Dustin, a Cleveland psychologist in his 40s, is still damaged by the monstrous murder of his parents, aunt and uncle when he was 13. He testified against his older foster brother Rusty, who was sentenced to life in prison. Dustin’s wife is dying from ovarian cancer, and he can barely connect with his teenage sons. His professional distance is challenged by Aqil, a new client, a former policeman obsessed with a string of drownings of drunken young men. And he learns that new DNA evidence has freed Rusty. As Aqil draws Dustin into an amateur investigation, Rusty reaches out to Dustin’s troubled son Aaron. Imagine the shower scene in Psycho, extended across 11 sections and three decades, with multiple unsolved mysteries. That’s the level of intensity Chaon achieves in this dark, provocative thriller.
達(dá)斯汀是美國(guó)克里夫蘭州一位40多歲的心理學(xué)家。他13歲時(shí),父母、叔叔和嬸嬸都被人殘忍殺害,這件事給他造成陰影到現(xiàn)在都沒(méi)散去。他曾經(jīng)作證指控自家收養(yǎng)的兄弟羅斯緹是兇手,后者被判處終身監(jiān)禁。達(dá)斯汀的妻子患卵巢癌,將不久于人世,而他與自己十幾歲的兒子們關(guān)系又很疏離。他一貫保持的專(zhuān)業(yè)距離被一位新客戶(hù)阿基爾打破了。阿基爾以前是警察,一直沉迷于追蹤一系列醉酒青年溺亡案件。達(dá)斯汀還得知,因?yàn)橛辛诵碌腄NA證據(jù),羅斯緹已經(jīng)被釋放了。阿基爾帶著達(dá)斯汀展開(kāi)業(yè)余調(diào)查的時(shí)候,羅斯緹開(kāi)始接近達(dá)斯汀的兒子艾倫。想象一下電影《驚魂記》里的那個(gè)謀殺場(chǎng)景,橫跨了三十年,延續(xù)了11部作品,引出多個(gè)未解之謎。查恩在這本充滿(mǎn)黑暗又讓人欲罷不能的驚悚小說(shuō)中描繪的就是如《驚魂記》那樣的緊張氛圍。
Hannah Tinti, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
漢娜•亭蒂《塞繆爾•霍利的十二種生活》
Loo’s mother Lily is dead, her devoted father Samuel is a mystery she deciphers through the dozen bullet wounds on his body – he, remarkably is alive – and his personal mementoes. At the age of 12 he teaches her how to shoot a gun. Shortly after, he moves her to her mother’s hometown, a Massachusetts fishing village. There they subsist mostly on his catch and Loo deals with being an outsider at school. Over the years Loo questions her mother’s death by drowning and discovers elements of her father’s criminal past. Tinti spells it out in chapters based on each of the bullets that pierced his body (Bullet Number Three on Whidbey Island; Number Six in Alaska within view of the glacier where icebergs are born).
盧的媽媽莉莉去世了,一直深?lèi)?ài)她的父親塞繆爾還健在,但他一直是個(gè)謎。盧通過(guò)父親身上的十幾處槍傷和他的一些個(gè)人收藏物品試圖解開(kāi)這個(gè)謎團(tuán)。在盧12歲的時(shí)候,父親就教她打槍。之后不久,父親就把她帶到了她母親的家鄉(xiāng),馬薩諸塞州的一個(gè)小漁村。在那里,他們主要靠父親打漁為生,盧在學(xué)校里一直是個(gè)局外人。多年以來(lái),盧一直對(duì)母親溺亡一事存疑,還發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些父親過(guò)往犯罪行為的蛛絲馬跡。亭蒂依照盧的父親身體里子彈的順序展開(kāi)整個(gè)故事(比如:第三顆子彈,惠德比島;第六顆子彈,能看見(jiàn)冰川的阿拉斯加)。
Domenico Starnone, Ties
多米尼科•斯塔諾內(nèi)《牽絆》
Novelist Jhumpa Lahiri’s first published translation of an Italian text is the 11th novel from the Strega-award winning Neapolitan writer Starnone. It’s a story of family ties disrupted, and of the echoes of marital distress played out over many decades, into the next generation. Starnone toggles between past and present, giving equal time to the voices of Vanda and her husband Aldo, and adding the perspectives of their son Sandro and daughter Anna. He frames his tale with a mysterious home invasion. Each detail resonates, from the name of the family cat to the idiosyncratic way in which Aldo ties his shoes to his cherished Polaroids. Distinguished by its distinctive characters and clarity of tone, Ties is a gem.
