凱瑟琳•剋萊斯曼•泰勒(Kathrine Kressmann Taylor, 1903—1996)
被譽為“撼動美國文壇的女作傢”。泰勒是美國賓夕法尼亞州蓋茨堡大學第一位獲得終身教職的女性。她一生完成瞭三部小說和十餘篇短篇小說。
Address Unknown (1938)
(The title is actually a mistranslation of the term "Adressat unbekannt," which is marked on the last envelope. The correct translation of "Adressat" is "addressee," not "address"; which is much more in keeping with the plot of the story.) It is the story of two German friends and business partners, art dealers in San Francisco. Martin, a gentile, returns with his family to Germany, exhilarated by the advances in the old country since the humiliation of the Great War. The Jewish partner, Max, remains in the States to keep the business going. The story is told entirely in letters between them, from 1932 to 1934, the technique used in 84 Charing Cross Road.
Martin writes about the wonderful Third Reich and this fellow Hitler. At first Max is covetous: "How I envy you! ... You go to a democratic Germany, a land with a deep culture and the beginnings of a fine political freedom."
But Max soon doubts his friend’s enthusiasm, having heard from eyewitnesses who got out of Berlin that Jews were being beaten and their businesses boycotted. Martin responds, telling Max that, while they may be good friends, everybody knows that Jews have been the universal scapegoats, and "a few must suffer for the millions to be saved."
"This Jew trouble is only an incident," Martin says. "Something bigger is happening." Nonetheless, he asks Max to stop writing to him. If a letter were intercepted, he (Martin) would lose his official position and he and his family would be endangered.
Max writes anyhow when his own sister, an actress in Berlin, goes missing. He becomes frantic to learn her fate. Martin responds on bank stationery (less likely to be inspected) and tells Max his sister is dead. He admits that he turned Griselle away when she came to him, her brother’s dearest friend, for sanctuary.
There is a gap of about a month. After that, Max starts writing letters to Martin at home, carrying only what looks like business and remarks about the weather, but written as though they have a hidden encoded meaning, with strange references to exact dimensions of pictures and so on. The letters refer to "our grandmother" and imply that Martin is also Jewish. The letters from Munich to San Francisco get shorter and more panicky, begging Max to stop: "My God, Max, do you know what you do? ... These letters you have sent ... are not delivered, but they bring me in and ... demand I give them the code ... I beg you, Max, no more, no more! Stop while I can be saved."
But Max continues: "Prepare these for distribution by March 24th: Rubens 12 by 77, blue; Giotto 1 by 317, green and white; Poussin 20 by 90, red and white."
At last a letter is returned to Max, stamped: Adressat unbekannt. Addressee Unknown.
The book’s "Afterword," lovingly written by Mrs. Taylor’s son, says that the idea for her story came from a small news article: American students in Germany wrote home with the truth about the Nazi atrocities, a truth most Americans, including Charles Lindbergh, would not accept. Fraternity brothers thought it would be funny to send them letters making fun of Hitler, and they wrote back, "Stop it. We’re in danger. These people don’t fool around. You could murder [someone] by writing letters to him." Thus emerged the idea of "letter as weapon" or "murder by mail."
Address Unknown was performed as a stage play in France, 2001, in Israel from 2002 (still running) and at the Promenade Theater, New York, 2004. It has also been performed in Germany, Italy, Turkey,Argentina, South Africa and in various cities of the USA.
Address Unknown (Cimzett Ismeretlen) premieres on the stage of Spinoza Haz in Budapest, Hungary on September 6, 2008.
發表於2024-11-01
Address Unknown 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載
不到兩萬字的內容。模擬齣瞭我心中的對某種“不久可能”的恐懼;甚至部分的,是對某些“已經/正在發生”的睏惑。寫法當然很討巧,不過節奏上感覺多少有點過快(也許是主觀上不願意接受),未免有“上帝視角”。不過也說不定,所謂“心路曆程”,並不是什麼勻速運動,許多轉嚮/...
評分 評分五十多頁一波三摺,隻是幾封短短的通信,但卻能讓人從中看齣玄機,看齣一身冷汗。 全書的兩次查無此人,絲絲入扣。壓抑的政治環境、友情的微妙變化、為愛情犧牲的少女、齣人意料的結局,錯綜復雜的人性...... “人性就是在一定社會製度和一定曆史條件下形成的人的本性。”人性...
評分某個晚上從一電颱聆聽到這本書的1分鍾介紹。內容十分吸引,於是自助圖書館藉迴來看。很薄的一本,這個版本豆瓣找不到,也沒有看其他版本,不知道翻譯如何。但由於僅僅約20封信,可能翻譯好壞沒有起到很關鍵的因素。 【為何馬丁會如此轉變?】 作者說她之所以寫這部小說正是因為...
評分不到兩萬字的內容。模擬齣瞭我心中的對某種“不久可能”的恐懼;甚至部分的,是對某些“已經/正在發生”的睏惑。寫法當然很討巧,不過節奏上感覺多少有點過快(也許是主觀上不願意接受),未免有“上帝視角”。不過也說不定,所謂“心路曆程”,並不是什麼勻速運動,許多轉嚮/...
圖書標籤: English 小說 fiction 史 英文原版 文藝 KatherineKressmannTaylor Fiction
結局……我還想太多瞭。
評分結局……我還想太多瞭。
評分《查無此人》。我覺得這並不是體現什麼人性的善惡,全都是被曆史的洪流裹挾的渺小的個體。對今天的意義是,生在和平年代應該珍惜自己的幸福;為保留住和平做點什麼;look beyond what you see and protect your family from harm。
評分結局很震撼,超難忘……世界真黑暗……
評分還以為是為瞭避免censorship纔寫瞭歌頌hitler的話 沒想到. 後續發展也很是厲害. 1938年第一次發錶 80年後看還是很讓人警醒.
Address Unknown 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載