来自《耶鲁大学开放课程：1945年后的美国小说 第16集》

• 
  
  The inevitable is, in many cases, trivial fates dealt out at cocktail parties.
  这种命运通过鸡尾酒会上的琐事展现出来
• 
  
  It is told in several voices, Maria's and three of her closest
  故事分别由玛丽亚和她的三个密友讲述
• 
  
  friends, and each character is haunted by an ineffable loss of
  每个人都被一种不可言状的无意义感
• 
  
  meaning and consequences that they either ignore or are ignorant of, willfully or otherwise.
  和他们有意无意忽视的各种后果所困扰
• 
  
  In many ways these characters' lives are coming or drifting apart,
  从很多方面来看 人物的生活聚散无常
• 
  
  and their lack of awareness of this fact becomes,
  她们对这一点毫不知晓
• 
  
  through Didion's prose, our own, so that the shock of the
  通过迪迪安的叙述 我们也感同身受
• 
  
  final scenes is both powerful
  所以 最后一幕带来的冲击不仅强有力
• 
  
  and hopelessly hollow. And I don't mean that in the negative sense.
  而且有令人绝望的空虚感 但并不消极
• 
  
  I mean that we feel that consequences perhaps are unimportant,
  我们感到 也许结果无足轻重
• 
  
  that there is something larger at work.
  背后还有更大的意义
• 
  
  So, Play It As It Lays. I think, fits very nicely into
  《顺其自然》非常契合我们的课程大纲