After Oscar. By Merlin Holland. Europa Editions(① 背景：Europa Editions...); 704 pages; $34 and £30
《After Oscar》。作者：梅林·霍兰。Europa Editions；704页；34美元/30英镑
“A FLYING ANGEL with an erection.” That is how Oscar Wilde’s son described the winged figure suspended in stone above his father’s tomb in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris. In the decades after the Irish writer’s death in 1900, the offending member(冒犯的部位) grew smooth from the caresses of his admirers; in 1961 vandals knocked off the testicles. Fans took to leaving greasy lipstick kisses on the tomb instead, which required corrosive cleaning. Merlin Holland, Wilde’s grandson, spent years calling on French fonctionnaires(官员) to protect it. A glass panel went up in 2011.
“一个勃起的天使。”这就是奥斯卡·王尔德的儿子对父亲位于巴黎拉雪兹神父公墓的墓碑上那个石雕有翼人物的描述。这位爱尔兰作家1900年去世后的几十年里，那个冒犯的部位因崇拜者的抚摸而变得光滑；1961年，破坏者敲掉了睾丸。粉丝们转而开始在墓碑上留下油腻的唇印，这需要腐蚀性清洁才能去除。王尔德的孙子梅林·霍兰多年来一直呼吁法国官员保护它。2011年安装了一块玻璃面板。
The sticky tributes have an oddly symbolic quality, for Wilde’s reputation has also accrued fallacies(谬误) and fabrications. Mr Holland, who is the literary executor of the Wilde estate, has spent 40 years trying to strip them away(剥离它们). “After Oscar” lays out everything that has been embellished in Wilde’s name by biographers, forgers, false memoirists and members of his own family. Mr Holland admits he wrote the book “with a modicum(少量) of anger, channelled into storytelling”.
这些粘性的致敬具有一种奇特的象征性，因为王尔德的名声也积累了许多谬误和捏造。霍兰先生作为王尔德遗产的文学执行人，40年来一直试图剥离它们。《After Oscar》列出了所有以王尔德之名被传记作者、伪造者、虚假回忆录作家以及他家人美化过的东西。霍兰先生承认他写这本书“带着适度的愤怒，并将其转化为讲故事”。
