Raise the Roof

出版者:Broadway

作者:Pat Summitt

页数:304

出版时间:1999-10-05

价格:USD 14.95

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780767903295

具体描述

"It wasn't a team.It was a tent revival."

So says Pat Summitt, the legendary coach whose Tennessee Lady Vols entered the 1997-98 season aiming for an almost unprecedented "three-peat" of NCAA championships. Raise the Roof takes you right inside the locker room of her amazing team, whose inspired mixture of gifted freshmen and seasoned stars produced a standard of play that would change the game of women's basketball forever.

The 1997-98 season started innocently enough.One Saturday in August, four young freshmen--Semeka Randall, Tamika Catchings, Ace Clement and Teresa Geter--arrived on the Tennessee campus to begin their college careers.Welcoming them were a number of players from the previous year, including Chamique Holdsclaw and Kellie Jolly.But that night, in a sign of things to come, a simple pickup game turned into an amazing display of basketball brilliance--freshmen against established players, and with barely a shot missed by either side.Suddenly Pat Summitt glimpsed the future: fast, aggressive and hugely talented.This might be the team she'd worked her whole career to coach.

As the season got under way, other dramas unfolded.After one emotional team meeting, Summitt realized that many on the team were playing for something more than just the glory of the game: all four freshmen, for example, came from single-parent homes, and the tough circumstances of the majority of the other players seemed to add an extra edge to their desire to win it all.Further, Chamique Holdsclaw, widely regarded as the greatest female player ever, was being dogged by questions about turning pro--and she seemed reluctant to rule it out.Meanwhile, another member of the team began to notice the unwelcome attentions of a fan, who soon turned out to be a full-fledged stalker.

All this was behind the scenes; out on the court, the win column was swelling with every game: 8-0, 15-0, 21-0.As 1997 turned into 1998, Pat Summitt began privately to admit that this team had changed her: these kids were so lovable, funny and eager to please that she simply had to let them into her heart.Along the way, the Lady Vols were redefining what women were capable of, trading in old definitions of femininity for new ones--in short, they were keeping score.And by the time they entered the NCAA Final Four tournament in Kansas City, Summitt found herself believing the impossible: despite all the distractions, the 1997-98 Lady Vols could go undefeated, and, in doing so, raise the roof off the sport of women's basketball.

Packed with the excitement of a season on the brink of perfection and filled with the comedy and tragedy of one year in the life of a basketball team, Raise the Roof will have readers cheering from the bench for a team of all-conquering players and their astonishing coach.

From the Hardcover edition.

用户评价

说实话，我一开始有些担心这部作品会陷入那种故作高深的泥潭，但事实证明我的担忧是多余的。作者以一种极其接地气的方式，将宏大的主题融入到极其日常和琐碎的生活细节中，使得故事既有史诗的厚重感，又不失人情味。人物之间的对话尤其出彩，它们自然流畅，充满机锋，你几乎能听到不同社会阶层、不同教育背景的人说话的细微差别。我特别喜欢那种充满黑色幽默的片段，它们常常是在最紧张的时刻出现，用一种近乎荒诞的方式缓解了压抑，同时也反衬出处境的艰难。它没有刻意去迎合大众口味，而是忠实地记录了生活本身那种难以预测和控制的本质。这种真实感，比任何夸张的情节设计都来得更有力量。读完后，我感觉自己好像是和书中的人物们一起生活了一段时间，对他们产生了深厚的感情，甚至会对他们未来的命运产生一种超越故事本身的牵挂。这是一次充满温度和洞察力的人生体验，而不是一次简单的阅读行为。

