The Journals

出版者:Random House Inc

作者:Fowles, John/ Drazin, Charles

页数:668

价格:$35.00

装帧:HRD

isbn号码:9781400044313

具体描述

From Publishers Weekly The author of The French Lieutenant's Woman had a conventional upper-middle-class English background and Oxford education. This volume of Fowles's (b. 1926) journals opens as he finishes his last year at college with few plans for his vocation as a writer but a great sense of himself. The journals are， in many respects， more about the latter than the former. Fowles's intense examination of his own character， moods and thoughts gets punctured only by new places and exceptional people. His time as a schoolteacher in France and later Greece brings out the best in his entries. On the isle of Spetsai， which later inspired the bestseller The Magus， Fowles is enthralled by its landscape and inhabitants， and becomes entangled in a love triangle with Elizabeth Christy， the wife of a fellow teacher. Returning to London， he elopes with her， finds a position teaching at a secretarial college and labors on various literary projects. The success of his first novel， The Collector (1963)， makes little private difference to Fowles; his collaboration with Hollywood on movie adaptations and socializing with literary lions like John Bayley and Iris Murdoch prove less important to him than being able to escape London and move to Lyme Regis， where he would write his most famous novel and continue his voluminous， meticulous journals. 16 pages of b&w photos. (May 5) From Booklist Starred Review John Fowles' fiction， especially The Magus and The French Lieutenant's Woman， continue to enthrall readers， but it's been 20 years since his last novel. This long absence makes the revelation of his practice of keeping remarkably detailed， analytical journals all the more arresting. As the first of two volumes makes clear， journal writing is just as compelling to Fowles as fiction， and readers will feel the same， given Fowles' candor and discernment as he describes his literary convictions， the people he meets， the books he reads， the poverty he endures， and his experiences at Oxford， in France， on the Greek island of Spetai， and in London. Fowles wrote under the radar until he turned 37， in 1962， and his first novel， The Collector， made him a celebrity. As fascinating as the story of his evolution as a writer is， it's the epic story of his thwarted love for a married woman that renders his journals incandescent. Fowles suggests that this masterfully edited volume "might best be thought of as another novel，" yet it is all the more astonishing in its preservation and transmuting of real life. Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved See all Editorial Reviews

用户评价

老实讲，我刚开始翻开这本书时，对它的期望并不高，以为又是一本故作高深的现代文学作品，充斥着矫揉造作的意象堆砌。然而，这本书的出乎意料之处恰恰在于它那份近乎原始的坦率和犀利。作者似乎完全没有顾忌读者的接受度，用一种近乎粗粝的笔触描绘着都市生存的困境与疏离感。最吸引我的是它对“声音”的独特处理。书中的场景描写，很少依靠视觉，更多的是依赖于听觉的捕捉——那是地铁加速时金属摩擦的尖啸，是凌晨三点邻居家传来的、不知缘由的低泣声，是咖啡馆里背景音乐的机械重复。这些听觉元素被立体化地放置在文本中，构建出一种强烈的临场感和不安感。我甚至能在阅读时“听”到那些声音。叙事结构上，它采用了多重叙述者视角，但这些声音并非互相印证，反而像是在共同编织一个无法被完全还原的真相迷宫。这种手法极大地挑战了传统小说的可信度，迫使读者必须主动去填补信息间的鸿沟，形成自己对故事的理解。读完后，我感觉自己的感官被重新校准了，对日常背景噪音的敏感度都提高了不少，真是一次奇特的感官训练。

