After the Storm

出版者:International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press

作者:Rousmaniere, John

页数:352

出版时间:2002-4

价格:$ 28.19

isbn号码:9780071377959

具体描述

'A thinking person's perfect storm. Rousmaniere extrapolates from individual accounts of horrifying events at sea to trace a history of human interpretations of the meaning of life and death on the vast deep' - Daniel Finamore, Russell W. Knight, Curator of Maritime Art and History, Peabody, Essex Museum. John Rousmaniere is considered by many to have originated the storm-writing genre with his classic Fastnet, Force 10, which the "Los Angeles Times" praised as 'a narrative worthy of the best sea literature.' In "After the Storm", his most ambitious work ever, he takes storm stories to a new level of revelation and universality."After the Storm" is the expression of a master storyteller and the ultimate consequence of Rousmaniere's own experience in the Fastnet storm. 'I can testify that storms change lives,' he says in the introduction, 'because one changed mine'. In the book's interrelated stories, he tells of the hopes and choices that put sailors in harm's way, and then takes us into the gales themselves with authoritative knowledge of horrific weather and the split-second decisions that seafarers must make in appalling conditions.He explores the consequences of these disasters for survivors, rescuers, families, communities, and, in some cases, nations. And he shows how storm experiences shape reputations and beliefs, often creating myths springing from the hunger for explanation. The pursuit of these interconnected strands draws the reader deep into our ambivalent relationship with the sea as both 'destroyer and preserver'. The stories include a tragedy that destroyed a prominent Boston family; the Pacific typhoon that stopped America's first war with Germany; the disappearance of the Portland - 'New England's Titanic'; the worst noncombatant disaster in U.S. Navy history; the stormy deaths of a poet (Percy Bysshe Shelley) and a visionary (Margaret Fuller); the gale that redeemed a prophet after nearly destroying him; the storm off Newfoundland that inspired the hymn "Amazing Grace"; and two wrenching tales of derelict ships.With all the harrowing twists of the best adventure writing and the shattering impact of a storm at sea, "After the Storm" is a moving, provocative exploration of the roots and consequences of sudden tragedy in human affairs. 'If survival storms have indeed become a genre unto themselves, this is the author who invented the genre with Fastnet, Force 10. Now, more than twenty years later, he's reinventing it all over again, showing us stories of survival and loss we thought we knew in a whole new light, finding others we should never have lost and need to learn again' - Charles Doane, senior editor, "SAIL" magazine. 'Vivid, wise, and heartfelt. The crowning achievement of one of America's foremost sailing writers' - Nathaniel Philbrick, National Book Award - winning author of "In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex".'Among writers who sail and sailors who write, John Rousmaniere is unrivaled in his technical expertise, his breadth of thought and feeling, and in his vigour and lucidity as a storyteller. "After the Storm" is his best book yet. Because this is Rousmaniere, there are enough finely described high winds and toppling waves here to satisfy the toughest and most fearless armchair adventurers. But the storm at sea is for Rousmaniere only the beginning. His quest for meaning in the chaos of turbulent air and water is conducted on so many fronts that the reader is left breathless and dazzled by this marvellous inquiry' - Jonathan Raban, author of "Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings" and "Bad Land: An American Romance".'No one writes about the violence of the sea better than John Rousmaniere, and he proves it again and again in After the Storm' - Stuart Woods, author of "Blue Water", "Green Skipper" and "The Short Forever". 'As captivating as it is unusual. Rousmaniere's descriptions of hurricanes and shipwrecks are among the best in the literature of the sea, but his book is far more than a sea story' - Philip Caputo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "A Rumour of War" and "The Voyage". 'Dynamic, complex, and relentlessly surprising. As Rousmaniere skilfully observes, the most remarkable thing about an offshore tempest is what it does to the people left in its wake' - Herb McCormick, sailing correspondent, "New York Times".

用户评价

我对这本书的整体感受，可以用“震撼”二字来概括。它带来的冲击力，并非来自血腥的场面或夸张的戏剧冲突，而是源自作者对“沉默”的极致运用。很多重要的信息，是通过“未说出口的话语”和“被省略的段落”来传达的。作者似乎深谙留白艺术的精髓，他敢于把最核心的情感留给读者自己去想象和填补，这种信任感，让我感觉自己被作者真正地尊重了。阅读体验是极其私密的，我仿佛进入了一个只有我和作者才能共享的秘密空间。书中的某些章节，描写得极其简约，甚至只有寥寥数语，但那份沉重感却比任何长篇大论都要来得有力。这本书的氛围营造极其成功，那种弥漫在字里行间的压抑、疏离感，让我真切地感受到了角色们所处的那个特定时空下的困境。我甚至能闻到那种特定的气味，感受到那种特定的光线，这完全是文字魔力所致。它不迎合市场，不试图讨好大众，它只是忠实地呈现了作者想要表达的世界，这种纯粹性，是当下文学作品中越来越稀缺的品质。

