《哈利波特》作者JK罗琳再出新作《临时空缺》大纲

JK Rowling's new novel arrives with the high drama and state secrecy of a royal birth. Its due date is announced in February, and in April the disclosure of its title, The Casual Vacancy, makes international news. The release of the cover image in July commands headlines again, and Fleet Street commissions a "design guru" to deconstruct its inscrutable aesthetic, in search of clues as to what might lie within. Waterstones predicts the novel will be "the bestselling fiction title this year". Literary critics begin to publish preliminary reviews, revealing what they think they will think about a book they have not yet even read.
JK罗琳的新小说带着有如皇室出生般的国家机密以及很高的戏剧性面世。其截稿日期在2月宣布，并于4月书名曝光。 《临时空缺》成为了国际新闻，7月的封面再次把它作为头条新闻发布，舰队街（英国媒体）委托某“设计权威”去解构其高深莫测的艺术性，挖掘小说哪些地方有可能撒谎的线索。水石（英国连锁书店）预测该书将成为“今年最畅销的虚幻小说”。文学批评家开始发表初步评论，揭示他们将如何看待一本他们甚至还没读过的书的看法。

I am required to sign more legal documents than would typically be involved in buying a house before I am allowed to read The Casual Vacancy, under tight security in the London offices of Little, Brown. Even the publishers have been forbidden to read it, and they relinquish the manuscript gingerly, reverently, as though handling a priceless Ming vase. Afterwards, I am instructed never to disclose the address of Rowling's Edinburgh office where the interview will take place.
在我被允许阅读《临时空缺》之前，我需要在布朗伦敦办事处的严密安全监控下签署比买房子牵涉得还要多的法律文件。即便出版商已被禁止阅读，他们还是小心翼翼、恭恭敬敬地交出手稿，就像捧着一个无价的明代花瓶。后来，我被告知决不能透露采访进行的地址，即罗琳的爱丁堡工作室。

In the 15 years since she published her first Harry Potter, Rowling has become both universally known and almost unrecognisable. The scruffy redhead who used to write in the cafes of Leith has slowly transformed into a glossy couture blonde, unknowable behind an impregnable sheen of wealth and control. Once a penniless single mother, she became the first person on earth to make $1bn by writing books, but her rare public appearances suggested a faint ice maiden quality.
自她出版了第一部《哈利波特》以来的15年，罗琳既是举世闻名的又几乎是无法辨认的。那个经常在利斯咖啡屋写作的红发散乱的女子，已经慢慢转变为一个穿着高级订制服的光彩照人的金发女郎，在坚不可摧的财富和控制力背后无法辨认。尽管一个身无分文的单身母亲成为了第一个通过写作挣得10亿美元的人，但她罕见的公开露面暗示了她淡淡的冰美人气质。

Rowling is completely relaxed about this arrangement. Warm and animated, quick to laugh, she chatters so freely that her publicist gets jumpy and tells her to lower her voice. "Am I speaking too loud?" She doesn't look a bit concerned. "Well, I can't get passionate and whisper!" When I tell her I loved the book, her arms shoot up in celebration. "Oh my God! I'm so happy! That's so amazing to hear. Thank you so much! You've made me incredibly happy. Oh my God!" Anyone listening would take her for a debut author, meeting her first ever fan.
罗琳对这样的安排完全放松。她温暖且充满活力，很快地笑，随心所欲地谈话，以至于她的公关变得紧张兮兮，告诉她要降低音调。“我说话太大声吗？”她看上去一点都不困扰。“嗯，我不能得到热情和呢喃！”当我告诉她我喜欢这本书，她拍手庆祝。 “噢，天哪，我太高兴了！听到这太棒了。太感谢你了，你让我高兴极了。噢，天哪！”任何人听到这些话都会把她当做一个第一次出版书籍的作者在会见她的第一个粉丝。

In a way, that's what she is. Rowling has written seven Harry Potter books, and sold more than 450m copies, but her first novel for adults is unlike them in every respect. "Obviously I need to be in some form of vehicle to have a decent idea," she laughs. Having dreamed up Potter on a train, "This time I was on a plane. And I thought: local election! And I just knew. I had that totally physical response you get to an idea that you know will work. It's a rush of adrenaline, it's chemical. I had it with Harry Potter and I had it with this. So that's how I know."
某种程度上，这就是她。罗琳写了七部《哈利•波特》系列丛书，售出四亿五千多册，但她的第一部成人小说在任何方面都不像 《哈利波特》系列。“很显然，我需要某种形式的载体以获得一个不错的想法，”她笑着说。曾经梦见波特在火车上，“这次我是在飞机上。于是我想到：地方选举！我只知道，对于某个你知道会奏效的想法我是完全身体上的反应。这是肾上腺素的一次应激，它是化学反应，我曾与《哈利•波特》有过化学反应，我与这本书也有。所以这就是我所知道的。”