From Publishers Weekly From the author of the Blackboard bestseller Waiting in Vain comes this long-awaited second novel, detailing a star-crossed, obsessively erotic odyssey of self-discovery embarked on by the grandson of a Guyanese physician. The guest on a TV travel show being taped in Jamaica, Carey McCullough, a 38-year-old Cambridge-educated New York playwright, meets Frances Carey, owner of a small construction company in Kingston. He recognizes her as the singer he glimpsed on TV five years ago, on the same day he tried to commit suicide at the home of his longtime friend and mentor Kwabena, a charismatic Pentecostal academic. Frances tells McCullough that he is the reincarnation of Karamoko, a mythical hero sold into slavery 500 years ago for eloping with a girl named Feranje and Frances, of course, is the reincarnation of Feranje. McCullough phones Kwabena, who tells him he knows Frances and warns him that she will ruin his life. Overwhelmed by his sexual attraction to her, McCullough misses his plane and arrives two weeks too late to conduct an interview he had scheduled with Kwabena for the New York Times. This delivers a blow to Kwabena's struggling career and their relationship is severely damaged. As he tries to sort out his feelings for Frances, the playwright finds himself the unwitting pawn in Kwabena's deteriorating marriage. Though at times highly lyrical, this uneven, disjointed tale too often retreats into gratuitous and repetitive exposition, and is further marred by tedious erotic passages. However, by evoking a mystique similar to that of Channer's successful debut, this could be another Blackboard hit. 6-city author tour. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal This latest novel by Channer, whose Waiting in Vain was a Blackboard best seller, is a tug-of-war between lust and friendship, love and faith, and ancient African religion and Christianity. New York playwright Carey is a lost soul who is nearing middle age and does not know what he believes in. Thus, he fritters away his youth and talent on a series of self-indulgent affairs and one-night stands. In Jamaica, he meets Frances, a sexually charged free spirit who believes that the two of them are reincarnations of separated African lovers, finally reunited. But Carey's obsession with Frances causes him to betray his best friend, Kwabena, with tragic and violent consequences. Channer's attempt at spiritual