一、派崔克．奈斯的生平
派崔克．奈斯（Patrick Ness）於 1971 年生於美國維吉尼亞州貝爾沃堡陸軍基 地，是美國陸軍軍事中士的兒子，六歲之前在夏威夷度過，之後和家人移居於華 盛頓州。從小最大的嗜好就是編故事，大學就讀美國南加州大學英語文學系。1999 年遷居英國倫敦至今，曾在牛津大學教授創意寫作三年，並為《每日電訊報》、《泰 晤士報文學增刊》、《週日電訊報》與《衛報》等媒體撰寫書評。他說：「我聲稱在 美國有三個州是我的家（美國常常這樣做）：我出生在維吉尼亞州，我的第一個記 憶是夏威夷人，我去華盛頓州就讀初中和高中。然後我住在加利福尼亞州唸大學
（在南加州大學）並於 1999 年搬到英國，從那時起我（大多數在倫敦）居住在此」。
17因此，他的故事背景會出現在美國或英國。他總是知道自己想成為一名作家，並 於 1997 年在一本雜誌上發表了他的第一篇短篇小說。
二、《怪物來敲門》故事來源與評價
（一）故事原創者莎帆．多德（Siobhan Dowd）為此書定下重要的基調：
《怪物來敲門》是一部接力完成的作品，這個故事是源自卡內基文學獎作家 莎帆．多德的構想。多德是位英國作家與行動主義者，她有著作四本廣受喜愛的 得獎作品，其中兩本在她過世後出版。2009 年時，她成為第一位於逝世之後獲得 卡內基獎的得主。「多德於 1960 年出生，父母是愛爾蘭人，並在倫敦長大。她在
17 轉載自派崔克．奈斯專屬網站的自我介紹：patrickness.com/about me。
“ I claim three states in America as my home (as Americans are wont to do): I was born in Virginia, my first memories are Hawaiian, and I went to junior high and high school in Washington. Then I lived in California for college (at USC) and moved to the United Kingdom in 1999, where I’ve lived (mostly in London) ever since.” Patrick Ness. PatrickNess, patrickness.com/about-me. Accessed 6 June 2019.
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牛津大學獲得古典學士學位，在格林威治大學獲得性別和民族研究碩士學位。曾 在紐約生活了七年，期間她擔任 PEN America 的節目總監，並參與了全球反審查 活動。回到英國後，她共同創立了英文 PEN 的讀者和作家計劃。2004 年在牛津郡 擔任兒童權利副專員。她還在 PEN 美國中心的自由寫作委員會的受威脅文學系列 中編輯了兩本選集。撰寫關於種族主義的短篇小說集，Skin Deep（2004），讓她以 兒童文學作家身分開創了新的職業生涯。她的作品獲得了無數獎項，包括 A Swift
Pure Cry（2006）
，The London Eye Mystery（2007），Bog Child（2008）和 Solace ofthe Road（2009）
」。1818 譯自 Literature Ireland《文學愛爾蘭》作家資料庫網站。原文：“ Siobhan Dowd was born in 1960 to Irish parents and brought up in London. She received a BA in Classics from Oxford University and an MA in Gender and Ethnic Studies from Greenwich University. Dowd lived in New York for seven years, during which time she served as program director for PEN America and became involved in global anti-censorship campaigns. Upon her return to England, she co-founded English PEN’s Readers and Writers Programme. During 2004, Dowd served as Deputy Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Oxfordshire. She also edited two anthologies in the Threatened Literature Series for the Freedom to Write Committee of the PEN American Center. An invitation to contribute a story about a ‘Pavee’ (an Irish Traveller) to Tony Bradman's collection of short stories for children about racism, Skin Deep (2004), led to a new career as an author of children’s books. Her works garnered numerous awards and include A Swift Pure Cry (2006), The London Eye Mystery (2007), Bog Child (2008) and Solace of the Road (2009).”
Literature Ireland, www.literatureireland.com/author-database/author-holder/show/825。Accessed 6 June 2019.
19 譯自《獨立報》網站文章：Peter Stanford, “ Siobhan Dowd: A shining talent who tragically ran out of time”，The Independent, 23 March 2008。英文原文：“ The chemotherapy could make it very hard for her
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to write, but she did. We always tried to brainwash ourselves that she would live forever. It was the only way we could approach her illness – to grab every strand of hope.” The Independent, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/siobhan-dowd-a-shining-talent-who-tragically-ran-out-of-time-798732.html。Accessed 6 June 2019.
