal love for a damaged child, and the more real monstrosities of patriarchy.  

Other stories play with contemporary mythic tropes – genetic engineering, trying to escape the future, the viciousness of adolescent ostracism – to showcase how modern humans are subject to the same capriciousness that obsessed the Greeks. Throughout Haddon’s supple prose showcases his astonishing powers of observation, of both the physical world and the workings of the psyche.  His vision is clear-eyed, but always resolutely empathetic.