Before I Say Good-Bye: A Novel

页数:0

价格:260.00

isbn号码:9780684835983

具体描述

Mary Higgins Clark， America s "Queen of Suspense，" delves into the mystery of psychic powers and communication with the dead in her gripping new thriller， Before I Say Good-Bye. When Adam Cauliff s new cabin cruiser， Cornelia II， blows up in New York harbor with him and several close business associates aboard， his wife， Nell MacDermott， is not only distraught at the loss but wracked with guilt because she and Adam had just had a serious quarrel and she had told him not to come home. The quarrel was precipitated by Nell s decision to try to win the congressional seat long held by her grandfather Cornelius MacDermott. Orphaned at age ten， she had been raised by "Mac，" as she called him， and was always at his side on Capitol Hill. Politics was in her blood， and Adam had known her ambitions when they married. Suddenly， however， he became opposed to her plan to run for Congress. Nell， like her great-aunt Gert， possesses psychic gifts， which her grandfather scoffingly dismisses as "flights of fantasy." As a child she had been aware of the deaths of both her parents and grandmother at the exact moment they died. She knew because at that very moment she sensed their presence near her.?? Even though Nell has the rare gift of extrasensory perception， she is much too levelheaded to accept most of the claims made by many so-called psychics and is skeptical about Aunt Gert s fascination with mediums. After Adam s death， however， Gert begs Nell to see a medium， Bonnie Wilson， who has contacted her， claiming she is in touch with Adam. Still regretting her last angry words to Adam， Nell agrees， hoping that she will be able to reach him through the medium and part from him in peace. As the investigation into the boat s explosion proceeds， Nell is shocked by the official confirmation that it was not an accident but the result of foul play. Adam， an architect， had been involved in a major construction project on land he had recently purchased and which had since had a spectacular rise in value. Was Adam the target of the explosion? Or was it Winifred Johnson， his self-effacing， fifty-two-year-old assistant， who knew too much about bribery in the construction business and who was openly in love with him? Or was it Sam Krause， a builder with a questionable reputation who was involved in the new project? Or Jimmy Ryan， the debt-ridden construction foreman whose wife， after his death， discovers money hidden in their home? Or was it Peter Lang， the wealthy man-about-town real-estate entrepreneur， whose minor traffic accident caused him to miss the fatal meeting on the boat? As Nell searches for the truth about Adam s death， she carries out instructions from Adam transmitted through the medium. What she does not know is that she is being closely watched， and the nearer she comes to learning what actually happened on the boat that night， the nearer she is to becoming the next victim of a ruthless killer.

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这部作品的气氛营造简直是教科书级别的。从翻开扉页开始，我就被那种挥之不去的、弥漫在字里行间的忧郁气息紧紧攫住了。作者对于细节的捕捉达到了令人心惊的程度，无论是光影在老旧木地板上投下的斑驳痕迹，还是角色们在沉默中交换的那些眼神，都像是被精准地雕刻在了我的脑海里。我能清晰地感受到那种压抑感是如何层层累积，从最初的隐约不安，逐渐演变成无法逃脱的宿命感。角色的内心挣扎被描绘得如此细腻入微，那些微妙的情绪波动，那些自我怀疑和自我辩驳，让我忍不住一次次停下来，深吸一口气，才能继续往下读。它不像那种情节驱动的故事，而是更像一幅徐徐展开的、充满了隐喻的油画，需要你慢下来，去品味每一个笔触背后的深意。那种关于时间流逝和记忆重量的探讨，真的让人深思良久。阅读的过程与其说是“看书”，不如说是一种沉浸式的体验，一种与角色共同呼吸的经历。那种独特的节奏感，时而缓慢得近乎停滞，时而又在关键时刻猛地加速，让人全程都保持着一种神经紧绷的状态，生怕错过任何一个暗示。

