Yes, I am aware that the name of the title on the book is Carol. I do not care. I like the original title The Price of Salt and I will be using it. Sue me.
Despite loving Carol the film with everything I am, I never tried getting my hands on The Price of Salt for a read because I listened to the commenters online who found the film more compelling, and Carol has an almost mythical status in my heart. So I didn't really want to read the book, until I saw this quote: (after reading I discovered that this conversation is on page 199)
一直以来都没有去尝试看《盐的代价》主要是因为我看到很多网上的评论说书没有电影好看，而《卡罗尔》这部电影在我心里更是神一样的地位。所以对书我就一直没有很想看，直到我看到这段话：（看完后知道是在第199页）
‘Carol, I love you.’
[…] Then she kissed Therese on the lips, as if they had kissed a thousand times before.
‘Don’t you know I love you?’ Carol said.
If I still didn't want to read the book I would've been heartless.
看完这段还不看书的人一定没有心。
But the truth of the matter is, most people were right. The book isn't as good as the film. The book is told completely from Therese's point of view, so Carol, Abby, and Harge become more figments of her imagination, almost, rather than fully fleshed out characters like in the film. Of course, this also means we get to better understand the quiet girl from the film, so I suppose you win some, you lose some.
其实大家说的对，书的确没有电影好看。书中无论是对卡罗尔还是Abby还是Harge的刻画都没有电影里的全面，因为书是完完全全从Therese的视角写的。当然，这也代表我们更加深入的理解了那个电影里面安安静静的小白兔，所以有失有得。
Many of the scenarios in the book are vastly different from the film, though the story between Carol and Therese end and begin in roughly the same manner. I think the biggest difference probably comes from the road trip. In the book has plenty of time to dwell on this trip, and to the reader, this allows for intimacy on the trip that the film could only spare little time on.
书中的情节和电影里面也很不一样，虽然两个人的故事结局和开始是一样的。最大的区别应该是那个改变了两位人生的自驾游。这一方面书中有更多的时间去呈现两个人的故事，所以对于读者来说会更加亲密。
I also have to mention how well the film captures so many of the book's themes. The theme about not changing oneself or not bowing to society is shown in the book through Carol telling Therese she's given up custody of her daughter for Therese and herself, with the film equivalent of the scene being the one when Carol, her voice broken and gruff, tells Harge that they aren't ugly people. We're always talking about LGBTQ+ Pride, but Pride is more than putting on a rainbow and declaring your queerness. It can also be choosing to quietly be yourself even when the world is against you and spitting on you. I know I shouldn't, but I really have to mention that the film does a magnificent job casting. The book's description of Carol would have had me inserting Cate Blanchett's face regardless of whether or not she played Carol in the film.
这里必须说到一点，就是电影很完整地展现了书中很多主题。比如说不屈服不改变自己，书中的卡罗尔为了可以见到Therese和自己的人生几乎是完全放弃了对于女儿的监护，和电影里哽咽的卡罗尔在律师们面前说的话很像。我们总是嘴上说着LGBTQ+ Pride，但是Pride不仅仅是穿着彩虹上街。Pride也可以是在全世界都与你为敌全世界都在辱骂你的时候默默的继续做自己。顺便感叹一下电影选角真的很厉害，书中对于卡罗尔的描写就算不是凯特·布兰切特演的都会立马带入。
The story doesn't leave your mind, especially when every conversation between Carol and Therese must be pondered, over and over, to truly understand how during that time, to be able to choose the person you love is so hard that one can only rely on guessing and on pregnant silences. I think what Therese says in the book explains what I mean perfectly:
这本书后劲蛮大的，一遍又一遍去看卡罗尔和Therese的对话就会觉得这个时代想要选择自己爱的人艰难到只能靠猜，靠一个个充满秘密的沉默。就如同Therese书中说的一样：
It was so easy for a man and woman to find each other, to find someone who would do, but for her to have found Carol-
To have found each other is perhaps one of the luckiest things either of them have ever experienced.
能找到彼此可能就是两个人人生中最幸运的事情之一了吧。
Happy Friday!!
周五快乐！！
Comments