英國倫敦百年老書店的新使命

Charing Cross Road used to be built as much from books as it was from bricks. Outside almost every shop were barrows and ad hoc shelves loaded with second-hand volumes, while the windows behind them were stuffed with anything from pulp novels to rare tooled leather bindings. Evocative photos from the 1930s show men in macs browsing beneath tired awnings, lights glowing warmly in the night-time fog.

昔日的查寧十字街(Charing Cross Road)起家於磚石建築，因書店而聲名遠揚。幾乎每家書店外都擺着手推車與特製書架，上面放着二手書，而在它們背後的櫥窗裏，各種書籍放得滿滿當當——從低俗類小說到封面壓印圖案的皮革裝訂珍版書，應有盡有。從上世紀30年代溫馨老照片中，仍可看到穿着雨衣的男士在陳舊雨篷下駐足，認真拜讀的身影，在霧霾的映襯下，夜幕下的燈光顯得暖意融融。

The West End’s book trade was, like everything in England, layered through with class. The posh bookshop was Hatchard’s in Piccadilly (established 1797); Charing Cross Road was for cheap second-hand stuff. At its centre was Foyles, billed a century ago as “the largest bookshop in the world” and still, at least in terms of the number of different titles stocked, the UK’s most expansive. The multilevel store, now the flagship of a seven-strong chain, once resembled a part of the Soviet Union. Nearby Collett’s might have been the left’s favoured bookshop but it was Foyles that retained the extraordinary Moscow-style triple queueing system: customers had to line up to receive a chit, then again to pay at an Edwardian-style till, then once more to collect the book from where they had started.

倫敦西區(West End)的書市與全英國各地一樣，也因服務不同社會階層而分成各個檔次。最棒的書屋當屬位於皮卡迪利的Hatchard’s（始建於1797年）；而查寧十字街則主要銷售便宜的二手書。位於街道中心中段的Foyles書店，100年前就被譽爲“全球規模最大的書店”，如今至少就藏書種類數而言，依然是全英國門類最齊全的書店。這家佔據多個樓層的書店如今是七家連鎖店的旗艦店，一度很象前蘇聯的一個加盟共和國。旁邊的Collett’s或許曾是左派最爲青睞的書店，但如今卻是Foyles書店至今仍延用着三位一體的蘇式排隊系統：顧客先排隊取便條，然後到愛德華七世風格的收銀臺付賬，最後再回到最初排隊的地方取書。

While this arrangement was designed to have as few booksellers as possible with their hands in the till, it failed spectacularly. Thefts were legendary, by both surly staff and customers (Elizabeth Taylor once lifted a copy of AE Housman’s A Shropshire Lad as she was being snapped by the paparazzi). Foyles was a kind of familiar chaos, with books piled up on stairwells and in cupboards. What you were looking for might just as likely be under a table as on a shelf, or at the bottom of a huge pile, layered with dust and sun-bleached. But it would, almost certainly, be there.

儘管如此安排的目的是讓收銀臺儘可能少地佔用銷售人員，然而效果卻適得其反。偷盜書現象遠近皆知，傲慢無禮的員工與顧客都難辭其咎（伊麗莎白•泰勒(Elizabeth Taylor)就曾經偷過一本A•E•豪斯曼的《什羅普郡少年》(AE Housman’s A Shropshire Lad)，而這一幕就被一路追蹤至此的狗仔隊拍了個正着）。昔日的Foyles書店內曾顯得嘈雜混亂，而讀者們對此完全熟視無睹——各種書就堆放在樓梯間與儲物間裏。諸位苦苦找尋的書可能在書架上，也可能就在桌子底下，或者就在一大堆書（書籍分層堆放，因陽光照射而褪了顏色，書上都積滿了塵灰）的最底下。但幾乎肯定就能在那兒找見。

Today, a generation away from those arcane practices, the bookshop is reopening in a huge new building a couple of doors away from its historic home. I met up with Christopher Foyle, the latest family member to own the store, in a cosy timber-panelled corner room looking out on to Manette Street and Charing Cross Road. “This used to be my aunt’s sitting room” he tells me, referring to the formidable and eccentric Christina Foyle, who ran the shop like a dictator for more than half a century. “After she died [in 1999] it was left behind a locked door and shut away, filled with books and papers – no one even knew it was here.”

