它的结构确实十分奇特，长诗仅占全书十分之一，评注却非常冗长繁琐。主体长诗讲的是诗人的一生，他死去的女儿、他对人生、爱情、死亡、真实与虚幻的理解等等。而邻居通过长长的评注，强行把诗的意思扭转，变成一名来自赞巴拉（一个虚构国家）的末代国王的故事。这位邻居可能就是那个被废黜的国王，逃至美国、化名金波特在学校任教，想让诗人把自己的经历写进诗里。也有可能他在牵强附会、捕风捉影的过程中，把自己幻想成了那个虚构的国王。
“微暗的火”出自莎士比亚悲剧《雅典的泰门》，指月亮是小偷，靠吸收太阳的光源得到“微暗的火”。纳博科夫借此讽刺邻居，即他是月亮，从诗人身上窃取光芒。
说到这里，是不是觉得有一点点熟悉？K在执行任务的过程中，认为自己就是那个“奇迹”、“天选之子”，可最后才发现“天选之子”另有其人。当然，他跟《微暗的火》里的邻居不同，是被误导、被当成“疑兵之计”的人。但一个人的经历是真实的，而另一个的经历是虚幻的；一个人把自己当成另一个人……还是让我觉得非常相似。
而金波特对“诗”这种艺术形式进行“再创造”，也对应了K如今拥有和爱上另一种人类创作的产物——全息女友Joi。所以这可能可以擦边球式解释一下
为什么Joi“不喜欢这本书”，这似乎是提醒着她：她完全是人造的，被创造者赋予内容，甚至还不如复制人。
还有一个巧合是，《微暗的火》的索引中，邻居金波特（Kinbote）用“K”来指代自己，用“S”来指代诗人谢德（Shade）。而《银翼杀手2049》中高斯林扮演的角色恰恰叫“K”，而德卡德真正的女儿姓Stelline——
K与S。
再来看看K警官的基准线测试（Baseline）。片中有注释提到，基准线测试是一种创伤后测试；高斯林在本片的艺术手册里解释道，“基准线是为了测试银翼杀手的工作对他的大脑和心理的影响，因为他们要去猎杀自己的同类，所以他们要不断地接受评估，看看工作有没有给他们造成精神冲击。”
而K的基准线测试内容的关键部分，就是节选自《微暗的火》中长诗的第三章：
“血黑色的虚无开始编织
一个网络，细胞之间相连
再相连，与那主干再相连。
于是在那黑暗衬托下，
显现一座喷泉向上高喷的白水柱。”
（此段和以下引用的本书译文均来自 译者：梅绍武，上海译文出版社）
原文：
And blood-black nothingness began to spin
A system of cells interlinked within
Cells interlinked within cells interlinked
Within one stem。 And dreadfully distinct
Against the dark， a tall white fountain played。
这一段单独抽出来看，很难理解它到底是什么意思。但联系上下文，它的意义就清晰了。
这是诗人在描述自己的一次濒死经历，他确信自己已“跨越了边界”，在鬼门关走过一遭。但他的医生却认为他只是产生了幻觉，并没有死过一次。而在诗人的这次经历中，“白喷泉”（a
tall white fountain）是一个关键的意象。
后来，这位诗人又遇到一件怪事：“我发现一桩好似孪生表演的奇迹”（I came across what seemed a twin
display）。他在杂志上看到一位女士的事迹，她心脏病发作后被救活，向记者描述自己见到的“死后境界”，其中她看到一座果园，果园里有“一座又高又白的喷泉（a
tall white
fountain）”。于是诗人震惊了，他赶紧联系写文章的记者，要到了这位女士的地址，驱车去拜访她。但他却没有跟她深入探讨那座“白喷泉”，原因是：
“我原本可以让她讲些更多有关我俩
在“死后的境界”见到的那白喷泉。
但（我觉得）我如果提出那一细节，
她就会猛扑过来，好似抓住一种可喜可贺的
亲密关系，一种神圣的结合，
把她和我神秘地连接在一起，
我俩的灵魂顿时就会像
兄妹在那敏感的乱伦边缘
瑟瑟发抖。”
后来诗人去找采访这位女士的记者，他却告诉诗人，这篇文章有一处并不关键的误印——是山峦（Mountain）而不是喷泉（Fountain）。也就是说，
