推理之门－卡作品风格（转载）

windmail@eden.ee.nctu:

閒來無事，提供一點東西給大家過過乾癮....

========================================================================
Machiel Kolstein wrote:

Hi,
I just found this newsgroup today, so perhaps I am saying something
which is been dealt with already. Apologizes.

我今天才發現這個討論區，所以或許我現在說的已經有人說過了，如
果是這樣那很抱歉。

Since I was 13, I loved reading mysteries.
I started with the inevitable Agatha Christie and then
moved on to others. However, since there are so many
different writers, most of the time after reading one
or two unsatisfactory mysteries of a particular writer
I gave up on him/her and looked for another.

從我十三歲起，我愛上了推理小說，我很自然地開始讀克莉絲蒂，然
後還有其他人的作品。然而，大部份的情況下，如果在我讀過某個作家的
一兩本書，覺得不滿足的話，我就會放棄繼續看，再找其他作家。

This way I might have been unfair, since even the best
among them have written some lousy ones.
For instance, I didn't like Chesterton, Sayers or Marsh,
to name a few.

我想這種方式可能不太公平，因為即使最好的推理小說家，也可能會
寫一些差勁的。譬如，我不喜歡卻斯達頓，賽兒絲與馬許，這是代表性的
作家名字。

I got completely hooked, however, on the works of
John Dickson Carr. He wrote a few bad ones for sure,
but most have a high level, and some are the most
clever plots I have ever read ("The Hollow Man",
"He Who Whispers", "Deathwatch").

我發覺我已經對約翰．狄克森．卡的作品上癮了。當然他寫了一些不
好看的，但大部份的水準都很高，有些甚至是我讀過最聰明的佈局。（《
The Hollow Man》、《He Who Whispers 》、《Deathwatch》）

So my question is: does anyone know other writers
similar to Dickson Carr?

所以我的問題是：有誰知道其他類似狄克森．卡的作家嗎？

What I like about his books:
1. Locked Room Mysteries (i.e. "Impossible
Murders")
2. The huge amount of clues and the way it
all finally fits in a plot.
(Of course, most of these clues
don't seem to be clues before they
get explained)

我喜歡他的書的原因有幾項：

一、密室推理（也就是，不可能的犯罪）
二、大量的線索在最後合情合理地解釋一個詭局。
（當然，大部份的線索在沒有經過解釋以前，是看不出來的）

3. The alternative plots given (which are
all sounding plausible but are
immediately disagreed with by the
brilliant detective)
(In some of his books this happens even
twice, first the police will come up with
some explanation, later on another guy will
and then finally "The Master" himself will
explain what really happened)
4. The eccentric, cryptic, hilarious
behaviour of the detective which only in the
end makes sense when he shows his genius.

三、雙重顛倒的謎團（指的是看起來似乎有道理的解釋，卻被卓越的
智慧一舉推翻，在他的書裡面甚至會出現兩次，第一次是警方找到了一個
解釋，然後出現了另一人的解釋，最後由主角完整地說明真相）
四、偵探的行動古怪、神秘、胡鬧，但其實是為了在結局顯示他過人
的智慧。

The only other name I can think of is Ellery Queen; I
tried lots of his books, but somehow they never really
convinced me. Although he claims to play fair, I found
that mostly there was something missing which the reader
doesn't know and the writer does. Also I don't like his
detectives very much.

另外一個我可以想到的名字是艾勒里．昆恩；我讀過他好多書，但有
些實在難以說服我。雖然他宣稱公平遊戲，但我發現有許多情形是只有作
者知道但讀者不知道的線索。所以我也不是很喜歡他的書。

Slightly related to this, am I correct that Carr is
hardly well-known/popular, even among mystery-fans? I searched
on the www for some information/reviews about him
and couldn't find any (found lots about others).
I already said that this is the first time I read this
newsgroup so perhaps I am wrong, but at least today
I didn't find anyone talking about him.
Any reason? I'd be interested to find out why
people might not like his books whereas they do
like others.

Peter Bennett wrote:

For a work very much in the style of Carr, try Hake Talbot, The Rim
of the Pit. You would also enjoy Douglas Greene's recent biography John
Dickson Carr : the Man Who explained Miracles.

＞ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ＜

發信人: "Jennifer" ＜editor@email.fmp.com.tw＞, 看板: Mystery
標題: Re: 《鐵籠問題》
發信站: SEEDNet News Service (Tue Jun 16 16:04:21 1998)
轉信站: Maxwell!bbs.ee.ntu!freebsd.ntu!news.cs.nthu!news.nthu!newsfeed.nthu!ne

純情小男孩撰寫於文章＜3P5d50$VX8@bbs.EE.NCTU.edu.tw＞...

對約翰．狄克森．卡（John Dickson Carr ）不熟,
但最近在看高木彬光的書得知,
卡被日本人封為密室的巨匠,
高木早期在撰寫他的成名作寫[刺青殺人事件],
[能面殺人事件]和[妖婦之宿]時,頗有向卡挑戰之意,
都以密室為主要推理訴求.至於功力高下,
因為沒看過卡的作品,不敢妄言,
想來應該是卡技高一籌吧
或許有人可以提供更切實的比較.

＞ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ＜

作者: windmail (無頭屍體) 看板: Mystery
標題: Re: 《鐵籠問題》
時間: Wed Jun 17 00:15:09 1998

※ 引述《"Jennifer" ＜editor@email.fmp.com.tw＞》之銘言：
: 純情小男孩撰寫於文章＜3P5d50$VX8@bbs.EE.NCTU.edu.tw＞...
: 對約翰．狄克森．卡（John Dickson Carr ）不熟,
: 但最近在看高木彬光的書得知,
: 卡被日本人封為密室的巨匠,
: 高木早期在撰寫他的成名作寫[刺青殺人事件],
: [能面殺人事件]和[妖婦之宿]時,頗有向卡挑戰之意,
: 都以密室為主要推理訴求.至於功力高下,
: 因為沒看過卡的作品,不敢妄言,
: 想來應該是卡技高一籌吧
: 或許有人可以提供更切實的比較.

可能大部份的推理作家都寫過以密室為題材的作品，而且寫得好的很可
能不止一、兩部，但根據 Douglas G. Greene（約翰．狄克森．卡的傳記作
者）所言，卡能夠推導出超過「五十種」進入及脫出「密室」的方法，每一
種都不重覆，而且也絕不和舊有的作品雷同；此外卡還能製造出各式各樣的
「準密室」（泛指犯罪現場並非完全密閉狀態，但卻被雪或沙所圍繞，地面
沒有腳印，如《鐵籠問題》就是典例），我想這應該就是其他作家所無法匹
敵之處了。