小說(shuō)家裘帕•拉希莉出版的第一本源自意大利語(yǔ)的譯作是史特雷加文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)獲得者、來(lái)自意大利那不勒斯的斯塔諾內(nèi)的第11本小說(shuō)。這是一個(gè)關(guān)于破裂的家庭關(guān)系,以及婚姻困擾持續(xù)幾十年,以致影響到下一代的故事。斯塔諾內(nèi)的敘述在過(guò)去和現(xiàn)在之間不斷切換,給予莞達(dá)和她的丈夫阿爾多相當(dāng)?shù)钠鶃?lái)展現(xiàn)各自的視角,后來(lái)還加入了他們的兒子桑德羅和女兒安娜的視角。他以一起奇怪的入室案件搭起整個(gè)故事的框架。書(shū)中的每個(gè)細(xì)節(jié)都有深意,從他們家貓的名字,到阿爾多系鞋帶的怪異方式,以及他愛(ài)不釋手的拍立得相機(jī)。每個(gè)角色都特點(diǎn)鮮明,節(jié)奏明晰?!稜拷O》確是一部佳作。
Meg Howrey, The Wanderers
梅格?荷瑞《漫游者》
Howrey’s new novel was inspired by a 2011 news report on Mars500, a 520-day simulation of a space trip to Mars with a six-member crew from Russia, China and Europe. She gives equal time to Yoshi, Sergei and Helen, a crew of three astronauts from Japan, Russia and the US, who hope to be chosen for the Mars mission sponsored by a private company. As they endure a 17-month simulation, each must prove to have the stamina, sanity and discipline to withstand the enforced isolation and the series of calculated failures created by the “sim” team. The key question for each: “Does it feel real?”
荷瑞的這部新作靈感來(lái)源于2011年一篇有關(guān)“火星500”項(xiàng)目的新聞報(bào)道。該項(xiàng)目是一個(gè)為期520天的模擬火星考察項(xiàng)目,由來(lái)自俄羅斯、中國(guó)和歐洲的六名宇航員參與。她的小說(shuō)中有三位主人公,來(lái)自日本的Yoshi,俄羅斯的Sergei以及美國(guó)的Helen。他們?nèi)硕枷M鼙贿x中參加這個(gè)由私人公司贊助的火星項(xiàng)目。他們要經(jīng)歷17個(gè)月的模擬訓(xùn)練,每個(gè)人都必須證明自己有毅力、足夠的理性以及自律經(jīng)受強(qiáng)制隔離的環(huán)境以及模擬團(tuán)隊(duì)設(shè)置的一系列故障。每個(gè)人面臨的一個(gè)最重要的問(wèn)題是:“跟真實(shí)場(chǎng)景感覺(jué)一樣嗎?”
Douglas Coupland, Bit Rot
道格拉斯•庫(kù)普蘭《數(shù)據(jù)退化》
Canadian writer, designer and artist Coupland names his new collection of stories and essays for a digital archiving term describing how files can spontaneously decompose. With characteristic wit, he extends that term to describe “the way my brain has been feeling since 2000, as I shed older and weaker neurons and connections and create and enhance new and unexpected ones.” Bit Rot offers priceless insights. Few people are better at explaining the ramifications of the digital era.
加拿大作家、設(shè)計(jì)師及藝術(shù)家?guī)炱仗m用一個(gè)數(shù)字存檔專(zhuān)業(yè)術(shù)語(yǔ)給自己最新的故事散文集命名。這個(gè)bit rot指存檔的文件會(huì)自行分解消融。他用自己獨(dú)有的智慧將這一概念進(jìn)行了擴(kuò)展,將其用來(lái)描述“自2000年以來(lái)我大腦的感覺(jué),我拋棄老舊、疲弱的神經(jīng)元及其聯(lián)系,建立并加強(qiáng)了新的以及意外發(fā)現(xiàn)的神經(jīng)關(guān)聯(lián)。” 《數(shù)據(jù)退化》一書(shū)提供的深入見(jiàn)解非常寶貴。沒(méi)幾個(gè)人能比他更善于解讀數(shù)字時(shí)代產(chǎn)生的影響。
Jami Attenberg, All Grown Up
潔米?艾廷博格《長(zhǎng)大成人》
Andrea Bern is turning 40 soon. She’s an independent woman: “I’m alone. I’m a drinker. I’m a former artist. I’m a shrieker in bed.” Still, despite eight years in therapy, she’s questioning what it means to be an adult. She left art school in Chicago to come back to New York (“Spiritually, it’s a reverse commute”). She left her art career for a full-time job, chose not to marry or have a child. She’s paid off her student loans, and furnished an apartment. Attenberg captures the kaleidoscopic flow of Andrea’s life in spare and witty vignettes that build to a surprising and moving conclusion.
