8. "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" by Sherman Alexie

《不必说你爱我》（薛曼•亚历斯）

Family relationships are never simple. But Sherman Alexie's bond with his mother Lillian was more complex than most. She plunged her family into chaos with a drinking habit, but shed her addiction when it was on the brink of costing her everything. She survived a violent past, but created an elaborate facade to hide the truth. She selflessly cared for strangers, but was often incapable of showering her children with the affection that they so desperately craved. She wanted a better life for her son, but it was only by leaving her behind that he could hope to achieve it. It's these contradictions that made Lillian Alexie a beautiful, mercurial, abusive, intelligent, complicated, and very human woman. When she passed away, the incongruities that defined his mother shook Sherman and his remembrance of her. Grappling with the haunting ghosts of the past in the wake of loss, he responded the only way he knew how: he wrote.

家庭关系从来就不简单，但薛曼•亚历斯与母亲莉莉安的关系更是剪不断，理还乱。母亲的酗酒使家庭陷入一片混乱，不过，就在一切濒于崩溃之际，她及时戒掉了酒瘾。她从痛苦的过去中熬过来，精心炮制了一个光鮮亮丽的外壳来隐藏真相。她无私地照顾陌生人，却总是不能给渴望母爱的孩子们多一点关爱；她希望儿子能过上更好的生活，但只有让儿子离开她才能实现这一切。正是这些矛盾，造就了莉莉安•阿列克谢这样一个有血有肉、美丽善良、恶毒、聪明却又令人捉摸不透女人。莉莉安去世后，她身上的矛盾震撼了薛曼，让他对母亲的记忆产生了动摇。他承受着这份失落，昔日时光的影子挥之不去。薛曼拿起笔，以他知道的唯一方式回应。

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