If Richard Wright's ideal response to his fiction was that,

如果理查德.赖特对其小说理想的回应是那样的话
for the reader, the words would disappear,

对于读者言辞都将消失
and all they would be left with is their emotional response,

留下的是他们情感的回应
for O'Connor it's precisely that kind of response--to any

对奥康纳而言一定是下列回应
call: be it textual, be it an act of reading,

应忠实原文应是种阅读行为
an act of audition, hearing someone preach--that kind of response is

是种听力行为当聆听某人布道时
precisely not the one you are supposed to have.

这种回应一定不是你想要的
And so I would ask you to think about a couple of simple questions

因此我想请你们思考几个简单的问题
as you move through this book, and as you think about what I have to say about it.

当你们浏览本书时当你们思考我接下来要讲的内容时
One of them could begin with a reflection like this.

这些问题可以先从一个考虑开始
Would you ever want to sit down to dinner with any of the

你曾想过想要同这本小说中的人物
people in this novel?

坐下来一同共进晚餐吗