THE confessional tale of depravity redeemed goes back at least to St Augustine. Sheila Heti,a Canadian writer, plays with this legacy in How Should a Person Be? out now in Britainfollowing a rapturous reception in America. A novel masquerading as memoir, it is a sharpand unsentimental chronicle of what it is like to be 20-something now. 自我救贖的懺悔故事至少可以追溯到聖奧古斯汀時代。加拿大作家希拉海蒂的《應該如何做人?》戲謔地沿用此法。之前該書在美國受到狂熱追捧，現已在英國上市。表面上它是一部自傳，實則編年體小說，以犀利而冷靜的文風，講述了現在二十出頭的人是何處境。
The story spans a year in the life of Sheila, a blocked playwright in Toronto. She is recentlydivorced and unable to finish a commissioned play. Convinced that other people do not feellike they were raised by wolves, Sheila sets out to probe the ugliness she feels inside. Shefeels she should seek fame, yet she finds relief shampooing clients in a hair salon. It waswork I could believe in: making people look and feel their best. The flat tone is at oncesincere and disingenuous: Ms Heti s deadpan, naked voice is what makes Sheila s journeyso engaging. 故事講述了鬱郁不得志的多倫多劇作家希拉的'一年生活。她剛剛離婚，又無法完成受人委託的劇本。希拉確信其他人不會認爲自己是被狼帶大的，所以決定從自身出發，探索內心體會到的醜陋。她覺得自己應該追名逐利，然而她卻在美髮店給顧客洗頭中得到解脫。工作就是我的信仰：我在美髮店的工作能讓別人容光煥發，精神抖擻。這種平淡的語調立刻就產生一種既真摯誠懇、又惺惺作態的感覺：正是因爲海蒂女士故作冷酷、毫無感情色彩的語調，希拉之旅纔會讓人如此着迷。
Ms Heti also captures the malaise of young, creative types. Again and again Sheila asks ifmaking art is merely narcissistic. But just as self-absorption threatens to swamp thetale, a crisis causes her to look squarely at her own sexual and debased life. Her friendshipwith Margaux, a painter, provides redemption of a kind. Throughout, the reader is beguiledby blunt, sly observations: Smiling only encourages men to bore you and waste your time. The world is full to brimming with its own shit. A little more from me won t even make adifference. 海蒂女士也捕捉到了富有創意的那一類年輕人身上莫名的不安。希拉總是在思考一個問題：藝術創作是否只是一種自戀?但是，正當她過於自我投入、故事幾乎要失控時，一場危機讓她開始正視性的問題和自己墮落的生活。她和畫家馬爾戈的友誼就給她帶來了某種救贖。縱觀全文，讀者會始終陶醉在坦率而狡黠的文字描寫之中：淺淺一笑只會招蜂引蝶，浪費自己的時間。這個世界充斥着自己的胡言亂語，都快裝不下了。所以，多我一句不多，少我一句不少。
Written sometimes in the first person, sometimes in the third, this novel can make foruncomfortable reading. Yet Ms Heti s mordant take on modernity encouragesintrospection. It is easy to see why a book on the anxiety of celebrity has turned theauthor into one herself. 小說有時候用第一人稱、有時候又轉爲第三人稱，讀起來並不暢快。然而，海蒂對現代生活的尖酸調侃卻引人反思。不難看出，爲什麼一本講述成名帶來的焦慮的書卻讓作者自己出了名。
詞語解釋
back 迴轉;回顧
And I will go back to not talking after tonight. 今晚採訪之後，我又得回去埋頭幹活了。
I can t go back and end this now. 我現在不能回去並結束這一切了。
out to 打算，着手
Determined to remain independent, armani set out to expand his production capability. 阿瑪尼決心要保持獨立，他開始擴大自己的生產能力。
The screenwriter set out to explore the ways in which different people face demandingtimes. 劇本作者一開始是要探討不同的人面對艱難時期的方式。
urage to 鼓勵
A joint venture is encourage to market its product outside china. 我們鼓勵合資企業在中國之外的市場上銷售其產品。
I encourage to join the list and contribute your thoughts to the project. 我鼓勵您加入這個列表，並提供您對這個項目的想法。
for 走向;前往;衝向
That could make for a fractious party. 這將會導致一個乖張固執的政黨。
U. s. politics and volatile financial markets make for strange times for the yuan. 美國的政治局勢和動盪的金融市場使人民幣的日子有些不好過。