The Nirvana Blues

出版者:Henry Holt & Co

作者:Nichols, John

页数:509

出版时间:2000-2

价格:$ 24.85

装帧:Pap

isbn号码:9780805063400

具体描述

The seventies are over. All across America, the overgrown kids of the middle class are getting their acts together--and getting older. The once-tight Chicano community of Chamisaville is long gone, and the Anglo power brokers control almost everything. Joe Miniver--faithful husband, loving father, and all-around good guy--is about to sink roots. To buy the land he wants, he dreams up a coke scam that will net him the necessary bread. Joe is also about to embark on a series of erotic adventures with three headstrong women, bringing him face-to-face with the terrors (and absurdity) of the modern man-woman scene. This final volume in the New Mexico trilogy, like its predecessors, is a lusty, visionary novel that blends comedy and tragedy, reality and fantasy, tenderness and bite, to illuminate some very troubling truths about America--truths no less pointed and accurate today than they were twenty years ago. John Nichols is the author of nine novels and six works of nonfiction. He lives in Northern New Mexico. John Nichols's "New Mexico Trilogy," inaugurated in 1974 with the publication of "The Milagro Beanfield War," has grown from regional stature to national appeal; the three novels have evolved from literary radicals to cult classics. Beloved for his compassionate, richly comic vision, and widely admired for his insight into the cancer that accompanies unbridled progress, Nichols is the author of nine novels and six works of nonfiction. He lives in northern New Mexico. The 1970s are over. All across America, the overgrown kids of the middle class are getting their acts together--and getting older. The once-tight Chicano community of Chamisaville has long been a thing of the past, and the Anglo power brokers control almost everything. Joe Miniver--faithful husband, loving father, and all-around good guy--is about to settle down. In order to produce the funds he'll need to buy some land, he dreams up a drug scam. But Joe is also about to embark on a series of erotic adventures with three headstrong women, bringing him face-to-face with the terrors (and absurdity) of the modern man-woman scene. This final volume in the "New Mexico Trilogy," like its predecessors, is a lusty, visionary novel that blends comedy and tragedy, reality and fantasy, and tenderness and bite to illuminate very troubling truths about America--truths no less pointed and accurate now than they were back then. "A work of genius . . . Hilarious."--"Newsday" "Transcendentally profound, also achingly funny . . . Like a wonderful poem, or a great restaurant."--"Los Angeles Times Book Review" " This novel features] an epic scope, a wide-screen background, a large and varied cast of charming eccentrics and truly rotten villains."--"The Washington Post"

用户评价

这本小说的叙事腔调简直令人着迷，作者仿佛是一位经验老到的蓝调乐手，用文字敲击出那种带着烟草味和午夜霓虹灯下特有的忧郁与颓废。故事的开场便将我拽入了一个充满矛盾的世界，主角的内心挣扎如同他指尖滑过的琴弦，时而尖锐刺耳，时而低沉挽转。我尤其欣赏作者对环境细致入微的描摹，那些老旧酒吧里空气的湿度、酒保眼中一闪而过的疲惫，甚至连角落里那台老式点唱机发出的微弱电流声，都被捕捉得栩栩如生。这并非是一部情节跌宕起伏的“大作”，它更像是一系列精心编排的片段、一次深入角色灵魂的潜行。每一次阅读，都感觉自己像是偷窥了一个不该知道的秘密，那种介于清醒与迷醉之间的状态，让人欲罢不能。主角对待生活的某种近乎宿命论的接受态度，虽然让人心酸，却又无比真实，他不是在逃避，而是在以一种近乎仪式化的方式与自己的困境共舞。如果说文学作品有其独特的“配乐”，那么这本书的背景乐，一定是那种慢得让人心痛，却又让你不得不随着节奏摇摆的慢速布鲁斯。

