From Publishers Weekly Powers, the certified (by a MacArthur grant) genius whose last novel was the much-admired Gold Bug Variations , continues to baffle and excite with his new book. Set in the pediatric ward of a big L.A. hospital in the apparently near future, it is a vast, impassioned fantasy-allegory about the plight of the world's children in a time of cynicism, corruption and easy destruction of life. The only recognizable adults are surgical resident Richard Kraft, desperately weary of trying to patch up the shattered lives and bodies of innocents, and therapist Linda Espera, who tries to instill hope through storytelling and play-acting. The two are deeply involved with a band of patients led by a precociously wise but hopelessly crippled Thai girl and a cynical, commanding boy whose rare disease has withered his body into that of an old man. Richard and Linda evoke for the children, or share with the reader, various factual and fabulous accounts of endangered children through the centuries: England during the blitz, the Pied Piper legend rendered amazingly contemporary, the abortive medieval Children's Crusade portrayed by a comic book, flashes of Peter Pan. As always with Powers, the verbal dexterity is amazing, but ultimately exhausting. He is quite capable of fluent sequential narrative, and readers will be relieved when he lapses into it after all the self-conscious brilliance and endlessly impressive allusion. Powers has a remarkable, virtuoso voice and much to say with it, but he desperately needs to curb his apparent need to show it off. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Although shorter than Powers's massive and magnificent The Gold Bug Variations ( LJ 6/15/91), this remarkable novel is just as packed with allusions from literature, history, science, folklore, medicine, and music. On the surface, it is the story of the doomed romance between an overworked, emotionally exhausted pediatric surgeon and a physical therapist and of their efforts to rescue the children in their care from their prescribed fates. But beneath its cover story--and this novel plumbs great depths--this is nothing less than the story of humankind, with the Pied Piper as central metaphor. That tale is turned into traveling theater by the hospital kids and its text provided with such historical glosses as the Children's Crusade and the mass evacuation of school children from London during the Blitz. What are we doing here? Where are we going? These questions echo throughout the book, but finding answers is left to the reader. A dazzling performance: delightful, dismaying, disturbing, doing all that novels are meant to do.- Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. See all Editorial Reviews
评分
评分
评分
评分
这本书的氛围营造能力堪称一绝,它成功地构建了一个既熟悉又疏离的世界。你好像能闻到故事里那些老旧书页的气息,感受到空气中弥漫的某种挥之不去的忧郁感。这种略带哥特式的、阴郁却又迷人的氛围,贯穿始终,牢牢地抓住了我的注意力。我特别欣赏作者对“沉默”的处理,很多关键的情感转折和信息揭示,都不是通过冗长的独白完成的,而是通过长时间的停顿、未尽之言,或者仅仅是一个眼神的交汇来实现的。这种“留白”的艺术,极大地增强了作品的感染力,迫使读者主动去填补那些空白,参与到故事的构建之中。它不需要大声疾呼,它的力量恰恰在于那种低沉、持续的共振,让人在合上书页后,仍能感觉到那种挥之不去的余韵。
评分这本小说,老实说,刚翻开的时候我还有点犹豫,毕竟“迷途的灵魂”这个主题听起来有点玄乎,但一旦沉浸进去,那种代入感简直让人无法自拔。作者对人物内心世界的刻画真是细腻入微,每一个选择、每一个犹豫,都仿佛能从字里行间触摸到角色的脉搏。故事的节奏把握得非常好,时而像平静的湖面,让人得以细细品味那些情感的涟漪;时而又像突如其来的暴风雨,将你卷入一连串的冲突和转折之中。特别是主角在面对困境时的那种挣扎与成长,看得我揪心又欣慰。我特别喜欢作者在描述环境时那种诗意的笔触,不是干巴巴的堆砌辞藻,而是将场景与人物的情绪完美地融合在一起,读起来有一种身临其境的沉浸感。总的来说,这是一次非常高质量的阅读体验,它不仅仅是在讲一个故事,更像是在带领读者进行一场深刻的自我对话。
评分从文学性的角度来看,这本书的对话部分尤其出彩。那些台词不是简单的信息传递工具,它们充满了潜台词和张力,每一次角色间的交锋都像是高水平的棋局博弈。我常常会停下来,回味某一句看似平淡却暗藏深意的对话,想象着角色说出这些话时的微表情和背后的动机。作者似乎深谙人性之复杂,笔下的人物没有绝对的善恶之分,每个人都有自己的灰色地带和难以启齿的秘密,这使得他们的互动更加真实可信,充满了戏剧张力。这种对“人性模糊地带”的探讨,让这部作品的深度远超一般的小故事范畴,它更像是一部对现代社会人际关系和心理状态的深刻剖析。我强烈推荐给那些喜欢深度探讨角色动机的读者。
评分我得说,这本书的叙事结构确实非常巧妙,它没有采用那种线性叙事,而是通过碎片化的记忆和闪回,将整个故事的图景徐徐展开。起初可能会觉得有点跳跃,需要集中注意力去梳理时间线和人物关系,但一旦抓住了主线,那种“拼图完成”的快感是无与伦比的。作者对于悬念的设置也颇具功力,总能在你以为一切尘埃落定的时候,抛出一个新的谜团,让你迫不及待地想知道下一步会发生什么。这种结构上的创新,让整部作品充满了智力上的挑战和阅读的乐趣。与其说是在读一本小说,不如说是在解一个精妙的谜题,每一次翻页都充满了期待。更难得的是,即便结构复杂,文字的流畅性却丝毫没有打折扣,读起来一点也不费劲,这真的体现了作者高超的文字驾驭能力。
评分老实讲,我不是那种追求“大场面”或“宏大叙事”的读者,我更偏爱那种扎根于日常生活细节的小说。而这本书恰恰在这方面做到了极致。它没有动辄描述世界末日或惊天阴谋,而是将焦点放在了一个或几个普通人(至少从表面看是如此)在面对生活中的“小爆炸”时所产生的连锁反应。那些关于“家”、“记忆的不可靠性”以及“身份认同”的探讨,都以一种极其贴近生活的方式呈现出来。我能清晰地感受到作者对生活细微之处的敏锐观察力,比如一个旧物散发的味道,清晨窗外投下的光线,这些细节的描绘,使得整个故事的基调变得非常沉静而有力。读完后,我竟然开始反思自己生活中那些被忽略的小片段,感觉心灵被涤荡了一番。
评分 评分 评分 评分 评分本站所有内容均为互联网搜索引擎提供的公开搜索信息,本站不存储任何数据与内容,任何内容与数据均与本站无关,如有需要请联系相关搜索引擎包括但不限于百度,google,bing,sogou 等
© 2026 qciss.net All Rights Reserved. 小哈图书下载中心 版权所有