如今這些祕而不宣的做法僅僅過去了一代人（30年）時間，Foyles就在離老店原址幾步之遙的新大樓裏重新開張。在用木板裝潢的舒適的角落房間裏，我見到了書店如今的傳人克里斯托弗•福伊爾(Christopher Foyle)，從這兒眺望，馬奈特街(Manette Street)與查寧十字街一覽無遺。“這兒過去曾是我姑媽的會客廳”，他對我說，他指的就是那位令人生畏、行事古怪的克里斯蒂娜•福伊爾(Christina Foyle)，她獨斷專橫地執掌了Foyles書店長達半個多世紀。“1999年我姑姑去世後，這個房間就緊鎖大門、無人問津，裏面堆滿了各種書與文件——甚至沒人知道它曾是我姑媽的會客廳。”

Foyle, double-breasted suit, colourful socks and silver hair, is a fine raconteur and charming company. He points out of the side window: “That was where Dickens based the character in A Tale of Two Cities.” In fact it used to be called Rose Street (once a hotbed of radicalism) and its name was changed to reflect its fictional inhabitant, Dr Manette. Books really do affect the physical fabric of the city around here.

滿頭銀髮的福伊爾身穿雙排扣西服、腳穿彩色襪子，一聊起來滔滔不絕，是個魅力十足的談伴。他指着側窗外說：“狄更斯(Dickens)正是依據那條街構思了《雙城記》(A Tale of Two Cities)中的諸多人物。”事實上，他所說的那條街過去曾叫玫瑰大街（Rose Street，曾是倫敦激進思潮的溫牀），如今改成此名，反映的是小說中的人物——馬奈特醫生。看來書真的影響了這個街區的前世今生。

Also present as we discuss the shop’s move to the former Central Saint Martins art school next door is architect Alex Lifschutz and Sam Husain, the chief executive with whom Foyle has worked since 2008. Why, I ask, did they need to relocate? “We’ve been on this site for over a hundred years,” Foyle tells me, “and the shop is higgledy piggledy and inefficient, it’s a maze. But of course customers like the nooks and crannies, the intimacy.”

就在我倆聊到書店搬到緊隔壁的新址（這兒過去曾是中央聖馬丁藝術學校(Central Saint Martins art school)時，設計師亞歷克斯•利夫舒茨(Alex Lifschutz)與書店CEO山姆•侯賽因(Sam Husain)也在座，自2008年以來，福伊爾就一直與山姆•侯賽因共事。我問福伊爾爲何又想搬新址？“我們書店已在此處開了100多年了，”福伊爾對我說，“書店顯得雜亂無章、經營效率低下，它陷入了迷途。顧客當然很喜歡原先那個僻靜地方，以及那種親切感。”

That leads us to quite how an institution such as Foyles might be recreated. Lifschutz (of Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands architects) says simply: “It needs to be a place which allows things to happen.” This is an interesting interjection precisely because of its enigmatic vagueness. The problem here, not just with Foyles but with the entire trade, is that books are a dwindling market. Lifschutz’s comment recognises the uncertainty. “I don’t think any of us knows how this business is going to end up in 10 years’ time” says Foyle. “But the acceleration into ebooks has slowed. We have enough faith that people will continue to buy books over the next 50 years to build a new store.” He compares the advent of ebooks to the arrival of electric light: “It became the main source of lighting everywhere – but the candle didn’t disappear.”