这本书的叙事节奏简直是教科书级别的范例，作者对时间线的把控出神入化，让你感觉自己完全沉浸在了角色的命运之中。开篇的铺陈不急不躁，却处处埋下了日后高潮的伏笔，每一个看似无关紧要的场景，回头看都是精妙的设计。我尤其欣赏作者如何通过细腻的环境描写来烘托人物的内心世界，比如对那个常年笼罩在薄雾中的小镇的描绘，那种挥之不去的压抑感，和主人公内心的挣扎简直是浑然一体。更令人称道的是，人物塑造的立体感。那些主要角色，绝非扁平的符号，他们有自己的怪癖、矛盾的动机，甚至会做出让你拍案而起的错误决定，但正是这些不完美，让他们鲜活得仿佛触手可及。我常常在想，如果是我处于那种境地，是否会比他们做得更好，这种强烈的代入感，是很多作品望尘莫及的。情节推进中，作者巧妙地利用了信息的不对称性，不断抛出新的谜团，让你像一个饥饿的侦探一样，迫不及待地想要揭开下一层面纱。阅读体验是那种由内而外的、令人满足的智力挑战与情感共鸣的完美结合。

坦率地说，我很少对一部小说产生如此强烈的“想和作者坐下来辩论一下”的冲动。这部作品的魅力就在于其深刻的哲学思辨和对人性灰色地带的无情解剖。它不试图给你一个简单的“好人”或“坏人”的标签，而是将人物推向道德的十字路口，迫使他们做出艰难的抉择，而这些抉择往往没有最优解。我尤其赞赏作者对待“成功”和“代价”这个主题的处理。在书中的世界观里，似乎任何伟大的成就都必然伴随着某种形式的牺牲或扭曲，这种清醒而略带悲观的视角，让我对我们习以为常的社会价值观产生了深刻的反思。很多情节的安排都带着强烈的讽刺意味，比如对权力结构的描绘，那种看似光鲜亮丽的表象下涌动的腐败和虚伪，让人不寒而栗。读到后半部分，我甚至开始怀疑叙事者本身的可靠性，这种对叙事视角的不断挑战，极大地增加了阅读的趣味性和层次感。这本书更像是一面镜子，折射出我们自身内心深处那些不愿面对的阴影。

读完这部作品，我最大的感受是作者那股沛然莫之能御的文字力量。他的语言风格是如此的华丽而精准，每一个词语的选择都像经过了千锤百炼的宝石，闪烁着独特的光泽。与其说是在阅读一个故事，不如说是在欣赏一首用散文写成的史诗。我特别喜欢他对于复杂情绪的捕捉，那些微妙的、难以言喻的失落、狂喜、嫉妒，都被他用一种近乎诗意的笔触描绘得淋漓尽致，丝毫没有矫揉造作的痕迹。举例来说，书中有一段描写角色在暴风雨中独处的场景，那段文字的排比和拟人手法，简直让人汗毛倒竖，仿佛真的能听到雨点拍打在窗户上的声音，闻到空气中弥漫的泥土气息。这种沉浸式的感官体验，让我不得不放慢速度，反复咀嚼那些精妙的句子。此外，作者对文化背景的深度挖掘也令人印象深刻，他没有生硬地塞入历史资料，而是将时代氛围、风俗习惯，有机地融入到角色的日常对话和行为逻辑中，使得整个故事的根基异常坚实。这是一本需要被细细品味的佳作，适合那些追求文字美感和精神深度的读者。

这部小说的结构设计，堪称精妙绝伦的迷宫。它采用了多重叙事线索并行推进的方式，乍一看似乎有些纷繁复杂，但随着阅读的深入，你会惊叹于作者是如何将这些看似无关的支流汇集成一股磅礴的主流。每一个章节的切换，都像是在更换一个不同的镜头视角，让你从不同人物的私密空间中窥探到全局的一角。我个人非常喜欢作者在叙事中偶尔插入的那些“间离效果”——一些突兀的、仿佛与当前情境无关的意象或引语，它们短暂地打断了叙事流，却在不经意间提升了故事的象征意义。这种手法处理得极其老道，既保持了故事的张力，又提供了思考的间隙。此外，本书对于特定地域的描绘，已经上升到了近乎“第六个角色”的地位。那个地理环境本身仿佛就携带着某种古老的诅咒或命运的暗示，它不是故事的背景板，而是积极的参与者，影响着每一个角色的命运走向。总而言之，这是一部需要读者投入心力去“解码”的作品，回报你的将是远超普通消遣的智力满足感。