Something Nasty in the Woodshed

出版者:Penguin USA

作者:Kyril Bonfiglioli

页数:174

出版时间:2005-7

价格:35.00元

装帧:Pap

isbn号码:9781585675647

具体描述

Publisher Comments :

Readers and critics alike are toasting the American appearance of Kyril Bonfiglioli's wickedly funny cult mysteries, first published in the UK in the 1970s. Featuring the Honorable Charlie Mortdecai — degenerate aristocrat, amoral art dealer, seasoned epicurean, unwilling assasin, and general knave-about-Piccadilly — Something Nasty In the Woodshed is, chronologically, the third in the Mortdecai trilogy, after Don't Point That Thing at Me and After You With the Pistol, although written second.

The players are, once again, Charlie, Johanna, and Jock (the thuggish anti-Jeeves), and there is plenty of liquor, lasciviousness, and filthy lucre to keep the plot turning. As Stephen Fry put it, "You couldn't snuggle under the duvet with anything more disreputable and delightful."

Book Description

Life always seems to be more complicated than it should be for Charlie Mortdecai: degenerate aristocrat, amoral art dealer, seasoned epicurean, unwilling assassin, and confirmed coward.

Something Nasty in the Woodshed finds Charlie exiled from London due to his growing unpopularity on account of some shady art deals. Taking refuge in a country estate on the Channel Island of Jersey, he embarks on a well-intended hedonistic interlude. But his vacation soon morphs into a macabre manhunt, as Charlie seeks to expose a local rapist whose modus operandi bears a striking resemblance to that of a warlock from ancient British mythology known as ?The Beast of Jersey.

From Publishers Weekly

This third installment of the scintillating British mystery series originally published in the U.K. in the 1970s finds shady art dealer Charlie Mortdecai, randy wife Johanna and butler Jock, a "one-eyed, one-fanged" ex-convict, sojourning on the isle of Jersey. The setting provides many targets—drunken peasants, rich tourists, quaint French customs, unintelligible patois—for Charlie's jaundiced drolleries. His omnidirectional disdain is intruded upon by a string of brutal rapes, with Satanic ritual overtones, that victimize his neighbors and embroil him in a farcical investigation featuring fruitless stakeouts and a Black Mass. Through it all, Charlie keeps his priorities straight: avoiding personal danger and inconvenience and ensuring that the flow of food and alcohol is never interrupted. Bonfiglioli's comic invention and lacerating, politically incorrect humor are in brilliant form, but they take on a somewhat rancid edge in this outing. Unlike the innocuous art thievery that figured in Don't Point That Thing at Me, Bonfiglioli's first volume, serial rape is the wrong background for the facetiousness and light misogyny that characterizes Charlie's satirical voice. Weighed down by this dissonance, the laughs finally falter and the story ends on a dark note of trauma and suicide. Fans of Charlie's dissolute charm and outrageous wit will find it, but some readers may decide that certain crimes just aren't funny. (July 5)

From Booklist

Straight from the era of joke cocktail napkins, this 1972 Brit-farce mystery marks the end of a trilogy featuring "degenerate aristocrat" Charlie Mortdecai. Positive notices generated by last year's first American publication of his debut, Don't Point That Thing at Me, suggest the shady art dealer and sunny wit remains a cherished favorite of knowing diehards, some of whom compare the late Bonfiglioli favorably to Wodehouse. But this outing, at least, which finds Mortdecai having a jolly time tracking down a masked serial rapist near his home on Jersey with the assistance of lusty wife Johanna and insolent manservant Jock Strapp (whee!), hasn't quite aged like fine cheese. And yet, this reprobate's rapier running commentary on all things debauched, debased, and dunderheaded is not without its aggressively tasteless charms. Anyone who fails to suppress a smile at arch zingers such as "Never let a day go by without making an enemy, is what I say, even if it's only a woman" might find Mortdecai a boon companion all the way through to the mystery's surprisingly dark and sober resolution.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Frank Sennett

Book Dimension

Height (mm) 203 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Width (mm) 139