20 譯自《衛報》網站文章: “ How we made A Monster Call, Interview Patrick Ness and Jim Kay.”，The Guardian, 14 June 2012。英文原文：“ My editor, Denise Johnstone-Burt, had commissioned a book from Siobhan Dowd, based on an idea Siobhan had talked with her about. I've seen emails from Siobhan talking about how she couldn't wait to get properly started on the notes and early prose she'd written. But very sadly, she died from breast cancer before she could finish it. Denise didn't want the idea to disappear, though. I wasn't perhaps the most obvious choice at the time, considering that Siobhan's books tended towards the realistic and mine tended to the fantastical, but what I hope we have in common is a kind of wanting the emotional truth for our readers, of wanting teenagers to be taken seriously, as complex beings.
And that can be true no matter where your story is set.” The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/
childrens-books-site/2012/jun/14/a-monster-calls-patrick-ness-jim-kay。Accessed 6 June 2019.
21 派崔克．奈斯（Patrick Ness）、莎帆．多德（Siobhan Dowd）著，吉姆．凱（Jim Kay）原插圖，
陳盈瑜譯，《怪物來敲門》（A Monster Calls），臺北：聯經，2012，〈作者們的話〉，頁 5。
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23 譯自《英國國家廣播公司》網站訪問：Tim Masters, “ Interview Patrick Ness: Why I wrote A Monster Calls”，BBC News, 6 August 2011。英文原文：“‘It felt like a really private thing,’ says Patrick Ness.
‘Between me and her, between writers’ ”。BBC News,www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-14308543。
Accessed 6 June 2019.
24 譯自《英國國家廣播公司》網站訪問：Tim Masters, “ Interview Patrick Ness: Why I wrote A Monster Calls”，BBC News, 6 August 2011。英文原文：“I would normally say‘no’to turning someone else's idea into a book, admits Ness.” Accessed 6 June 2019.
25《怪物來敲門》，〈作者們的話〉，頁 5。
26 譯自《英國國家廣播公司》網站訪問：Tim Masters, “ Interview Patrick Ness: Why I wrote A Monster Calls”，BBC News, 6 August 2011。英文原文：“ But the idea was so strong and so vivid that I never felt like I was completely fabricating something she didn't want. There was just enough material to kick me off, and have the freedom to let the story live and breathe while also celebrating her idea.” Accessed 6 June 2019.
24 introduction. ” The Telegraph, www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/children_sbookreviews/8951974/
A-Monster-Calls-by-Patrick-Ness-review.html。Accessed 6 June 2019.
28《怪物來敲門》，〈作者們的話），頁 5。
25 告訴一個孩子他的媽媽快死了？〉（How do you tell a child his mother is dying?）專 訪時說：「當我失去了自己的母親時，大約比康納的年齡稍微小一點。在我母親去 世前，那時她狀況不好，有可能無法熬過來，那時我非常沮喪。我記得非常清楚，
31 資料轉自影評網站：www.metacritic.com/movie/a-monster-calls。（檢索日期：2019 年 6 月 6 日）
32 譯自《每日電訊報》網站文章：Tim Robey, “A Monster Calls review: a luscious, painterly fantasy overcast with sadness”，The Telegraph, 1 Jan 2017。英文原文：“ Cannily adapted by Patrick Ness from his illustrated book of the same name, this is a more choked-up offering than any of those, so overcast with sadness it sometimes seems to be gulping for fresh breaths…MacDougall is very special: his face can hide away pockets of pain in one moment, and explode with furious resentment in the next beat.” The Telegraph,www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/monster-calls-review-luscious-painterly-fantasy-overcast-sadness。
Accessed 6 June 2019.
33 譯自《衛報》網站文章: Wendy Ide, “A Monster Calls review–wrenchingly effective”，The Guardian, 8 Jan 2017。英文原文：“You will be likely to weep with him as he comes to terms with the loss of his mother. This emotional authenticity, the palpable pain in a remarkable central performance from relative newcomer Lewis MacDougall, is both the film’s main asset and a factor that makes it a tough sell. This is not just a film about grief; it’s a film that immerses you in grief’s journey.” The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/08/a-monster-calls-review-film-patrick-ness-adaptation. Accessed 6 June 2019.
26 Guardian, 10 Dec 2016。英文原文：“When I did lose my own mother, I was around Conor’s age, a bit younger. There were times before my mother passed, when she was in a bad way, when there was a possibility that she might not get through. And I remember vividly having conversations about it. I was very upset at the time. My dad told me, you know, ‘Your mum might not get through this.’ “So having lived through something a bit like Conor’s experience was helpful – to know what he was going through in any particular moment. At other times, on set, it did affect me because it was a bit close to home.”，
TheGuardian,www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/10/monster-calls-film-mum-friend-siobhan-do wd-boy-talking-tree-book。Accessed 6 June 2019.
