具体描述
Lovers part, strangers meet and fall in love, ambitions turn to desperation, hopes are betrayed, promises sundered and-in two cities slowly sinking into the sea-new beginnings blossom. The fulcrum of this novel is Oswaldo, a frail, elderly, and very rich Venetian. He funds a foundation that gives grants to artists. One recipient, Anton, a struggling architect nearing 40, reluctantly leaves his wife in New Orleans and goes to Venice on a grant to teach architecture. In Manhattan, artist Lach abandons his lover, Vera, and flees to Venice for a romantic rendezvous. But Vera has won a prize from Oswaldo's foundation, so she also embarks for Italy. Meanwhile, Max quits London for New Orleans, ostensibly to accept a chair in the History of Food, but primarily to woo Lucinde, an events planner. As soon as Max arrives, however, Lucinde flies to Venice to stay with Oswaldo, an old mentor of hers. Alison (The Love Artist) interweaves their stories in quick segues, each vignette succeeding the other like mounting waves in "the heedless sea." The narrative is suffused with sensuous references to art, architecture, food and the atmosphere-damp, moldy, mildewy-of both cities. Each of the characters is emotionally unmoored as well as physically in transit. The reader learns about each of them incrementally from the observations of the other characters; Shakespearean misunderstandings occur and suspense gathers. Alison's poetic sensibility reveals itself in lyrical, intense prose and surprising juxtapositions. Each character's feverish thoughts rise to a crescendo of emotional turmoil and release, and in the process, carry the reader on a sinuous journey of discovery.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Alison's debut book, The Love Artist, was an interpretation of the demise of Ovid that was lauded for its fine detail and grace. Here, Alison applies her interests in history and excavation in a different manner, using the metaphor of "the sea" to uncover truths about her characters. Reviewers complained that Alison's gorgeous flair (and attentiveness) for the small details sometimes left the reader with too little information about the characters' motivations. Critics praised her talents with form, metaphor, and poetic language.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
