有關生日的現代短篇小說選集,村上春樹選,也有他的一篇。
Birthday Stories, edited by Haruki Murakami, is a slight dose of morphine for those who are waiting for the English translation of his latest novel, Kafka on Shore. This "timeless anthology" of short stories brings the readers to see birthdays at different angles. There are sober birthdays, and also sweet ones. Stories are selected to provide a wide range of writing styles, from contemporary writer Andrea Lee and Ethan Canin to the famous Raymond Craver, Paul Theroux and Murakami himself. Personally, my favourite picks in the book include: "The Moor" by Russell Banks (a man meeting a woman accidentally on her birthday thirty years later and a love affair involving an age difference of decades is revisited); "Timothy's Birthday" (about how Timothy draws away from his parents after his homoosexual partner died in the previous year); "The Birthday Cake" by Daniel Lyons (a mother who insists on not giving away a cake for their children who are not coming home for celebration); "The Bath" by Raymond Craver (the parental worries on concern on the car accdient of their beloved birthday son; the ending is particularly thought-provoking) and "Close to the Water's Edge" by Claire Keegan (an eminent Harvard student failing to change his lifestyle on his birthday).
The first book I picked up by Ethan Canin was his collection of short stories called The Palace Thief. His writing style already haunted me at that time. What amazes me more in his "Angel of Mercy, Angel of Wrath" is his fast-paced plot and the delicate treatment of the psychology of a paranoid and ignored birthday mother. The dialogues are simple but powerful, short by revealing.
Let's talk about the dose of Murakami morphine. His story "Birthday Girl" is simple and consise to bring out the message that no matter what we wish on our birthdays, we are still what we are. Wishes for a change in fact do not, or cannot, change anything at all". This is similar to the everything-happens-for-a-reason theory in Wild Sheel Chase. The birthday girl in the story does not tell the narrator what she wished on her 20th birthday. Does it matter? Her life still goes on like normal.(Remind me of the ending shot in Lost in Translation!)
This anthology is a fast-read. All the stories in the anthology are very solid, nothing pretentious. It is definitely one of the books you may pick out if you have no dates on the forthcoming birthday - a great birthday companion. What should be mentioned here is the poem (or lyrics?) written by Paul Simon at the beginning of the anthology - "Have a good time". How many of us really had a good time on our past birthdays? Or how many of us expected so? Will we have a (un)happy birthday next year? We don't know. But the characters in the stories tell us that they have something to grasp on theirs - the readers.
發表於2025-03-29
Birthday Stories -- Selected and Introduced by Haruki Murakami 2025 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載
說起來,每個人自己的“生日”,大概是所有普通的日子裏最特殊的一天瞭。在大多數的戀愛故事裏,“生日”都可能扮演很重要的角色,羞澀的女孩可能要絞盡腦汁猜測心上人的生日,並在那一天送上一份意義不明的禮物;而男孩們則可能會充分利用這樣的契機,來製造一個自以為足夠...
評分特彆喜歡這種灰暗的小故事。人生哪有那麼多波瀾壯闊,更多的就是一些不會輕易過去的痛苦,我們很清楚又很無奈,因為他們是這個世界的一部分。 《摩爾人》:一個中年小演員,在酒館遇到瞭一個過八十大壽的老太太,他二十幾歲時的忘年戀人。她關心他當年是不是處男,他關心她有過...
評分特彆喜歡這種灰暗的小故事。人生哪有那麼多波瀾壯闊,更多的就是一些不會輕易過去的痛苦,我們很清楚又很無奈,因為他們是這個世界的一部分。 《摩爾人》:一個中年小演員,在酒館遇到瞭一個過八十大壽的老太太,他二十幾歲時的忘年戀人。她關心他當年是不是處男,他關心她有過...
評分“哪怕過的生日再多、哪怕目睹和體驗的事件再大,我也永遠是我。歸根結底,自己不可能成為自身以外的任何存在。”村上前言的這句話可謂是本書主旨,不過村上的《生日女郎》反倒是最平庸的一篇瞭。 書中各篇情節大多令人嘆息,讀後心裏留下某種無可排遣的乖戾和揮之不去的蒼涼...
評分圖書標籤: 村上春樹 HarukiMurakami 小說 英文原版 英文版 英文原版書 英文 英國
太陰暗 棄瞭
評分購於華沙火車站。村上自己寫的birthday girl其實並沒有很看懂 倒是很應景的。。。還是好喜歡Claire Keegan!選集很用心呀好評!
評分太陰暗 棄瞭
評分太陰暗 棄瞭
評分讀這本書純屬偶然。本以為是村上的作品,拿到手纔發現是他選取的英美短片。但讀來著實有趣,和他自己的寫作風味很閤襯。
Birthday Stories -- Selected and Introduced by Haruki Murakami 2025 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載