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演媽 媽 的 費 莉 絲 蒂 ． 瓊 斯 （Felicity Jones）戲 份 不多，尤其最後在病床上與康 納一番深情對話「你要怎麼生氣都可以，如果要摔東西，那就管他的好好大摔一 頓。（……）如果有一天，回想起此刻也不要難過，你要知道沒關係，我懂的。你 不用大聲說，我也知道你想要跟我說的每件事。好嗎？」35身為一個母親卻因癌症 而必須離開自己深愛的兒子，難過自己無法陪伴康納成長，無奈地說著「我真希 望有一百年，有一百年可以給你」。36其真情表露，讓人看了不勝唏噓，淚流滿面。
由連恩．尼遜（Liam Neeson）配音的怪物讓人驚艷，充滿磁性的嗓音，由剛開始 的嚴厲並霸氣語氣，到後來轉而軟化與溫暖的態度，以療癒樹怪身份為本片加分。
三、《怪物來敲門》的故事簡介
十三歲的康納．奧馬利過著淒涼的日子：媽媽因罹患癌症正接受化療中、爸 爸與新婚妻子離開英國到美國共組家庭生活還生了小寶貝、他在學校須忍受同學 的霸凌和老師的同情，也必須暫時住在他討厭的外婆家。從媽媽化療以來的幾個 月裡，他每天晚上都做一個惡夢。某一天午夜 12 點 07 分，有一個聲音從窗口呼 喚他。當康納打開窗戶時，他看到一個由扭曲的樹枝和樹葉組成的怪物，一棵紫 杉樹。怪物好奇為什麼這個男孩不怕他，他告訴康納，是康納召喚他前來，現在 他已經被召喚了，怪物會告訴他三個真實的故事，說完這三個故事後，康納必須 說出自己的真實故事，否則怪物會將他生吞活剝。這個怪物在三個晚上來找他，
總是在凌晨 12 點 07 分出現。
第一個故事是關於一個富強和平的王國，背後須付出極大代價：國王的四個 兒子接續死亡、皇后憂傷而亡……最後這個國家僅剩一個孫子也就是王子。國王 再娶，年輕的新王后讓老國王很快樂，但國王生病後卻引來王后是女巫的傳言。
35 以上兩處出自《怪物來敲門》，分別引用頁 209-210、177。
36 節錄自八字眉踏克，〈《怪物來敲門》死亡多恐怖？讓大人爆哭的床邊故事〉《ETtoday 新聞雲》，
（2016 年 11 月 12 日）。（檢索日期：2019 年 6 月 6 日）
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王子十八歲成年前國王駕崩，王后代替王子統治王國，並想與年輕王子結為夫妻，
共享治理強盛國家的榮耀，但被王子拒絕。王子此時已經愛上一個農夫之女，於 是兩人趁夜晚私奔，在紫杉樹下休憩，隔天王子卻發現情人躺於血泊中已無生命 跡象。王子對人民宣告王后謀殺了農夫之女，召喚了成千上萬憤怒子民連手要置 王后於死地，怪物在動亂時刻救走了王后，王子則登基當了國王，成為萬民愛戴 的君王。真相卻是，皇后雖有心要繼續統領國家卻沒有謀殺老國王與農夫之女，
老國王是生病而亡，農夫之女卻是王子所殺。王子要靠農夫之女的死亡激起人民 的憤怒，繼而推翻皇后來讓自己取得執政權。
第二個故事，從前有一名丹醫（藥師）到處尋找天然植物做成藥材來醫治病 患，但是環境變遷，天然藥材難尋，於是丹醫的醫療索價越來越高。有一個牧師 便在佈道時公開反對丹醫的傳統療法，並拒絕丹醫砍伐教堂邊的紫杉樹來當高級 藥材。 之後，全國流行傳染病，牧師的兩個愛女也染病，牧師用許多方法都無法 醫治女兒。在兩女奄奄一息時牧師去求助於丹醫，不但願意讓丹醫砍伐紫杉樹，
也願意為了愛女的性命放棄所有信仰。不過，丹醫聽了卻關上大門未伸出援手，
牧師兩女當晚過世。怪物為此事徒步而來，將牧師家連根拔起。怪物邀請康納一 起摧毀牧師的房子，康納醒來發現他在外婆的客廳裡摧毀了許多珍貴的東西。
牧師兩女當晚過世。怪物為此事徒步而來，將牧師家連根拔起。怪物邀請康納一 起摧毀牧師的房子，康納醒來發現他在外婆的客廳裡摧毀了許多珍貴的東西。