The March 《行军》 Edgar Lawrence Doctorow 埃德加·劳伦斯·多克托罗 |
Synopsis
The march in question is that of General William Tecumseh Sherman and his Union soldiers as they slash and burn their way through Georgia and the Carolinas, and the "march to freedom" as liberated slaves fall in step with the liberating army.
But it is also, given the poetic depth of Doctorow's vision, the great march of time and of humanity in all its cruelty and glory. As Doctorow dramatizes the fury, conviction, and chaos of the Civil War, he portrays historical figures, as he is wont to do, most electrifyingly Sherman himself.
But he focuses most on brilliantly imagined characters who embody the epic conflicts of that cataclysmic era, including Pearl, the smart and courageous daughter of a slave and slave owner; an excessively clinical military surgeon; the valiant daughter of a Southern judge; a freed slave who becomes a war photographer; and Arly, a scheming Rebel soldier who provides shrewdly comic relief.
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故事梗概
这里所要说的“行军”是指威廉·提康普赛·谢尔曼和他的联邦军一路从乔治亚州烧杀到卡罗莱纳州,以及解放了的农奴沦为解放军的“自由之旅”。
在讲述这场人类历史上最为残忍与光荣的行军的时候,多克托罗赋予了它诗般的深刻。如以往一样,多克托罗在描写内战狂暴、罪恶和混乱的同时,不忘悉心刻画历史人物形象,特别是对谢尔曼。
但是,他也刻画了很多他塑造出来的人物。这些人物生活在那个动荡的年代,是当时大规模冲突斗争的剪影:农奴和农奴主的女儿珀尔,既聪明又勇敢;一位严肃冷静的军事外科医生;勇敢的南部法官的女儿;最终成为战地摄影家的奴隶;一位引人发笑的诡计多端的叛军士兵。
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Comment
Doctorow writes with blazing clarity about the "brutal romance" of war and its gruesome realities, with lyrical splendor about nature, and with wry wisdom and nimble satire about human folly.
Heir to Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, Doctorow's masterpiece uncovers the roots of today's racial and political conundrums, and taps into the deep and abiding realm of myth in its illumination of sorrow and beauty, the continuity of human existence, and the transcendence of tenacity, compassion, and love.
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评价
本书中,多克托罗毫不留情地描写了战争“残酷的浪漫”和可怕的现实,其间也描写了自然的壮丽、扭曲的智慧,巧妙地讽刺了人类的愚蠢。
继承了斯蒂芬·克莱恩《铁血雄师》的风格,多克托罗的作品也揭示了当今社会种族政治之谜,在阐释悲痛、美丽、人类存在的连贯性、不屈不挠的伟大、同情和怜悯的同时把读者带入这个半虚构的世界里。
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