The Young in One Another's Arms

出版者:Consortium Book Sales & Dist

作者:Rule, Jane

页数:256

出版时间:2005-5

价格:$ 19.15

装帧:Pap

isbn号码:9781551521817

具体描述

"Make no mistake about it-Jane Rule is one of the best writers we have."-Margaret Laurence "Lesbian identity itself is not so much subsumed into the community as kept whole within it . . . not singled out as an angle of vision any more or less valid than others."-Marilyn Schuster, "Feminist Studies" Jane Rule's 1977 novel "The Young in One Another's Arms" is set at the end of the Vietnam War in and around a boarding house in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver. Ruth, a middle-aged woman accustomed to tragedy in her own life, cares for the young and changing boarders of her house as a mother and guide. First published by Doubleday and reprinted by The Naiad Press, "The Young in One Another's Arms" is about communities and the differences between people that allow them to come together. Race, gender, sexuality and politics are reappearing themes among the characters. Young defectors from the American war gather in the house, barely able to articulate their bewilderment at life's challenges. In Rule's sparse but generous prose, the players dance around each others' lives, moving fluidly, loving, maturing, finding solace or heartbreak, each one touching the lives of all the others. The author's passion for life and stoic sensibility are evident on every page. It's a warm, sophisticated novel celebrating life in all its diversity. The novel, one of the first ever to depict lesbians in a positive light, won the Canadian Authors Association Best Novel of the Year Award in 1978. With an introduction by novelist Katherine V. Forrest, author of "Curious Wine" and "Daughters of a Coral Dawn." Little Sister's Classics is a new series of books from Arsenal Pulp Press, reviving lost and out-of-print gay and lesbian classic books, both fiction and nonfiction. The books in the series are produced in conjunction with Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium, the heroic Vancouver bookstore well-known for its anti-censorship efforts.

用户评价

老实说，这本书的开篇略显沉闷，需要一点耐心才能真正进入作者构建的世界。但一旦跨过了那道门槛，后续的阅读体验便如同一场盛大的、精心编排的戏剧。我特别留意到作者在处理角色之间张力时的手法，那些欲言又止、眼神交错的瞬间，比任何激烈的争吵都更具杀伤力。它不是那种让你读完就想马上放下、去思考下一本书的快餐文学，它需要你慢下来，品味那些句子中潜藏的重量。关于权力结构和个人挣扎的描绘，是全书中最有力的部分之一，它揭示了在既定体制下，个体如何努力维持尊严和自主性的艰难历程。

这是一部结构极其精巧的作品，阅读过程中我像是在解开一个多层次的谜团。作者巧妙地运用了时间线的跳跃和不同人物叙事的穿插，使得故事的碎片只有在最后才完全拼合，那种豁然开朗的感觉极为畅快淋漓。不同角色的声音辨识度非常高，每个人都有自己独特的语调和看待世界的滤镜，这使得即使在群像戏中，核心人物的个性也丝毫没有模糊。更值得称道的是，作者并未简单地提供答案，而是留下了许多值得深思的空白和暧昧地带，迫使读者走出书本，继续在脑海中与故事中的困境共处。它探讨的主题深刻而普遍，关于选择与后果，关于记忆如何塑造我们，这些思考远超出了故事本身的范畴。

这本书的叙事视角令人耳目一新，作者似乎拥有某种魔力，能将读者瞬间拉入人物的内心深处，体验他们最微妙的情感波动。我尤其欣赏作者对环境细节的刻画，那些场景描写不仅仅是背景板，它们仿佛拥有自己的生命，与角色的心境紧密交织，共同推动着故事的发展。读到某个关于友谊和背叛的段落时，我感到一种强烈的共鸣，仿佛作者捕捉到了人性中最复杂、最难言喻的那一部分。文字的节奏感把握得极佳，时而舒缓悠长，引人沉思，时而又猛然加快，带来心跳加速的紧迫感。通篇下来，虽然情节发展出乎意料，但最终却又感到一种命运的必然性，这是一种非常高明的叙事技巧，让阅读体验充满了探索的乐趣。

这部作品的语言风格极具个人特色，带有一种古典的庄重感，但又巧妙地融入了现代的疏离和讽刺。很多句子本身就是艺术品，我常常需要停下来，反复朗读几遍，才能完全领会其中蕴含的多重含义。作者对情感的捕捉极其精准，特别是那种青春期特有的那种既渴望亲近又恐惧暴露的矛盾心理，描绘得入木三分，让人感同身受。它不回避人性的阴暗面，但同时又在最深的绝望中挖掘出微弱却坚韧的光芒。对我来说，这本书像是一面镜子，映照出我们生命中那些未被完全治愈的伤口，以及我们如何学会带着这些伤口继续前行。

读完后，我感觉自己经历了一场漫长的、近乎冥想的旅程。这本书最成功的地方在于，它构建了一个拥有自己完整生态系统的世界观，从特定的社会习俗到人物之间的复杂历史渊源，都处理得井井有条，丝毫不觉突兀。作者的叙事节奏处理得非常老练，能够精确地知道何时该加速推进，何时该放慢脚步，给予读者时间消化刚刚发生的情感冲击。它探讨了身份认同的流变性，以及我们如何被他人的期待所定义或重塑，这个主题在当下环境中显得尤为切题。这本书无疑会留在我的阅读记忆中很长时间，它带来的思考是持久而富有启发性的。