这本书中对人际关系的刻画，展现了一种近乎残酷的真实性。它探讨的不是那种传统意义上的浪漫或敌对关系，而是那些建立在共同历史、未说出口的秘密和挥之不去的愧疚之上的复杂纽带。角色之间的对话往往充满了潜台词，他们说的每一句话似乎都只是为了掩盖更深层、更疼痛的真相。我特别欣赏作者处理“沉默”的方式——那些停顿、那些刻意的避而不谈，比任何激烈的争吵都更具有杀伤力。你能够清晰地感受到角色们如何在彼此的期望和自身的局限之间挣扎、拉扯。这种处理方式让人物显得无比立体，他们不是非黑即白的符号，而是充满矛盾和弱点的真实个体。阅读过程中，我好几次因为某个角色做出的、看似不合逻辑的选择而感到气馁，但冷静下来后，我又不得不承认，在那种特定的情绪重压下，那也许是他们唯一能做出的“真实”反应。它揭示了亲密关系中那种既渴望靠近又害怕被完全看穿的悖论。

我必须承认，这本书在叙事结构上的处理非常大胆，甚至可以说有些反传统。它没有采用那种清晰的时间线或者线性发展的叙事逻辑，而是像打碎的镜子一样，将不同时间点的碎片随意洒落，然后期望读者自己去拼凑出全貌。这在初期带来了一定的阅读障碍，我时不时需要回顾前面的章节，试图将那些闪回、梦境和现实的交织点理顺。然而，一旦你适应了这种跳跃式的叙事节奏，你就会发现其精妙之处。这种破碎感恰恰完美地呼应了主人公记忆的混乱和心理状态的破碎。它强迫读者像侦探一样主动参与到故事的构建中，而不是被动地接受信息。这种互动的体验非常独特，它极大地增强了阅读的参与感和智力上的满足感。更值得称赞的是，即使在碎片化的叙事中，作者依然保持了语言的连贯性和强烈的代入感，确保了情感的张力不会因为结构的复杂而减弱。这无疑是一次非常成功的文学实验，让故事本身拥有了多层次的解读空间。

这部作品最令人难忘的，或许是它对“告别”这个主题所提出的独特见解。它不仅仅关乎于物理上的分离或生命的终结，更深入地探讨了我们如何与过去的自己、与未曾实现的可能性、乃至与我们心中那些已经逝去的情感道别。作者似乎在暗示，真正的告别并非一劳永逸的切割，而是一个漫长、反复、不断重塑记忆的过程。故事中的角色们都在努力寻找一种可以安放遗憾的方式，一种能够让他们带着伤痕继续前行的平衡点。这种探讨非常深刻，它触及了人类最本质的恐惧之一——如何面对“失去”和“未竟之事”。读完之后，我感觉自己被带入了一片广阔而略带凄凉的境地，但同时也获得了一种奇异的释然。它没有提供简单的答案或廉价的安慰，而是提供了一种理解困境的角度，让人在阅读体验结束后，仍能感受到一种持续的回响，关于如何与生命中的那些不可避免的终点和平共处。

从文学技法的角度来看，这部作品的语言风格自成一派，具有极高的辨识度。作者的文字密度非常高，每一个词汇的选择都经过了深思熟虑，没有一句是多余的废话。它不像某些现代小说那样追求流畅和口语化，而是带有古典文学的韵味，句子结构复杂但充满了音乐性。尤其是在描绘环境和心理活动时，作者经常使用一些意想不到的比喻和象征，这些修辞手法既提升了文本的艺术性，也为故事增添了一层神秘的面纱。我需要放慢语速才能真正体会到那些词句的重量，有些句子我甚至会重复阅读两三遍，仅仅是为了捕捉其中蕴含的韵律和多重含义。这种高密度的写作风格对读者的专注力要求很高，但回报也是丰厚的，它提供了一种极度纯粹、不加稀释的情感体验。对于那些偏爱那些字斟句酌、追求文学美感的读者来说，这无疑是一场盛宴。