David Nicholls的新小说《You Are Here》

Sometimes, it’s easier to be alone.

有时，独处会更轻松。

At least that’s what Marnie and Michael, the main characters in David Nicholls’ new novel “You Are Here,” have thought for years — until their mutual friend Cleo organizes a multi-day group hike across the English countryside.

至少在大卫·尼克尔斯的新小说《You Are Here》中，主人公玛妮和迈克尔多年来一直这么认为——直到他们的共同朋友克莱奥组织了一次穿越英国乡村的多日徒步旅行。

“You Are Here” is, at its heart, a witty look at connections, missed opportunities, and the choices we make.

《You Are Here》的核心在于机智地审视人与人之间的联系、错过的机会以及我们所做的选择。

That’s not too surprising coming from Nicholls, whose 2009 novel “One Day” explored many of the same themes. It reached the top of the New York Times bestsellers list and was turned into a movie with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess and, more recently, a series on Netflix.

这并不令人意外，毕竟尼克尔斯的2009年小说《一天》就探讨了许多相同的主题。它登上了《纽约时报》畅销书排行榜的榜首，并被改编成由安妮·海瑟薇和吉姆·斯特吉斯主演的电影，最近还被改编成奈飞(Netflix)的系列剧。

In “You Are Here,” Michael is a 42-year-old geography teacher who lives in the city of York in England’s northeast. Separated from his wife, and to avoid his empty house, Michael often goes on long walks alone.

在《You Are Here》中，迈克尔是一名42岁的地理老师，住在英国东北部的约克市。与妻子分居后，为了避免空荡荡的房子，迈克尔经常独自长时间散步。

Courtesy HarperCollinsMarnie, a 38-year-old proofreader and copyeditor, lives in London by herself following her divorce. She laments her lapsed friendships but also relishes canceling plans and spending time alone in her apartment. She has a routine, after all.

哈珀柯林斯出版社供图。38岁的玛妮是一名校对员和编辑，离婚后独自居住在伦敦。她感叹自己的友情已逝，但也乐于取消计划，独自在自己的公寓里消磨时光。毕竟，她有自己的日常安排。

When Michael joins Cleo’s group hike, he can’t wait for the others to finish up after a few days as planned, so he can complete the roughly 180-mile, coast-to-coast walk solo. But then he meets Marnie, and the weather takes a turn, and his plans change.

当迈克尔加入克莱奥的徒步团队时，他迫不及待地想在几天内按计划完成其他人还没有完成的行程，以便他能够独自完成大约180英里的横跨海岸的徒步旅行。但随后他遇到了玛妮，天气也发生了变化，他的计划也随之改变。

The book was born from a few ideas Nicholls was considering — a melancholy urban love story about loneliness in middle age and how people seem to have withdrawn from social contact post-pandemic, and another idea about the countryside, Nicholls tells CNN.

尼克尔斯告诉美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)，这本书的诞生源于他一直在考虑的几个想法——一个关于中年孤独和人们似乎在疫情之后减少了社交接触的忧郁城市爱情故事，以及另一个关于乡村的想法。

“I thought, well, what happens if we put these city dwellers in the countryside and let them walk with each other?” says Nicholls.

“我想，好吧，如果我们把这些城市居民放到乡村，让他们一起散步，会怎么样呢?”尼克尔斯说。