诗人在濒死的状态中看到的是“白喷泉”，而那位女士看到的则是“白山峦”，并不一样。于是诗人又一次受到心灵的冲击，本以为两人存在一种神圣的的联系，到头来才发现只是一个无关紧要的误会。
这难道不就是《银翼杀手2049》里K的遭遇吗？一度以为自己是“天选之子”，最后才发现只是个误会。而《微暗的火》这段关于“白喷泉”的误会，其中“孪生”、“兄妹”的描述，又让人联想到电影里同一天出生的男孩女孩、同样的基因，K与Stelline博士像双胞胎兄妹一样的关系。
目前还没有找到电影主创对《微暗的火》的解释，但不管符不符合我上述的过度解读（划掉），《微暗的火》是一本编得像迷宫一样，有着丰富内涵、可供不同角度解读的书，同样的，不同的观众也能从《银翼杀手2049》中咀嚼出不同的味道。这大概也是两者的相似之处吧。
而既然说到了《微暗的火》，我们再来详细说说这个“基准线测试”——饰演K的高斯林认为：
有关基准线测试的戏份，对理解K这个角色至关重要。《银翼杀手》中有区分复制人的Voight
Kampff测试，从原作背景时间前进30年的《银翼杀手2049》，复制人要接受这样的测试则演变成了“基准线”。
而其实在剧本中，本来只是要求K朗诵一段《微暗的火》原文，并没有说为什么要这样做。所以高斯林一边琢磨那段“cells
interlinked”（ 原文篇幅很短，就是上文引用过的那段），一边找了一位发声教练Natsuko
Ohama来训练，对方建议了一种叫做Dropping
In的技术：为了探寻一段文字里的词语的含义，而去将其中每一个词语能用在的所有的语境都探索一遍。
高斯林说，这项技术的过程非常冗长、重复。但它能让人神志恍惚，非常用力地扰乱一个人的心神。而他想到，如果用这个过程来推断K的经历的话，那它能刺透他的内心：“我相信我们可以通过一个能侵蚀人的心灵的过程，来了解K真正的心理状态。”
根据这个，
高斯林自己捣鼓出了“基准线测试”的文字内容，他将小段的《微暗的火》原文，发展到一段8分钟左右的测试（下文有全文）。其中不断出现cells
interlinked和《微暗的火》的一些词句，并在此基础上加入一些看似随机的问题，比如“你小时候怕黑吗？”“你上一次看见星空是什么时候？”“你抱着自己的孩子时是什么感受？”而一些问题重复出现了一些关键字，即高斯林说到的“探索一个词能用到的所有语境”。但不管问的是什么，接受测试的复制人必须聚焦于问题之后的那个词语，并马上重复出来。
这到底在测什么？跟《银翼杀手》中问复制人的问题一样，是关于“复制人拥有人类情感”，但路子不同：复制人在根本上不被允许有二心，基准线测试就是要检测他们是否有了人类式的情感波动（猜测是被允许在地球上的Nexus-9复制人需要接受测试，片中并未明说到底哪些复制人需要，是只有银翼杀手，还是所有Nexus-9型，暂不得而知。但直接听从警局调遣的银翼杀手，肯定是都要接受的）。在那些词语前，接受测试者被问到的问题都非常私人、人性化、琐碎，就像复制人被给予的那些记忆一样。像你我听到那些问题，第一反应肯定是去消化、寻找答案吧？“你第一次给女孩送花是什么时候？”这必然会引发你当时的记忆和情绪。而对于K，这样是不被允许的。
K的工作是猎杀同类，可以想象是“情绪波动”的高危人群，电影中他第一次接受测试是杀了Sapper之后，那时他虽然也有触动，但心绪尚算稳定。但第二次时，风云突变，认为自己是“被生出来的、特别的孩子”的K，内心已经不能继续做他被严格要求的那种“古井无波”的复制人了。所以检测结果是他“远远没达到基准线标准”，勒令他停职调试。如高斯林所说，这正是反应了K心里真正的状态，是一个关键的转变。
而，作为一个人类，你在读这个测试时，是否感受到了高斯林说的“磨蚀心灵”？不难想象，一个有着自己情绪的复制人被这样的测试“规范”，他们会经历怎样的感受。
附reddit用户SquishySC从《银翼杀手2049》电影书中录入的
基准线测试全文：
'A blood black nothingness began to spin.