这本书的文字简直像一股清泉，直抵人心最深处。我花了整整一个周末才勉强读完，但那种阅读体验带来的震撼和沉思，却久久不能散去。作者叙事的节奏把握得极其精妙，时而如涓涓细流般温柔地铺陈细节，让人沉浸在角色的日常琐碎中，感受到生活最真实的纹理；时而又陡然转为磅礴的气势，抛出令人醍醐灌顶的哲学思辨。尤其让我印象深刻的是对“时间”这一抽象概念的独特处理。书中并未采用传统的时间线叙事，而是通过一系列碎片化的记忆片段和错位的感知，构建了一个迷离而又无比清晰的内心世界地图。我必须承认，有些段落我需要反复阅读，不是因为晦涩难懂，而是因为它们的信息密度实在太高，每一个词语似乎都承载着多重含义。这种阅读过程，与其说是“读”一本书，不如说是在与一个极其复杂的思维系统进行对话。我特别欣赏作者在描绘人物内心挣扎时所展现出的那种毫不留恋的诚实，那种直面人性幽暗角落的勇气，让我在合上书本后，对自我和周遭环境有了全新的审视角度。这是一部需要被细细品味、反复咀嚼的文学作品，绝非消遣之物。

这部作品的魅力，很大程度上源于其对语言本身边界的探索。它不像传统小说那样试图用文字去“描绘”世界，反而更像是用文字去“解构”语言本身的功能。我注意到，作者在描述一些非常具体、具象的事物时，会突然跳脱出来，用一种近乎科学报告或冷漠的档案记录的口吻来描述，形成一种强烈的反差美学。比如，对一个角色童年记忆的追溯，不是通过温情的回忆，而是通过一个精确到毫米的物理空间测量和光照角度分析。这种冷静到近乎病态的精确性，反而更深刻地揭示了记忆的不可靠和情感的隐秘性。更令人称奇的是，书中许多关键的转折点，都是通过一段看似无关紧要的、关于某个小物件的漫长独白来完成的。那独白或许关乎一把生锈的钥匙，或是一只破损的瓷碗，但正是这种对“无用之物”的过度关注，暗示了它们在人物生命轨迹中潜藏的巨大能量。全书的基调是灰暗的，但绝非绝望，它更像是一种在认清世界的本质后，选择以一种近乎禅定的姿态继续前行的坚韧，非常耐人寻味。

这本书读起来，给我的感觉就像是在看一幅极其复杂的油画，当你走得很近时，看到的只是混乱的笔触和色彩的堆叠；但当你退后几步，那种宏大的、令人屏息的图案便会浮现出来。作者的笔力极为老辣，尤其在营造氛围方面，达到了教科书级别的水平。书中关于“沉默”的描写，简直是神来之笔。它不是简单地描述“没有声音”，而是描绘了沉默本身所具有的重量、质地和压迫感。在那些重要的对峙场景中，对话的稀少反而将人物间未说出口的、潜藏的意图和冲突推到了极限。此外，我对作者在处理“空间感”的处理方式也深感佩服。书中描绘的许多场景，无论是拥挤不堪的街道还是空旷荒芜的郊野，都仿佛被赋予了生命和情绪。你不仅“看到”了那个空间，你还能“呼吸”到那里的空气的温度和湿度。这种极强的沉浸感，使得书中的世界仿佛从纸页上溢出，将读者完全包裹。总而言之，这是一部需要时间去消化，并且值得反复阅读的作品，它所提供的思想深度和艺术技巧，远远超出了我最初的预期。

我必须承认，我对这种体裁的书籍通常抱持着审慎的态度，因为很多时候，所谓的“实验性”最终沦为故弄玄虚的自我陶醉。然而，这部作品成功地避免了这种陷阱，因为它虽然结构复杂，但其核心的情感驱动力却是如此清晰和普世。贯穿全书的主题——关于“失去”与“重构身份”——以一种极具创新的方式被呈现出来。作者大量运用了古典文学中的典故和意象，但巧妙地将其嫁接到一个极度现代的、充满技术焦虑的背景中。这种古今的强烈碰撞，产生了令人兴奋的张力。比如，书中有一章描绘了一场虚拟现实中的“悼念仪式”，其仪式感和对逝去事物的追摹，竟然比现实中任何一次告别都来得更加真实和沉重。这种对“真实性”的质疑，是整部作品最尖锐的地方。它不是在讲述一个故事，而是在搭建一个思想的迷宫，让读者在其中迷失，最终在迷失中找到关于“我是谁”的一点点线索。阅读过程充满挑战，但回报也是巨大的，它会迫使你重新审视你所依赖的叙事框架。