安德莉亞?伯恩馬上就40歲了。她是位獨(dú)立女性:“我獨(dú)自一人,我愛(ài)喝酒,我以前是個(gè)藝術(shù)家,我床事的時(shí)候會(huì)尖叫。”可是,雖然經(jīng)過(guò)了八年的治療,她依然不明白作為一個(gè)成年人意味著什么。她離開(kāi)芝加哥的藝術(shù)學(xué)校,回到紐約(“從精神上來(lái)說(shuō),這是一次倒退”)。她放棄藝術(shù)事業(yè),選擇了一份全職的工作,她選擇不結(jié)婚、不生孩子。她還清了學(xué)生貸款,精心布置了自己的房間。艾廷博格用一些精巧布局的小花絮捕捉到了安德莉亞生活中的一些片段,而這些花絮最終構(gòu)成了一個(gè)令人意外又感人的結(jié)局。
Paul La Farge, The Night Ocean
保羅?拉?法基《夜之?!?/strong>
The bizarre and the scandalous float through this novel, an alternate history that speculates about the connection between seminal American horror writer HP Lovecraft and a gay fan named Robert Barlow. The two lived together for several months in 1934, when Lovecraft was 43 and Barlow was 16. They collaborated on a story called The Night Ocean before Lovecraft died in 1937. La Farge constructs a story within a story filled with artifice – a faux document (the Erotonimicon, a supposed Lovecraft diary), false identities and faked suicides. Psychiatrist Marina Willett watches as her husband Charlie becomes obsessed with Lovecraft and believes he has found Barlow alive and living in Canada. Then Charlie disappears. This many-layered literary mystery is chockablock with surprise appearances – William Burroughs, Ursula Le Guin, Diego Rivera, Roy Cohn, to name a few.
這本小說(shuō)由怪異事件和丑聞貫穿始終。其實(shí),這個(gè)故事是對(duì)知名的美國(guó)恐怖小說(shuō)作家HP?洛夫克萊夫特和一個(gè)同性戀粉絲羅伯特?巴羅之間隱秘關(guān)系猜測(cè)的另類(lèi)改編。1934年,43歲的洛夫克萊夫和16歲的巴羅一起住了幾個(gè)月。他們?cè)?937年,洛夫克萊夫特去世之前,合作完成了一個(gè)名為《夜之?!返墓适?。拉?法基很巧妙地在一個(gè)故事里構(gòu)建了另一個(gè)故事——一份假檔案(據(jù)稱(chēng)是洛夫克萊夫的日記)、假身份以及假自殺案?,旣惸?威力特眼看著丈夫查理癡迷于洛夫克萊夫,他認(rèn)為他已經(jīng)找到了生活在加拿大的巴羅。然后,查理就失蹤了。這部故事層次豐富的神秘作品里面還有不少名作家意外現(xiàn)身,其中包括:威廉?伯羅斯、厄休拉•勒奎恩、迭戈•里維拉以及羅依•康等。
Helene Cooper, Madame President
海倫•庫(kù)伯《女總統(tǒng)》
Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Cooper, who was born in Liberia, traces the rise of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first democratically elected female president in Africa and a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Sirleaf was born in 1938, educated in Monrovia and the US (including a master’s degree at Harvard), and served as finance minister. Jailed by the military dictator Samuel Doe, she went into exile. In the 2005 presidential elections, Sirleaf generated a huge voting bloc of Liberian women, leading her to victory. Cooper’s incisive portrait is undergirded by her reporting on the country’s internal power struggles and years of dictatorial rule, Doe’s bloody military coup and civil war sparked by the notoriously brutal Charles Taylor. She also details the challenges Sirleaf met, including a $4.7 billion debt and the Ebola virus.