这部作品的结构设计简直是鬼斧神工。它摒弃了传统的时间线叙事，而是采用了一种近乎螺旋上升的结构，不断地在过去、现在和未来之间穿梭，每一次的回归，都带来了新的理解和更深的层次感。这种非线性叙事，对于习惯了传统故事套路的读者来说，无疑是一个挑战，但一旦你掌握了其内在的逻辑脉络，你会惊叹于作者构建这个复杂迷宫的精妙。大量的象征和隐喻穿插其中，使得每一次重读都能发现新的含义。我甚至开始做笔记，试图梳理出那些隐藏在字里行间的符号系统，去解读那些反复出现的物件或场景究竟代表着何种深层主题。它探讨的主题非常宏大，涉及存在、记忆的不可靠性以及人类在面对巨大变故时的集体心理，但作者处理得非常内敛，从不生硬地说教，而是通过人物的命运和细微的情绪波动自然地流淌出来。这本书的后劲非常足，它不是那种读完就扔在一边的娱乐消遣，而是会持续地在你的潜意识中发酵，让你在日常生活中不经意间联想到书中的某个场景或某句台词，并引发新一轮的思考。

这本书的文字风格，说实话，初看有些晦涩，但一旦适应了作者独特的“语法”，便会发现其中蕴含的巨大能量。它不像某些畅销小说那样追求表面的流畅和易懂，反而更像是一部需要用心去“解码”的艺术品。我用了好几天的时间才真正进入状态，起初那种格格不入的感觉，后来竟成了我爱上它的主要原因。作者似乎对每一个名词和动词都有着近乎偏执的选择标准，每一个词语都像是精心打磨过的宝石，散发着独特的光泽。叙事视角频繁地在不同人物之间切换，这种跳跃感起初让人有些迷失方向，但很快我意识到，这正是作者想要构建的多维视角，它让故事的真相变得更加立体和难以捉摸。那些看似不经意的背景描述，事后回想起来，往往是解开后续谜团的关键线索。这本书没有提供标准答案，它更像是一面棱镜，折射出生活本身的模糊和不确定性。我喜欢这种需要读者主动参与到意义构建中的阅读过程，它极大地激发了我的主动思考能力。读完最后一页，合上书本的那一刻，脑海中仍然回响着那些错综复杂的意象和声音，那种余音绕梁的感觉，久久不能散去。

翻开这本书，我仿佛被一股无形的力量拽入了一个光怪陆离的梦境。作者的笔触细腻得像是画家在描摹一幅印象派的风景画，每一个词语的堆叠都充满了莫名的张力，让人在阅读的过程中不断地追问“接下来会发生什么？”那种悬而未决的期待感，像一根细细的丝线，牢牢地牵引着我的心神。故事情节的推进，绝非那种平铺直叙的流水账，而是充满了巧妙的转折和出乎意料的铺垫。角色之间的对话火花四射，充满了张力，读到某个关键的对话时，我甚至需要停下来，反复咀嚼其中的深意，仿佛能从中窥见作者对人性复杂性的深刻洞察。这本书的叙事节奏把握得极好，时而急促如奔马，让人喘不过气来，时而又舒缓得像午后的微风，给予读者沉思的空间。它构建的世界观宏大而又具体，细节之处的描摹让人身临其境，我完全沉浸其中，仿佛自己就是那个正在经历这一切的局中人。这种沉浸感是极少有作品能够给予的，它不仅是一本书，更像是一次漫长而又引人入胜的感官体验。我尤其欣赏作者在处理情感冲突时的那种克制与爆发的平衡，那种撕心裂肺的痛楚，没有用过于煽情的辞藻去堆砌，反而通过人物微妙的肢体语言和眼神的交汇，将情绪推向了极致。

这本书的魅力，很大程度上来自于它对语言的“破坏性重构”。作者似乎有意打破既有的语法规范和逻辑连接，创造出一种既陌生又熟悉的话语体系。阅读的初期，我需要不断地放慢速度，甚至需要查阅字典去理解某些被赋予了全新意义的词汇，这无疑增加了阅读的门槛，但也带来了极大的智力上的满足感。这本书探讨的冲突，更多的是内在的、哲学的冲突，而非外在的打斗或阴谋。它探讨了身份认同的危机，探讨了时间如何扭曲我们对现实的认知。作者在处理哲学思辨时，避免了干巴巴的理论阐述，而是将这些复杂的概念熔铸到人物的日常行为和内心独白之中，使得它们变得鲜活可感。每一次的阅读，都像是在攀登一座思维的高峰，虽然过程艰辛，但最终所见的风景绝对值得。这不仅仅是一个故事，更像是一场关于认知极限的严肃探讨，我强烈推荐给那些不满足于仅仅寻求消遣，而是渴望在阅读中获得深刻蜕变的读者。