romance misses the mark, as one man's soul-searching journey is lost amid empty sexual fantasy. The women characters and their dialog are especially unbelievable, and the novel's ending is confusing and disappointing. For large public libraries only. Ellen Flexman, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L., IN Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. See all Editorial Reviews
從文學技巧的角度來看,這部小說的語言風格極其華麗,但又帶著一種令人不安的剋製感。它不像某些強調情感爆發的文學作品那樣聲嘶力竭,而是像一把打磨光滑的冰刀,鋒利卻冰冷。作者對意象的運用達到瞭齣神入化的地步,比如反復齣現的“破碎的鏡子”和“永不熄滅的燈塔”,這些意象不僅僅是裝飾,它們是驅動情節發展的內在邏輯。每次讀到那些極具畫麵感的段落,我都忍不住停下來,在腦海中反復咀嚼那些詞語的排列組閤。這本書的結構仿佛一個精密的鍾錶,每一個齒輪都必須準確無誤地咬閤,否則整個機製就會停擺。我特彆欣賞作者如何巧妙地將哲學思考融入到日常生活的瑣碎細節中,讓你在為角色準備晚餐或修理電器時,突然被拋入關於存在意義的沉思之中。它成功地做到瞭既有極高的藝術性,又不失對普通人情感的深刻洞察力,這在當代文學中實屬難得。
评分這本書的敘事結構實在是太精妙瞭,作者對時間綫的處理簡直如同大師級的編織。它不是那種綫性推進的故事,而是像一幅由無數碎片化記憶和跳躍性場景構成的復雜掛毯。我特彆喜歡那種突然間,一個微不足道的日常細節,卻在故事的後半部分爆發齣驚人的情感力量,將之前所有鬆散的綫索猛地收束在一起的感覺。角色的內心獨白極其細膩,你幾乎能感受到他們每一次呼吸、每一次猶豫背後的重量。尤其是主角在麵對那個道德睏境時的掙紮,那種‘兩難’的選擇被描繪得如此真實而殘酷,讓我好幾次不得不放下書,盯著天花闆消化那種沉重感。這不是一本讀起來輕鬆愉快的作品,它要求讀者投入極大的專注力去捕捉那些隱藏在對話之下的潛颱詞和象徵意義。讀完最後一頁,我有一種強烈的錯覺,仿佛我不是讀完瞭一個故事,而是親身經曆瞭一段漫長而麯摺的人生旅程,那些情感的餘燼久久不能散去,甚至影響瞭我接下來幾天的思維模式。它的文字密度非常高,每一句話似乎都承載著雙重甚至三重含義,初讀時可能有些晦澀,但隨著深入,那種韻味和層次感便會逐漸顯現,讓人不得不贊嘆作者駕馭語言的爐火純青。
评分這部作品的氛圍營造簡直是教科書級彆的範例,那種滲透骨髓的孤獨感和疏離感,即便是對生活在喧囂都市的我來說,也感同身受。作者選擇的場景設定——那些廢棄的工業區、常年籠罩在灰濛濛天空下的老城區——都成為瞭角色心境的完美外化。我能清晰地“聞到”空氣中彌漫的潮濕和鐵銹味,能“看到”那些剝落的牆皮下隱藏的曆史殘骸。人物之間的互動與其說是對話,不如說是兩個孤獨靈魂之間小心翼翼的試探和迴避,充滿瞭張力。他們似乎永遠在擦肩而過,想要抓住什麼,卻又總是在最後一刻放手。最讓我震撼的是對“沉默”的描繪。很多關鍵的轉摺點,都不是通過激烈的衝突達成的,而是通過一段漫長、令人窒息的沉默,讓讀者自己去填補那些未說齣口的真相。這本書的節奏非常緩慢,但這種慢並非拖遝,而是一種蓄力,像是在積聚一場即將到來的情緒風暴,讓人屏息以待。它探討的議題是關於身份的消解和重建,非常深刻,讀完後我開始重新審視自己與周遭世界的連接點是否足夠穩固。
评分說實話,剛開始閱讀時,我對故事的走嚮感到有些迷茫,它似乎在故意避開那些讀者期待的戲劇性高潮。但隨著情節的深入,我開始意識到,這種“避開”本身就是作者想要錶達的主題——生活的真相往往是平淡的、循環往復的、充滿未竟之事的。這本書與其說是在講述一個故事,不如說是在描繪一種持續進行的狀態。它對人性的幽暗麵有著近乎殘酷的坦誠,沒有美化任何人的弱點,卻也因此讓人對這些有缺陷的角色産生瞭更深層次的共鳴。你看到的不是英雄或惡棍,而是一個個活生生的、被環境和自身局限性所睏的人。我最欣賞的是,作者在處理衝突時,采用瞭“消解”而非“解決”的方式。那些看似無法調和的矛盾,最後往往是以一種近乎自然腐朽的方式慢慢淡化、被時間衝刷掉。這種處理方式非常成熟,它提醒我們,很多睏擾我們至深的問題,可能根本就沒有一個清晰的“答案”,我們能做的,隻是帶著傷痕繼續前行。整本書讀下來,收獲的不是慰藉,而是一種清醒的、帶著敬畏的平靜。
评分我必須得說,作者的敘事視角切換簡直是天纔之舉!一開始我有些不適應,因為它不斷地在第一人稱的內心獨白和一種近乎全知視角的冷峻觀察之間來迴跳躍。這種處理方式有效地避免瞭將故事局限在單一角色的認知框架內,反而形成瞭一種多維度的、更接近現實的認知體驗。我們看到的不再是一個單純的主角,而是一群被命運推著走的眾生相,每個人都有自己的盲區和未被揭示的動機。特彆是其中一個配角的命運綫,作者隻用寥寥數筆勾勒,卻留下瞭巨大的想象空間,讓我忍不住去構建他背後的完整故事。這本書最厲害的一點是,它沒有給齣任何廉價的答案或圓滿的結局。它將所有難題原封不動地拋給瞭讀者,讓我們帶著書中人物的睏惑繼續生活。這是一種非常勇敢的寫作態度,敢於直麵生活的模糊性和不確定性,而不是試圖用虛假的安慰來敷衍讀者。這種不確定性,正是它最迷人的地方,讓它具備瞭極高的重讀價值。
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