曾經(jīng)獲得普利策獎(jiǎng)的美國(guó)記者庫(kù)伯出生于利比里亞,她在本書(shū)中追蹤記錄了非洲首位民選女總統(tǒng)及2011年諾貝爾和平獎(jiǎng)獲得者埃倫•約翰遜•瑟利夫的成功之路。瑟利夫出生于1938年,曾在蒙羅維亞和美國(guó)接受教育(在哈佛大學(xué)獲得碩士學(xué)位),擔(dān)任過(guò)利比里亞財(cái)政部長(zhǎng)。被軍事獨(dú)裁者塞繆爾•杜伊監(jiān)禁之后,瑟利夫開(kāi)始流亡生涯。在2005年的總統(tǒng)選舉中,瑟利夫獲得了大量女性選民的支持,并最終獲勝。庫(kù)伯對(duì)于利比里亞國(guó)內(nèi)的政權(quán)爭(zhēng)斗、多年獨(dú)裁統(tǒng)治、杜伊的血腥軍事政變以及由兇殘的查爾斯•泰勒引發(fā)的內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的報(bào)道為她的深入描寫(xiě)提供了堅(jiān)實(shí)的基礎(chǔ)。她同時(shí)還詳細(xì)描寫(xiě)了瑟利夫面臨的各種挑戰(zhàn),其中包括47億美元的債務(wù)和埃博拉病毒。
Mathias Enard, Compass
馬蒂亞斯•埃納爾《羅盤(pán)》
Compass chronicles one long night of memory, opium, illness and insomnia spent by Franz Ritter, a musicologist with an interest in Iranian music. Franz is entranced with the intersection of East and West, and with Sarah, a copper-haired academic with a fiery intellect. Now Sarah has written him from Sarawak, bringing up recollections, including their intimate overnight in Palmyra, academic conferences in Tehran, a voyage to Beirut with Nadim, the Iranian musician she marries. Haunted by unrequited love, Franz meditates on his treasured compass, once owned by Beethoven, which always points east. Compass, which won France’s Priz Goncourt, is poetic, ironic, irresistible.
《羅盤(pán)》記述的是對(duì)伊朗音樂(lè)頗有興趣的音樂(lè)學(xué)者弗朗茲•瑞德在回憶、鴉片、疾病和失眠中度過(guò)的一個(gè)漫漫長(zhǎng)夜。弗朗茲癡迷于東西方的交融,他還對(duì)一位棕色頭發(fā)、學(xué)術(shù)觀點(diǎn)犀利的女孩莎拉著了迷。他收到了莎拉從沙撈越給他寫(xiě)來(lái)的信,引發(fā)了諸多回憶:他們?cè)诎蜖柮桌捕鹊牧枷?,在德黑蘭參加的學(xué)術(shù)會(huì)議,和莎拉的丈夫、伊朗音樂(lè)家納迪姆一起乘船去貝魯特。因?yàn)楸贿@段單相思困擾,弗朗茲拿著他的寶貝羅盤(pán)陷入沉思。這個(gè)羅盤(pán)總是指向東方,貝多芬曾經(jīng)是這個(gè)羅盤(pán)的主人。《羅盤(pán)》曾獲得法國(guó)龔古爾獎(jiǎng),是一本富有詩(shī)意、充滿(mǎn)諷刺,讓人難以抵抗的作品。
Elif Batuman, The Idiot
艾麗芙•巴特曼《白癡》
Selin, the daughter of Turkish immigrants, arrives at Harvard in 1995 – at the dawn of email – ready to take on all intellectual challenges that come her way. She makes friends with Svetlana, a Serbian classmate, and becomes close with Ivan, a Hungarian upperclassman. Thanks to Ivan, she spends the summer after her freshman year in Europe, with a job teaching English in Hungarian villages. Seline is open-minded and adventurous (“I got on a random tram to see where it went,” she notes during a visit to Budapest). Batuman’s sardonic wit makes for a delectable unfolding of Selin’s experience of love, life and language.
賽琳是一位土耳其移民的女兒,她在1995年,電子郵件剛誕生的時(shí)候,來(lái)到哈佛大學(xué),準(zhǔn)備迎接學(xué)業(yè)上的各種挑戰(zhàn)。她跟班里來(lái)自塞爾維亞的同學(xué)Svetlana成為了朋友,跟一位匈牙利上層男士Ivan關(guān)系變得親密。因?yàn)镮van的關(guān)系,賽琳在大一之后的那個(gè)暑假去了歐洲,在一個(gè)匈牙利村子里教英語(yǔ)。賽琳思想開(kāi)放又很有冒險(xiǎn)精神(她在記錄一次布達(dá)佩斯之旅時(shí)寫(xiě)道:“我隨便坐上了一輛電車(chē),就想看看它往哪兒開(kāi)”)。巴特曼的冷幽默智慧讓賽琳的愛(ài)情、生活以及語(yǔ)言經(jīng)歷以一種令人愉悅的方式展開(kāi)。