Began to spin.
Let's move on to system. System.
Feel that in your body. The system.
What does it feel like to be part of the system. System.
Is there anything in your body that wants to resist the system?
System.
Do you get pleasure out of being a part of the system?
System.
Have they created you to be a part of the system? System.
Is there security in being a part of the system? System.
Is there a sound that comes with the system? System.
We're going to go on. Cells.
They were all put together at a time. Cells.
Millions and billions of them. Cells.
Were you ever arrested? Cells.
Did you spend much time in the cell? Cells.
Have you ever been in an instituion? Cells.
Do they keep you in a cell? Cells.
When you're not performing your duties do they keep you in a little
box? Cells.
Interlinked.
What's it like to hold the hand of someone you love?
Interlinked.
Do they teach you how to feel finger to finger? Interlinked.
Do you long for having your heart interlinked? Interlinked.
Do you dream about being interlinked?
Have they left a place for you where you can dream?
Interlinked.
What's it like to hold your child in your arms? Interlinked.
What's it like to play with your dog? Interlinked.
Do you feel that there's a part of you that's missing?
Interlinked.
Do you like to connect to things? Interlinked.
What happens when that linkage is broken? Interlinked.
Have they let you feel heartbreak? Interlinked.
Did you buy a present for the person you love? Within cells
interlinked.
Why don't you say that three times? Within cells interlinked.
Within cells interlinked. Within cells interlinked.
Where do you go when you go within? Within.
Has anyone ever locked you out of a room? Within.
Within.
Where do you go to when you go within? Within.
Where is the place in the world you feel the safest? Within.
Do you have a heart? Within.
Stem.
Did you pick asparagus stems?
What comes from something else? Stem.
Have you been to the source of a river? Stem.
When's the first time you gave a flower to a girl? Stem.
What did she look like? Stem.
Is it a slang word for people's legs? Stem.
Have you planeted things in the ground? Stem.
Have you ever been in a legal battle? Stem.
Within one stem.
Dreadfully.
Is that an old fashioned word? Dreadfully.
Did you ever want to live in the nineteenth century?
Dreadfully.
What's it like to be filled with dread? Dreadfully.
Do you think you could find out all the answers to all the
questions? Dreadfully.
Distinct.
How good are your eyes? Distinct.
Do you have a particular personality? Distinct.
What separates somebody from somebody else? Distinct.
Who do you admire most in the world? Distinct.
What was your most shameful moment? Distinct.
Dreadfully distinct.
Dark.
Were you afraid of the dark whan you were little? Dark.
What's it like to hide under a bed? Dark.
Did they keep you in a drawer when they were building you?
Dark?
Was it dark in there? Dark.
Do you have dark thoughts? Dark?
Did they program you to have dark thoughts? Dark?
Do you think it's some kind of corruption these dark thoughts?
Dark.
Maybe it's a spot of rust or something? Dark.
Who's the darkest person you know? Dark.
What is it like when someone gives you the silent treatment.
Dark.
Who did you get your darkness from? Dark.
Against the dark.
What kind of power do you have against the dark. Against the
dark.
Do you think there is such a thing as evil? Against the dark.
Do you think you can protect people against the dark. Against the
dark.
Why are these things happening? Against the dark.
Do you prefer the day or the night? Against the dark.
When is the last time you saw a starry sky? Against the dark.
What's your favorite part of the moon? Against the dark.
Fountain.
Have you seen the Trevi fountain in Rome? Fountain.
Have you ever seen the fountain in Lincoln center? Fountain.
Have you seen fountains out in the wild? Fountain.
What's it like when you have an orgasm. Fountain.
Have you read the Fountainhead? Fountain.
White Fountain.
Is it pure white? White Fountain.
Is that a metaphor? White Fountain.
How did the white Fountain make you feel? White Fountain.
A tall white fountain played.
When you were little did you ever fall into a Fountain? A Tall
White Fountain.
Do you like fire, earth, air or water. A Tall White Fountain.
Do you like skipping around in the water? A Tall White
Fountain.
A blood black nothingness.
A system of cells.
Within cells interlinked.
Within one stem.
And dreadfully distinct.
Against the dark.
A tall white fountain played.'
