藏在平装小说里的故事

The Novel Tale of a Paperback1

一本好书往往因引人入胜的故事而令人爱不释手，而你有没有想过书籍本身？它辗转经过几任主人的手，多多少少会留下些痕迹。也许，书中有着前任主人随手夹进去的发票；也许，留白处留着某位读者草草写下的几笔感想；也许，某一页的边角还被折着没有展开……这些细微的痕迹本身就是美好的故事情节，而你的想象则是串起它们的线索。”

Sometimes a book is more than just a book. Consider the novel in which I am engrossed2 at the moment, a story set in Britain and India in the 19th century. It was written in English by an Indian author who now lives in Denmark, and although the paperback edition I＇m holding was published in New Delhi four years ago, I （an American） purchased it recently from a secondhand bookshop in Tokyo.3