坦白说，这本书的阅读体验是一场对耐心的考验，但回报却是丰厚的。它的节奏感掌握得非常微妙，有时像一条停滞不前的河流，表面平静无波，水面下却是暗流涌动，角色们在自我设定的泥沼中缓慢地拖拽着每一步。我特别留意了作者是如何处理“时间流逝”这一概念的。在这里，时间似乎不再是线性的度量衡，而更像是一种情绪的浓度。某些段落被拉伸得无比漫长，充满了对细节的反复审视，而另一些关键性的转折点，却被轻描淡写地一笔带过，仿佛主人公自己都不愿深究。这种处理方式营造出一种强烈的疏离感，让你既是局外人，又不得不代入到主角那份与世界格格不入的疏离感中。书中那种对“未竟事业”的执着描绘，让人深思：我们究竟是在追求一个目标，还是仅仅在享受追逐过程中的那种痛苦的专注感？这是一种非常成熟的叙事策略，它不讨好读者，而是要求读者拿出同等的深度去回应作者的探索。

这本书最让我印象深刻的是其构建的氛围——一种弥漫在空气中、挥之不去的“存在主义的冷”。它成功地营造了一种“漂浮感”，主角似乎没有固定的锚点，他游走于不同的城市和人际关系之间，像一片没有重量的叶子，随风起伏，却从未真正落地。作者通过大量的内心独白（虽然这些独白往往是以一种近乎旁观者的口吻出现的），揭示了现代人在寻求意义过程中的困境。书中对城市景观的描绘也极具特色，那些被遗忘的角落、被雨水冲刷的街道，都成为了角色内心迷宫的延伸。我感觉作者对人性中那些“灰色地带”有着近乎苛刻的洞察力，他没有把任何人塑造成纯粹的英雄或恶棍，每个人都带着自己无法愈合的裂痕在艰难前行。阅读过程中，我不断地被提醒，生活本质上可能就是一场无法完全解决的谜题，而这本书，与其说是提供了一个故事，不如说提供了一种面对这种不确定性的优雅姿态。

这本书的语言风格达到了近乎诗意的地步，但它并非那种矫揉造作的华丽辞藻堆砌，而是一种经过千锤百炼后呈现出的、近乎白描的力量感。作者对动词的选择尤为精准，每一个动作的描述都带着沉重的份量，仿佛是角色用尽全身力气完成的最后一次尝试。阅读过程中，我经常需要停下来，不是因为不理解，而是因为某一个短句的结构或某个词语的组合，突然间击中了内心最柔软的地方，带来一种强烈的共鸣感。它探讨的主题非常宏大——关于救赎、关于失去的意义，但处理方式却异常克制和内敛。大量的象征主义符号被巧妙地植入日常的场景中，比如窗台上那盆快要枯死的植物，或者主角总是无法修好的那块手表，它们不再是简单的道具，而是角色内在精神状态的外化。这本书的魅力在于它的“少”，正是这份克制，让最终爆发出的情感张力显得愈发震撼人心，让人在合上书页后，仍能感受到那份久久不散的余韵。

我得承认，初读此书时，我花了好一番功夫才适应作者那跳跃式的思维流和非线性的时间处理。这绝对不是那种按部就班、需要你全神贯注才能跟上的传统叙事。更像是一场梦境的碎片拼接，上一秒还在破旧的公寓里与孤独对饮，下一秒的意识就飘到了多年前某个夏日的沙滩上，毫无预兆，却又在某种潜意识的逻辑下完美衔接。这种写作手法要求读者具备极高的主动性去填补空白，去解读那些未言明的留白。但一旦适应了这种节奏，你会发现其带来的回馈是巨大的。作者用极简的笔触勾勒出了人与人之间复杂而脆弱的联结，那些对话短促、信息量却极大的交流，比长篇大论的内心独白更具穿透力。它迫使你放慢阅读的速度，不是为了理解情节，而是为了品味那些潜藏在文字间隙中的情绪张力。这本书成功地避开了所有陈词滥调，它没有提供廉价的安慰或明确的答案，只留给你一个开放的、充满回响的空间去思考存在的本质。