這自然就讓我們關心起Foyles這類大書店該如何重建。利夫舒茨（Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands建築事務所掌門人）說得很簡單：“它應該是成就奇蹟的地方。”他這段話很有意思，因爲說得既含糊、又高深。問題是這並非僅僅是Foyles書店、而是整個書店行業面臨的問題：圖書市場正不斷萎縮。利夫舒茨的話算是印證了書店經營的前景未卜。“我覺得誰也無法預知10年後書店的結局，”利夫舒茨說。“但電子圖書的飛速發展已開始放緩。我們充當相信：在未來半個世紀，讀者仍會不斷買紙質書，因此建新書店的理由很充分。”他把電子圖書的問世與電燈應用相提並論：“電燈是最主要的照明方式，但蠟燭並未消失。”

The candle, in fact, became a luxury product, which is perhaps what is happening to books today. Walking around the old shop, you saw beautifully designed reissues, new translations of obscure central European authors, fascinating collections of essays and short stories, quirky travel guides. The book trade may be held up by the blockbusters – JK Rowling, Stieg Larsson, EL James et al, but Foyles’ market is different. “Normally the council wouldn’t have given permission for change of use from an educational building to a shop,” says Foyle, “but we were seen as a kind of cultural institution – and we’re devoting part of the building to a gallery.”

事實上，蠟燭成了奢侈品，這或許就是紙質書籍如今的境況。逛舊書店時，設計精美的再版書、中歐名不見經傳作家的新譯著、精彩紛呈的散文集與短篇小說集以及祕境旅遊指南可謂一應俱全。整個書市可能得靠J•K•羅琳(JK Rowling)、斯蒂格•拉森(Stieg Larsson)以及E•L•詹姆斯(EL James)這些如雷貫耳的名作家支撐，但Foyles書店的經營截然不同。“通常說來，相關委員會不會同意把學校大樓改作書店，”福伊爾說，“但我們書店被視爲文化機構——我們把大樓一部分闢成了藝術陳列室。”

The old art school has its own history – a cultural resonance for the city every bit as worth preserving as that of the shop. The Art Deco building (still featuring its relief carvings of artisans and tradesmen) was completed in 1939 and the architects have restored its frontage, introducing a bronze main entrance and sympathetic steel windows. It sits halfway between institutional and industrial quite comfortably – a solid, massive presence.

昔日的中央聖馬丁藝術學校也具有悠久歷史——在倫敦看來，這屬於文化的惺惺相惜，與書店的歷史一樣，學校的所有東西都值得保存。這幢阿泰科風格(Art Deco)的大樓（目前仍大量雕有工匠及商人的浮雕）於1939年建成，而建築師們如今恢復了它的正面結構——青銅正門以及可愛的鋼窗。這幢恢宏氣派的大樓完美兼顧了文化教育與圖書產業。

When we enter the new building, Lifschutz points out the old stage in the atrium where the Sex Pistols once played. Now it will be an overflow area for the children’s book section. This was the school where fashion designers Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, Stella McCartney and John Galliano as well as artists Frank Auerbach and Gilbert and George studied, a warren of dingy corridors and paint-splashed, timeworn rooms. That interior is gone, replaced by a light, bright, open space with staggered mezzanines, so it is always possible to glimpse the next level, half a floor above you. There is no luxury shopfitting here, no confusion with the smooth artifice of a fashion store or a mall. Instead there are 4.6 miles of bookshelves, exposed ducting and lights in the ceilings and an emphasis on books as beautiful, tangible objects. It is a building of exceptional clarity, a fine series of spaces – even if I might have been happy to see something scuzzier, retaining an echo of the original Foyles’ chaos or the colour-spattered walls of the art school.

走進新大樓後，利夫舒茨就指着位於正廳的老舞臺區對我們說：性手槍樂隊(Sex Pistols)曾在此演出。如今這兒改成了兒童讀物區。在中央聖馬丁藝術學校狹窄昏暗的走廊以及舊房間（牆上仍留有濺灑的顏料）裏，亞歷山大•麥奎(Alexander McQueen)、侯賽因•卡拉揚(Hussein Chalayan)、斯特拉•麥卡特尼 (Stella McCartney)以及約翰•加里亞諾(John Galliano)等時裝設計師以及弗蘭克•奧爾巴赫(Frank Auerbach)、吉爾伯特(Gilbert)和喬治等藝術家曾在此苦讀。原先的室內裝飾物已被一併清除，取而代之的是裝有包廂的亮堂開放區域，半層樓上的包廂就能看到。這兒既沒奢華的裝潢，也沒時尚店或大型購物中心那種巧妙掩飾。相反，店裏卻擺着長達4.6英里的書架，沿屋頂鋪設的管道與燈飾一擡頭就能看到，圖書作爲美觀的實物反而“脫穎而出”。整個大樓分門別類進行空間劃分，一清二楚——儘管如此，我可能爲看到不太乾淨的地方而興奮，福伊爾書店曾有的那份雜亂以及昔日中央聖馬丁藝術學校那濺灑着顏料的牆壁仍在腦海中浮現。

