War's Wake

出版者:Replica Books

作者:Howerton, Allan Wilford

页数:336

价格:$ 25.98

装帧:Pap

isbn号码:9781413492101

具体描述

Old photographs and ghostly remembrance empower an ethereal novel re-creating an obsessive romance in the aftermath of World War II. On a university campus bulging with ex-GIs, a traumatized combat veteran and a sophomore fell madly in love. Years later, the long-dead sophomore, invading his computer as he tries to make a novel of his life, lures him back to reprise what went wrong. Their bittersweet reassessments and besotted indulgences provide a wacky tour of Truman-era, greatest-generation morality, a sobering look at postwar USA, and a passionate time-travel love story about memory, commitment, and decisive decisions that frame our lives. Set on the campus of a western university and a magical island-a sort of Garden of Eden-in a nearby city park, War's Wake is a bittersweet story of lost love. As the tale plays out it is also a bit of subtle spoofing of compulsive romance and the manners, mores, and politics of the greatest generation's immediate postwar period. For the old infantry sergeant, reentry into civil society was not all beds of roses framed with white picket fences. Lost love, however, is not always to be lamented, particularly when transformed to a fairytale in the blurred light of a bygone time. Drawing upon imagination stimulated by a bevy of old photographs from his high school and college years before and after World War II, the author has created a seductive novel of autobiographic fiction taking the reader into fantasy worlds that never were but might have been. The photographs, appearing at the end of the narrative, give a powerful authenticity to the fiction, making it almost believable amid all of its bizarre fancies and contradictions. We acceptbecause who among us has not envisaged lives different from those we have actually experienced? On one level the story is a wacky farce of fun and frolic set in a bygone time. Readers may, if they wish, revel in that alone. But, along with the breezy satire of Truman-era morality and the myth of 'the greatest generation," there is a more serious side. It invites reflection upon a brief period just after World War II when world events hung in the balance and there was a chance, albeit slight, that the Cold War with the Soviet Union might have been averted. If so, much would have been different including, perhaps, the lives of Hattie and Will. At the end readers, unlike Hattie and Will, will know the secret of the failed romance. They will have had a jolly good time and perhaps shed a few tears. Somewhere along the way they may have paused for reflection on the nature of love and commitment and taken the measure of their own lives: Did it all really happen? Or was it only a fragment of a dream?

用户评价

这本书的语言风格，用“华丽”来形容或许有些轻描淡写，我更愿意称之为“富有韵律的散文诗”。它很少使用直白的陈述句，而是倾向于运用大量复杂的从句和精妙的比喻，构建起一层层意象的迷宫。阅读的体验更像是在欣赏一幅由文字编织而成的巨大挂毯，你需要耐心地去辨认每一根丝线的走向。尤其是在描述环境和情绪的交织时，作者似乎找到了某种独特的音节组合，读起来带着一种古典的庄重感和现代的疏离感。我发现自己常常会不自觉地大声朗读某些段落，仅仅是为了感受那些音节在口中碰撞时产生的回响。这不仅仅是一部小说，它更像是一场精心编排的文学演出，对文字本身的审美达到了极高的水准。当然，这种风格对部分追求快速阅读的读者来说，可能会构成一定的门槛，但对于我这种沉迷于文字构造之美的读者而言，这无疑是一种饕餮盛宴。

这部作品的叙事节奏简直是教科书级别的。开篇的铺垫极其细腻，作者似乎毫不急于将我们抛入事件的中心，而是花了大量篇幅描绘那个特定时代背景下，人物内心的细微波动和他们所处的环境的压抑感。我记得有一段描写主角在战后城市中漫步的场景，文字的密度极高，每一个名词和动词都仿佛经过了千锤百炼，精确地捕捉到了那种颓败的美感。光影的运用、空气中弥漫的尘土味，甚至远处传来的若有似无的机械轰鸣声，都被刻画得栩栩如生。这种缓慢的推进并非拖沓，反而是为后续的情感爆发积蓄了巨大的势能。当冲突真正来临时，你才会意识到之前所有的平静都是暴风雨前的宁静。阅读过程中，我好几次因为情节的突然转折而停下来，甚至需要合上书本，让那些强烈的画面感在脑海中沉淀一会儿。这种对细节的极致把控，使得即便是最日常的对话，也充满了潜台词和时代烙印，绝非泛泛而谈的流水账，而是充满力量的文本雕塑。

我必须承认，这本书在人物塑造上的大胆和深刻，着实让我感到震撼。它没有将任何角色简单地标签化为“英雄”或“恶棍”。相反，每个人物都是一个复杂的矛盾体，他们的道德边界在极端环境下被反复拉扯和重塑。例如，那位看似冷酷无情的军官，他的每一次决断背后，都隐藏着一段令人心碎的往事，作者通过穿插的闪回片段，巧妙地揭示了人性的幽暗与光辉是如何并存的。更令人称道的是，作者对于“创伤后遗症”的描绘，是如此的真实和不加修饰，它不是一个简单的叙事工具，而是真正内化为人物行为模式的一部分。你会看到一个角色如何被过去的阴影所驱使，如何用看似荒谬的方式来应对无法承受的现实。这种对人物内心世界的深入挖掘，使得整部作品的重量感倍增，它不仅仅是在讲述一个宏大的历史事件，更是在探讨“幸存”本身意味着什么。我完全相信，这些角色的挣扎与选择，是基于他们所处的特定历史熔炉中千锤百炼的结果。

这本书的结构设计之精巧，让我不得不佩服作者的布局能力。它并非严格遵循线性时间叙事，而是采用了多重叙事视角的交织，并且在时间线上进行了大胆的跳跃和重组。一开始阅读时，我感到有些许迷失，不同人物的故事线如同几条河流，各自奔腾，看似毫不相干。然而，随着阅读的深入，你会逐渐发现那些看似随机的场景和对话，都在为最终的汇合点做着精密的铺垫。作者像一个高明的钟表匠，将无数细小的齿轮隐藏在表壳之下，直到最后几章，所有的元素才倏然咬合，发出清脆的“咔嗒”声，一个宏大且令人唏嘘的全景豁然呈现在眼前。这种“延迟满足”式的叙事策略，极大地提升了阅读的参与感和最终的阅读体验的震撼力。它要求读者保持高度的专注，但回报是无与伦比的整体感。

从主题挖掘的深度来看，这部作品无疑是令人深思的。它并没有停留在对战争场面的简单控诉或者对历史功过的评判上，而是将焦点投向了更微妙、更持久的后遗症——那些看不见的战场。作者探讨了记忆的不可靠性，以及社会结构在剧烈动荡后如何进行缓慢而痛苦的重组。我特别欣赏作者处理“真相”的方式。在故事中，没有一个统一的、被所有人接受的版本，每个人都携带着自己破碎的碎片化的记忆和诠释，这些碎片彼此碰撞，产生新的火花，也加剧了人与人之间的隔阂。这种对集体叙事瓦解的描摹，极具当代性。它迫使读者反思，当我们面对一个巨大的历史伤口时，究竟是应该寻求一个简单的结论，还是应该学会在永恒的模糊和不确定性中寻求共存。这使得整本书的哲学意味远超出了类型小说的范畴。