用户评价

读完《Something Nasty in the Woodshed》，我真的被彻底震惊了，用“惊悚”来形容似乎都有些苍白无力。我必须承认，在开始阅读之前，我并没有抱有多高的期待，只是被那个古怪的书名吸引了。然而，随着故事的深入，我发现自己完全沉浸其中，仿佛置身于那片阴森的林间空地，空气中弥漫着令人窒息的恐惧。作者对于氛围的营造堪称一绝，字里行间充满了令人不安的细节，从吱嘎作响的木板声，到远处传来若有若无的低语，再到那股挥之不去的、难以名状的恶臭，每一个元素都精准地击中了读者的神经。 更让我印象深刻的是角色塑造。虽然故事聚焦于一个核心事件，但书中出现的每个人物都不是简单的符号，他们都有着自己的秘密、恐惧和动机，即使是那些出场不多的小角色，也仿佛拥有鲜活的生命。这种深度让整个故事更加可信，也让读者的代入感更强。我常常在阅读时脑海中勾勒出他们的面孔，想象着他们在那种极端环境下会做出怎样的选择。作者并没有刻意去美化任何角色，而是将他们赤裸裸地展现在读者面前，他们的挣扎、他们的绝望，都如此真实，让我忍不住为他们捏一把汗，又为他们的命运感到唏mer。

我必须说，《Something Nasty in the Woodshed》这本书给我带来了前所未有的阅读体验。我完全被它的情节所吸引，以至于常常在深夜里，借着微弱的灯光，也舍不得放下。作者在构建故事方面展现出了非凡的想象力，那些令人毛骨悚然的场景，以及那些出乎意料的转折，都让我叹为观止。 更让我感到惊喜的是，这本书并没有仅仅停留在制造惊吓的层面。它更深层次地探讨了人性的复杂性，以及在极端环境下，人们会做出怎样的选择。那些角色的心理描写，以及他们内心的挣扎，都显得格外真实，让我不禁开始思考，如果在同样的情况下，我会做出怎样的反应。这种能够引发读者深度思考的作品，在我看来是非常难得的。它不仅仅是一本娱乐性的读物，更是一次对人性的深刻剖析。

《Something Nasty in the Woodshed》这本书，让我体验到了一种久违的阅读快感。当我翻开第一页时，我并没有预料到自己会被如此深切地吸引。作者用一种独特的叙事方式，将我带入了一个充满谜团的世界。每一个场景的描绘都栩栩如生，仿佛我亲眼目睹了发生的一切。 我尤其欣赏作者对于细节的把握。那些看似不经意的描写，却往往隐藏着重要的线索。它不是那种一眼就能看穿的套路式故事，而是需要读者仔细品味，才能体会到其中深意。这种需要读者主动参与思考的写作方式，让我感到非常满足。我仿佛成了一个侦探，在字里行间寻找蛛丝马迹，试图解开故事的谜底。这种沉浸式的阅读体验，是我近年来少有的。

老实说，《Something Nasty in the Woodshed》这本书带给我的阅读体验是极其独特且难以忘怀的。我必须说，我被它深深地吸引住了，以至于在放下书本之后，仍然久久不能平静。作者的叙事手法非常有感染力，他能够巧妙地运用语言，将一种潜藏在表象之下的、令人毛骨悚然的真相一点一点地揭示出来。这种抽丝剥茧式的叙述方式，让我在阅读过程中始终保持着高度的紧张感，每一次看似微不足道的细节，都可能隐藏着巨大的伏笔，让人忍不住去猜测，去分析。 最让我感到震撼的是，这本书并没有依赖于那些陈词滥调的恐怖元素，而是通过一种更加心理化的方式来制造恐惧。它触及了人性深处最隐秘的角落，那些我们不愿意去面对的黑暗面。书中对于一些极端情绪的描绘，以及角色们在巨大压力下的反应，都显得异常真实，甚至让人感到一丝丝的寒意，因为我们可能会在某个瞬间，看到自己内心的投影。这种对人性的深刻洞察，让这本书的价值超越了单纯的惊悚小说，它更像是一面镜子，照出了我们内心深处最不愿意触碰的部分。

从一开始，《Something Nasty in the Woodshed》就抓住了我的注意力，并且毫不松懈。我是一个平时阅读量不算小的人，但这本书所展现出来的叙事张力，绝对是我近几年来读到过的最出色的作品之一。作者在推进情节方面表现出了非凡的技巧，他懂得如何在高潮迭起之处巧妙地插入一些令人意想不到的转折，让读者始终处于一种“欲知后事如何”的期待之中。 而且，这本书的结构设计也相当精妙。它并不是一个简单的线性故事，而是通过多条线索的交织，逐渐拼凑出一个完整的图景。这种复杂的叙事结构，反而让故事更具深度和层次感。我在阅读的时候，需要不断地将零散的信息串联起来，才能逐渐理解事件的来龙去脉。这种挑战智力的过程，让我感到非常投入，也让我对作者的才华佩服不已。每一处细节的处理都恰到好处，没有多余的赘述，也没有遗漏的关键信息，一切都仿佛是经过精心设计的。