Writer Brendan I. Koerner: My Top 5 Longreads of 2011

Brendan I.

布伦丹一世

Koerner is a contributing editor at Wired and the author of Now the Hell Will Start and Piano Demon.

科纳是《连线》杂志的特约编辑，也是《地狱即将开始》和《钢琴恶魔》的作者。

He is currently working on a book about a spectacular 1970s heist and its decades-long aftermath, and he blogs daily at Microkhan.

他目前正在写一本关于 1970 年代一场壮观的抢劫案及其长达数十年后果的书，他每天都在 Microkhan 上发表博客。

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I’m a thousand percent certain that I’ll wake up in a cold sweat tonight, having suddenly remembered a slew of tremendous stories that I really should have given some year-end love.

我千分百肯定今晚我会一身冷汗醒来，因为我突然想起了许多我真的应该给予一些年终爱的伟大故事。

With that important caveat, I do hope you’ll check out the five tales below; each one is guaranteed to occupy a hallowed place in your brain.

带着这个重要的警告，我确实希望你能看看下面的五个故事；每一个都一定会在你的大脑中占据一个神圣的位置。

“Death of the Tiger” by Jon Lee Anderson (The New Yorker, sub.

乔恩·李·安德森（Jon Lee Anderson）的《老虎之死》（《纽约客》，sub.

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必填）

I was sorely tempted to fulfill my New Yorker quota by shouting out David Grann’s “A Murder Foretold,” about the assassination of a powerful Guatemalan attorney.

我非常想通过大声喊出大卫·格兰的《预言中的谋杀案》来完成《纽约客》的配额，该书讲述了一位有权势的危地马拉律师被暗杀的故事。

As with all Grann stories, I literally cut that piece apart with a pair of scissors, then pinned the various sections to a cork board in an effort to better understand his mastery of structure.

与所有奶奶的故事一样，我用剪刀将其剪开，然后将各个部分钉在软木板上，以便更好地理解他对结构的掌握。

But Anderson’s account of the Tamil Tigers’ violent twilight gets the nod, primarily because it features the year’s most chilling scene: an alleged female spy is dragged in front of the author by a louche guerrilla commander, then carted away to be shot in the head.

但安德森对泰米尔猛虎组织暴力黄昏的描述得到了认可，主要是因为它呈现了今年最令人毛骨悚然的场景：一名据称是女间谍的人被一名声名狼藉的游击队指挥官拖到作者面前，然后被运走，头部被枪杀。

That brief passage may well be the most vivid description of casual brutality ever committed to the page.

这段简短的文字很可能是该页面有史以来对偶然暴行最生动的描述。

“Crashing Down” by Brad Melekian (Outside)

布拉德·梅莱基安（Brad Melekian）的《崩溃》（外）

The official story was that surfing superstar Andy Irons died of dengue fever, allegedly contracted during a competition in Bali.

官方报道称，冲浪巨星安迪·艾恩斯死于登革热，据称是在巴厘岛的一场比赛中感染的。

But the reality, carefully concealed by friends and family alike, was that Irons was an addict, one whose self-destructive habits had nearly killed him at least once before.

但被朋友和家人小心翼翼地隐瞒的事实是，艾恩斯是个瘾君子，他的自我毁灭习惯曾经至少有一次差点让他丧命。

Melekian’s heartbreaking story illustrates how the deeply troubled Irons was failed by those around him, who felt that no real harm could possibly come to such a prodigiously talented athlete.

梅莱基安令人心碎的故事说明了深陷困境的艾恩斯是如何被他周围的人辜负的，他们认为这样一位才华横溢的运动员不可能受到真正的伤害。

“The Instigators” by David Wolman (The Atavist, $1.99)

大卫·沃尔曼（David Wolman）的《煽动者》（The Atavist，1.99 美元）

When I first read this story, about the young activists who helped launch Egypt’s revolution, I was bowled over by the characters’ bravery and gumption—it’s no small thing to risk torture for the sake of righteous principles.

当我第一次读到这个关于帮助发动埃及革命的年轻活动家的故事时，我被人物的勇敢和进取所折服——为了正义原则而冒着遭受酷刑的风险不是一件小事。

But in light of how Egypt’s political situation has changed in recent weeks, the piece reads quite differently now—you can see the haziness of the activists’ idealism, and perhaps even a dash of arrogance in their tactics.

但考虑到最近几周埃及政治局势的变化，这篇文章现在读起来完全不同了——你可以看到活动人士理想主义的朦胧，甚至他们的策略中可能还带有一丝傲慢。

The fact that “The Instigators” contains such varied narrative strands at its core is a testament to its expert craftsmanship and deep reporting.

事实上，《煽动者》的核心包含如此多样化的叙事线索，这证明了其专业的制作工艺和深入的报道。

And the use of video in the iPad version is an object lesson in how storytelling can be enriched by digital technology—one brief glimpse of the central character in the thick of the protests adds volumes to the yarn.

iPad 版本中视频的使用是一个实例，说明了如何通过数字技术来丰富故事讲述——在抗议活动最激烈的情况下对中心人物的短暂一瞥，为故事增添了色彩。

“The Confessions of a Former Adolescent Puck Tease” by Katie Baker (Deadspin)

凯蒂·贝克（Katie Baker）的《一个前青少年冰球戏弄者的自白》（Deadspin）

Confessional writing seems so easy in theory, especially since there is seldom any original reporting involved.

