The economist_09年6月.docVIP

2009年6月《十二篇》 [2009.6.18] Motor ways and wherefores 公路及其来龙去脉 Britains roads英国公路Motor ways and wherefores公路及其来龙去脉Jun 18th 2009From The Economist print editionOn Roads: A Hidden History. 公路：一段被埋藏的历史EVERY industry is susceptible to fads, even publishing. Quirky histories have had a long run. Cod, quinine, redheads, potatoes—even gerbils—have all had a book or two devoted to them. In theory, the offbeat subject matter provides an unusual angle from which to examine things with a wider appeal (the potato book, for instance, ventures into global migration patterns, social reform and high finance). But it can be a tricky formula to get right.任何产业都会受到潮流影响，出版业也不例外。很早开始，就出现了稀奇古怪的书籍。鳕鱼，奎宁，红法人，马铃薯甚至沙鼠等都有一两本研究其的书籍。这些稀奇 古怪的主题为人们审视事物提供了全新的视角，同时也更具吸引力。（以马铃薯的介绍书籍为例，书中大胆探讨全球人口迁移模式，社会改革及巨额融资等问题）然 而“曲径通幽”的方法也未尝不可。Happily Joe Moran’s history of Britain’s roads mostly manages to pull it off. The book is a ramble through the place of roads in British culture. Its approach is broadly linear, from the building of the first motorways in the 1950s to the anti-road protests of the 1990s and the paralysis of today. There are amusing diversions along the way: musings on the spiritual significance of motorway service stations to itinerant rock bands and the interesting observation that homing pigeons often follow man-made roads to their destinations.令人高兴地是，乔治默林关于英国公路史一书差不多成功的诠释了这一点。这本书是对公路在英国文化中影响的一些闲谈。其采用直述的方式，从上世纪50年代建 成第一条高速公路，到90年代的反公路抗议，再到如今的公路瘫痪问题。书中同时穿插着一些搞笑的成分，如：思考高速公路服务站对于巡回乐队的深层意义，及 关于家鸽可以顺着公路飞到目的地的有趣发现。The nearest the book comes to a central thesis is charting the creeping disenchantment with modernity that characterised the second half of the 20th century. Cars and roads have always had detractors (Mr Moran quotes G.K. Chesterton praising Britain抯 搒plendid parochialisms?and complaining about 搈otor-car civilisation卹oaring on at last to the capture of the solar system?. But for most of the 20th century, most people saw roads as heralds of a shinier, happier futu