《哈利波特》新书，你看过了吗？

7月31日，在罗琳和哈利的生日，哈迷们心心念念的哈利·波特系列第八本，《哈利·波特与被诅咒的孩子》（Harry Potter and the Cursed Child）英文版终于上市，作者是杰克·索恩。《哈利·波特与被诅咒的孩子》其实不是一本小说，而是一个剧本，其同名舞台剧已于7月30日在伦敦西区上演。虽然距第七本已时隔九年，离最后一部电影也有五年，这次舞台剧的回归还是不减当年的人气。现在来看看外媒对这本新书的报道：

By now you should know the "Harry Potter" drill.
现在你应该了解《哈利波特》正确的打开方式了。

Purchase the book, stay up all night reading, feel all of your feelings and tweet about it.
先买书，熬夜狂看，然后将所思所感全部发文到推特上。

"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" came out to much fanfare over the weekend, and the world is now divided into two groups: those who have finished reading it and those who have not.
《哈利波特与被诅咒的孩子》的高调问世已沸腾了整个周末，现在人们分为两大阵营：看完了书的和没看完的。

But there was no shortage of emotion from both sides.
但是哈利波特系列从来不缺人们的关注和情感。

The book comes from the script for a West End play based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany and written by Thorne.
这本新书是《哈利波特与被诅咒的孩子》舞台剧的剧本，该舞台剧由J.K.罗琳、剧作家杰克·索恩和导演约翰·蒂芙尼共同打磨，并由索恩执笔，在伦敦西区剧院上演。

But anything Harry Potter is magical -- especially for fans who got their last literary fix with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" in July 2007.
但是一切有关哈利波特的事情都充满魔力——尤其对于苦苦等待多时的哈迷来说，上一部《哈利波特与死亡圣器》出版还是2007年7月的事了。

"LOOK HOW HAPPY I AM," tweeted one person along with photos of herself clutching a copy of the book.
一位哈迷在推特上晒了张自己与新书的合照，发文说：“看我都要乐疯了。”

As with any cultural phenomena in the social media age, there has been plenty of frowning, dissing and irritation about spoilers.
在这个社交媒体时代，这本新作遭遇了普遍的文化现象——剧透。人们纷纷对剧透者表示厌恶、轻蔑和恼火。

I'm not afraid to commit homicide over Harry Potter spoilers so everyone stay on their best behavior until I've read it please
— Quinn Breen (@QBreen) July 31, 2016
我才不怕干掉剧透《哈利波特》的人，这样大家才会乖乖地等我看完再说。
——奎恩·布林（@ QBreen）2016.7.31

Read the last scenes of Harry Potter and the cursed child just to piss off my cousin with spoilers
— Some Guy Named Wolf (@WolfOfBealeSt) August 1, 2016
看完《哈利波特与被诅咒的孩子》的最后章节就是为了给我表弟剧透，气气他。
——用户名沃尔夫（@WolfOfBealeS） 2016.8.1

Critics weren't as swept away by the latest project.
但是评论家们对这本新书却没那么买账。

"The big problem is 'The Cursed Child' is less an original story than a remix of the existing Potter mythology," Andy Lewis wrote in The Hollywood Reporter.
“《哈利波特与被诅咒的孩子》有一个很大的问题——它不像是一个原创故事，反而像是之前所有哈利波特系列的混合集锦。”安迪·路易丝在《好莱坞记者报》上这样评论道。

Jessica Contera of The Washington Post noted that while the play may work, the publication "as a mere script, where everything besides dialogue is written as bland stage commands ("Albus is sleeping in a pew. Ginny is watching him carefully. Harry is looking out the opposite window"), it feels nothing like the detailed-filled paragraphs of the Rowling we love.
《华盛顿邮报》的杰西卡·坎特拉指出，虽然舞台剧可以吸人眼球，但是出版的新书“仅仅只是舞台剧的台本而已，除了人物对话之外，其他的文字都是直白的舞台动作要求，比如说“阿不思睡在长椅上。金妮仔细地打量着他。哈利向对面的窗户外看去。”这根本不是我们喜爱的罗琳笔下充满细节画面感的文字。

"It's more like sneaking a peek at her unfinished notes or finding a fetching piece of fan fiction," she said. "The magic is stunted."
她表示，这更像是在偷窥罗琳未写完的笔记，或者说是一段饶有兴趣的粉丝自创小说。哈利波特的“魔法”中断了。

One of the biggest complaints from fans appears to be not what is in the book but rather what isn't.
而让哈迷们抱怨最多的不是书里的内容，而是书中没有出现应有的人物。

Teddy Lupin, Potter's godson and the son of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, does not make an appearance.
莱姆斯·卢平和尼法朵拉·唐克斯的儿子泰迪·卢平，同时也是哈利波特的教子，没有在书中露面。

Teddy was part of the "Nineteen Years Later" epilogue in the final chapter of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," which also serves as the kickoff for the new book. There has been some chatter about his disappearing act in "Cursed Child."
泰迪出现在《哈利波特与死亡圣器》最后一章《十九年后》的结尾部分，应该作为展开新剧情的关键人物。但是他在这本书里却没有出现，读者们对此颇有微词。

One reader simply tweeted, "where's teddy tho #CursedChild."
一位读者在推特上发问：“泰迪去哪儿了？”

where's teddy tho #CursedChild
— Amelia Thomas (@mameliat_) August 1, 2016
“泰迪去哪儿了？”
——阿米莉亚·托马斯(@mameliat_) 2016.8.1

There's no Teddy in HP & The Cursed Child so tell me what's the point
— Ah-nel (@AnnelCabreja) August 1, 2016
《哈利波特与被诅咒的孩子》里没了泰迪还有什么看头？
——Ah-nel(@AnnelCabreja) 2016.8.1

新书故事梗概简介：

哈利·波特37岁了，如今他是个超负荷工作的魔法部雇员，一个已婚男人、三个学龄孩子的爸爸，日子也并不轻松。哈利在和他那阴魂不散的过去搏斗，而他的小儿子阿不思则必须不断抗争，摆脱自己不想要的家族传承。随着过去和现在不祥的互相融合，父子俩得知了那个令人不安的真相：有时候，黑暗来自意想不到的地方。

Vocabulary

dissing: 蔑视
homicide: 杀人