从理论上讲，忏悔写作似乎很容易，特别是因为很少涉及任何原创报道。

But, man, is it ever hard to pull off with any appreciable degree of success.

但是，伙计，要取得任何明显的成功是不是很困难呢？

The vast majority of such stories get bogged down in artificial sentiment or cheesy philosophizing.

绝大多数此类故事都陷入了人为的情感或俗气的哲学思考中。

But that’s not the case with Baker’s glorious tale of adolescent mendacity, in which she recounts a minor scam she ran on an older guy—a scam that ended in hilariously embarrassing fashion.

但贝克关于青春期谎言的辉煌故事却并非如此，她在故事中讲述了她对一个年长男人实施的一个小骗局——这个骗局以滑稽尴尬的方式结束。

As The Great Gatsby showed, there are limits to America’s tolerance for personal reinvention, a lesson that Baker had to learn the hard way.

正如《了不起的盖茨比》所表明的那样，美国对个人改造的容忍度是有限度的，贝克必须通过惨痛的教训才能吸取这一教训。

But there is also solace to be had in the company of like-minded souls, a task now easier than ever thanks to the power of the Internet—a realm that, as Baker so eloquently puts it, provides “a clean, well-lighted place for your real self.”

但与志趣相投的人在一起也能获得安慰，由于互联网的力量，这项任务现在比以往任何时候都容易——正如贝克雄辩地指出的那样，这个领域为“真实的自我提供了一个干净、明亮的地方”。

The Comments for “Michael Nida, 31” (The Los Angeles Times)

对“迈克尔·奈达，31 岁”的评论（《洛杉矶时报》）

The Homicide Report, an online project of The Los Angeles Times, tabulates and describes every single killing in my native city.

《凶杀案报告》是《洛杉矶时报》的一个在线项目，它列出并描述了我家乡发生的每一起杀戮事件。

When it first began, I focused on the brief accounts of each death—there’s no better way to be overwhelmed by the senselessness of daily violence.

刚开始时，我专注于每起死亡事件的简短叙述——没有比这更好的方式让我被日常暴力的毫无意义所淹没。

But I’ve since become a devotee of the project’s comments, which are frequently provided by acquaintances of the deceased—as well as blog regulars who possess, shall we say, hard hearts.

但从那时起，我就成为了该项目评论的忠实拥护者，这些评论经常是由死者的熟人以及铁石心肠的博客常客提供的。

When those two sides clash, the resulting mess makes for some epic reading.

当这两方发生冲突时，由此产生的混乱局面值得一读。

This year’s best example is the thread that follows the entry on Michael Nida, killed by the Downey police in bizarre circumstances.

今年最好的例子是迈克尔·奈达 (Michael Nida) 条目之后的帖子，他在离奇的情况下被唐尼警察杀害。

Was he involved in a bank robbery?

他是否参与了银行抢劫案？

Targeted because of his race?

因为他的种族而成为目标？

The victim of out-of-control cops?

失控警察的受害者？

The commenters battle it out, and in doing so provide a snapshot of the fundamental beliefs that divide us.

评论者们争论不休，并以此提供了分裂我们的基本信念的快照。

The comments admittedly contain large heapings of idiocy, insensitivity, and racism.

诚然，这些评论包含大量白痴、麻木不仁和种族主义内容。

But keep reading—the unabashed rawness of the views on display is what makes the “story” so compelling.

但请继续阅读——所展示的观点毫不掩饰的原始性使得这个“故事”如此引人注目。

Honorable Mentions: “Anthrax Redux” by Noah Shachtman (Wired), “The Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Paul Ford (The Morning News), “Teodorin’s World” by Ken Silverstein (Foreign Policy), “They Always Come in the Night” by Dinaw Mengestu (Granta), “A Murder Foretold” by David Grann (The New Yorker), “Voicebox 360” by Tom Bissell (The New Yorker), “Punched Out” by John Branch (The New York Times)

荣誉提名：诺亚·沙赫特曼（《连线》）的《炭疽归来》、保罗·福特（《晨报》）的《机械复制时代》、肯·西尔弗斯坦（《外交政策》）的《特奥多林的世界》、迪诺·门格斯图（格兰塔）的《他们总是在夜间出现》、大卫·格兰（《纽约客》）的《预言的谋杀案》、汤姆·比塞尔的《Voicebox 360》 （《纽约客》），约翰·布兰奇（《纽约时报》）的《Punched Out》

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Share your own Top 5 Longreads of 2011, all through December.

整个 12 月，分享您自己的 2011 年 5 首长读作品。

Just tag it #longreads on Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook.

只需在 Twitter、Tumblr 或 Facebook 上标记#longreads 即可。