戴维·洛奇访谈录（Ⅲ）

（以下是2007年戴维·洛奇伦敦访谈和伯明翰访谈中未曾公开发表的一小部分，论及小说的影视剧改编、小说人物与作者的关系、戴维·洛奇作品中的情感问题等。此部分配上汉语翻译，以双语形式呈现。）

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Luo Yirong:You adapted several novels into screenplays successfully,what are the main distinctions between these two arts of different media by your experience？

罗贻荣：你成功地将几部小说改编成剧本，这两种艺术之间的主要区别是什么？

David Lodge: I don't know if you know my essay on “stage play,screen play,novel”,…in a book called Practice of Writing.There I talk about basic differences between writing a novel and writing an adaptation of a novel,for television or film.The major difference being that as a novelist you are in total control,you are totally responsible for the artistic product,you may get criticism,so you may get opinions from readers,which would make you make changes in your work; but,out of them,it's all your work,and you decide what you want to publish,and you stand by that.Whereas if you get involved in adapting anything for television or film,or you are writing original screen play,you are in a collaborative medium,you have to work with other people who have a share in the work… you cannot ignore them,because then your film won't be made,you have to satisfy them,you have to persuade them,you have to accept some of their suggestions and criticisms,you have to negotiate with them through draft after draft.Obviously,the main challenge is that,everything which is described in words in the book has to be performed or shown in the film,and the only words are those which can be spoken.So,obviously the main difference is that you have to cut and condense the original text because it takes far longer to perform something than to describe it.And then you have found ways of showing in visual terms what you can describe verbally in the novel such as people's thoughts.And then you have to collaborate with the director,the producer,and possibly the actors in due course to agree on a script,you know,which is then not totally your work,and it's not yet a realized film,it's just a recipe for making something.It's not something that belongs exclusively to you.How it turns out,you are dependent entirely on the skill of the director,the actors,the scene designers,and all the other people who involved.So that's the main difference.It has both positive and negative aspects.The negative aspect is that you are not in control of what in the film is made,you cannot guarantee that your script is going to be acted as you would wish or is being directed and edited as you would wish.You have no control of that.And you may find that you violently disagree with the choices that made by the director or the actors.So,you may feel frustrated and disappointed.On the other hand,you may find that the process of collaboration throws up new ideas,new effects,I find this exactly in my own work.Because it's a problem in transferring from one media to another,just new idea,or you may find that something you wrote,which on the page is very banal,and does not have much effect，if performed it could be enormously powerful.A simple expression like “oh,yes,” on the page,can be nothing,but acted,“oh,yes,” could project the enormous amount of emotion and suggestion,you find your work improved by the collaboration,which is nice.So,there is up side and there is down side.I enjoyed the process of being involved.But I amglad that I have got the novel written first,because nothing can affect your work,then the film of the novel or the TV adaptation is a different thing,that's extra pleasure really.