This is, of course, not just a place for books. Modern retailing, as we are endlessly told, is about the experience. And Foyles was in the vanguard of “added value”. The readings, book clubs, literary lunches and events have been happening here since the 1920s. With a spacious glass-walled new gallery overlooking the atrium and the reinstatement of Ray’s jazz café, Foyles and the architects have made every effort to make this Lifschutz’s place where things can happen.

當然，這兒並非僅是書的世界。福伊爾不厭其煩地告訴我們：現代零售就是體驗的過程。Foyles書店曾是這種“增值服務”的引領者。自上世紀20年代以來，讀書會、讀書俱樂部、文學午餐會等活動時不時在Foyles書店舉行。由玻璃幕牆圍成的新藝術陳列區十分寬敞，可以俯瞰大樓正廳以及Ray’s jazz café咖啡廳，看來Foyles書店以及它聘請的建築師竭盡全力想要利夫舒茨設計的新書店成爲奇蹟成就之地。

Exactly what, however, is highly uncertain. The educational market in which the Foyle brothers started out (they sold textbooks from their failed civil service exams out of their mother’s Hoxton kitchen) is moving online; the second-hand bookshops nearby are struggling; Amazon’s discounting means people browse in shops then order later online (or even on their mobile devices in the store – “Booksellers really hate that,” says Husain with a grin). That lack of certainty is why the new store has to be big, flexible and seductive. It needs the stock to ensure that people still find what they are looking for, but also enough going on around the books to keep them coming in day and night.

但是，到底成就什麼奇蹟卻讓人捉摸不定。福伊爾兄弟創業伊始（他們公務員考試失利後，把存放在母親霍克斯頓(Hoxton)家中廚房的相關教材拿出去賣）的圖書市場如今開始向網絡轉戰；周邊的二手書店仍在苦苦支撐；亞馬遜(Amazon)的打折銷售策略意味着顧客可以先在實體書店看好樣書，然後再到網上訂購（甚至可以就在店裏用手機直接網訂）——“書店經營者對此深惡痛絕，”侯賽因苦笑說）。正是由於捉摸不定，所以新建書店不得不大型化、靈活經營以及想方設法吸引讀者。書店必須貨源充足，不但要確保讀者仍能找到苦苦尋覓的書籍，而且要確保讀者流連忘返，從而讓他們整天來泡書店。

“Architecture”, wrote Victor Hugo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831), “will no longer be the social art, the collective art, the dominating art. The grand poem, the grand edifice, the grand work of humanity will no longer be built: it will be printed.” Hugo saw print replacing stone. Now print is itself giving way to the ephemerality of electronic information. In a city that has struggled to retain its distinctive trade districts, perhaps this combination of architecture, place and the printed word will allow Charing Cross Road to hang on just a little longer as the street of words.

雨果(Victor Hugo)在《巴黎聖母院》(The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1931)中這樣寫道：“建築藝術將不再是社會的藝術，集體的藝術，佔統治地位的藝術了。人類的偉大詩篇，偉大建築，偉大作品不會再修建起來，而是要印刷出來。”雨果親眼看到印刷術取代了石頭。如今印刷術正逐漸被更新換代週期更短的電子信息技術所取代。在倫敦這個努力保留各個獨特貿易區域的城市，也許傳統建築、新書店以及紙質圖書的聯合能讓查寧十字街作爲書店一條街繼續存在下去。