Water dominates the imagery of this unorthodox and complex novel, which takes the reader inside the minds of six characters and blends them fluidly into interaction. Oswaldo's beloved Venetian villa is decaying around him, and his aging body is also in the throes of its own irreversible transition. Anton and Josephine are distraught over the watery blackness of Josephine's womb, which rejects all of their efforts to begin a family. Lach and Vera have reached the end of their marriage, and thoughts of a life in Venice with his newly found lover are at the forefront of Lach's plans. Max has traveled across the world from London to the misty banks of Louisiana to pursue the elusive and beautiful Lucinde. A kind of cleansing washes over the lives of Alison's characters, which is in keeping with the liquid landscape she has crafted for them. It is Alison's razor-sharp technique for incorporating the essence of her backdrop into the personalities dominating her fiction that makes this a uniquely flavored novel drawn from a refined talent. Elsa Gaztambide
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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从结构上来看，这部小说展示了一种非常大胆且有效的叙事策略。作者巧妙地运用了非线性叙事，在当前的故事线中穿插了大量的往事回忆片段。起初，我担心这种跳跃的时间线会打乱阅读的流畅性，但事实证明，这些回忆并非简单的背景补充，它们是解开当前谜团的关键钥匙。每一次闪回都像是在给拼图增加一块重要的碎片，让我们能更清晰地理解人物行为的根源。这种高超的结构驾驭能力，使得即便是最琐碎的生活细节，也充满了必要的意义。另外，我注意到作者在不同视角之间的切换也处理得非常流畅，虽然视角不断变化，但核心的情感主线始终清晰可辨，没有让读者感到迷失。这种多维度的叙事视角，极大地丰富了故事的层次感，让我们能从多个角度审视同一事件的复杂性。这种叙事上的实验性，但又保持了极高的可读性，是这本书最令人赞叹的特点之一。
评分这部作品的深层主题探讨，可以说是整本书最引人入胜的部分。它超越了简单的爱情或家庭故事的范畴，深入触及了诸如命运的不可抗拒性、集体记忆与个人责任之间的张力等宏大命题。作者没有直接给出答案，而是通过一系列错综复杂的人际关系和历史事件，引导我们去思考：我们究竟能从过去的错误中学到什么？以及，当我们面对世代相传的秘密时，我们是否有勇气去打破循环？这种对存在主义困境的探讨，使得整部小说具有了一种超越时代的普适性。即便故事背景设定在特定的地域和时间，但其中关于选择、失落和救赎的思考，是任何时代的人都能感同身受的。这本书让我思考了很久关于“根”的意义，以及当我们试图割舍过去时，它又如何以意想不到的方式重新塑造我们的未来。这种对哲学层面的不懈追问，让这部小说在众多文学作品中脱颖而出，具有了不朽的潜力。
评分这部小说的开篇简直让人沉浸其中，作者的文字有一种奇特的魔力，仿佛能将你瞬间拉入故事发生地的空气和光影之中。我尤其欣赏作者对于环境细致入微的描绘，那种对于海边小镇日常生活的刻画，不仅仅是简单的背景交代，更是对人物内心世界的一种投射。那些咸湿的海风、古老的石板路、以及居民之间那种若有似无的微妙关系，都被描摹得栩栩如生。叙事节奏的处理非常成熟，初读时看似平缓，实则暗流涌动，每一个看似不经意的场景切换或对话，都为后续的冲突埋下了伏笔。我花了很长时间回味其中几段关于家庭传承和旧日秘密的描写，那种历史的重量感是通过细节而非说教达成的，非常高明。读到大约四分之一的时候，主角们开始面对各自的困境，情节的张力陡然增强，迫使我不得不一口气读完那个章节，生怕错过任何一个转折点。这本书的阅读体验是层层递进的，初读时的惊艳，到深入后的着迷，让人忍不住想去探究每一个角色的动机和他们行为背后的文化根源。它成功地在诗意的语言和紧凑的情节之间找到了一个近乎完美的平衡点。
评分这本书的语言风格，用一个词来形容就是“沉郁的华丽”。它不追求简洁明快，而是倾向于使用那些富有画面感和音乐性的词汇组合，营造出一种略带忧郁的、史诗般的氛围。我特别喜欢作者对于“时间流逝”和“记忆腐蚀”这些抽象概念的具象化描述，比如将一段被遗忘的往事描述成“被潮水冲刷得褪色的羊皮纸”，这种比喻既新颖又贴切。当然，这种风格也意味着它不是一本可以轻松翻阅的书，它要求读者慢下来，去品味每一个长句和每一个精心挑选的形容词。对于那些追求快速情节推进的读者来说，可能需要一些耐心去适应。但一旦你沉浸其中，你会发现这种文字密度带来的回报是巨大的——它带来的阅读体验是深邃而持久的，读完之后很久，某些句子还会不时地浮现在脑海中，如同耳边的低语。这是一部需要被细细品味的文学作品，而不是用来消磨时间的消遣读物。
评分我必须承认，我对当代文学作品的期待往往很高，而这本书在人物塑造方面展现出的深度，完全超出了我的预期。这里的角色都不是扁平的“好人”或“坏人”，他们都有着令人信服的复杂性，他们的选择往往源于根深蒂固的个人信念和环境压力。特别是几位女性角色，她们的内心挣扎和对自我身份的追寻，写得尤为动人。作者没有急于给出简单的道德评判，而是选择呈现她们在矛盾中挣扎的全过程，这使得人物形象极其丰满和真实。我花了很长时间思考其中一位主要角色在关键时刻做出的那个决定，那份牺牲和不舍，简直让人心碎。这种对人性的细腻捕捉，让我想起了那些经典文学作品中对灵魂深处的挖掘。再者，对话的设计非常精妙，很多时候，角色之间没有说出口的话，比实际说出的话更具力量和信息量，这需要读者具备一定的解读能力，也让阅读过程充满了主动的参与感。总而言之，这是一部关于‘人’的书，而非仅仅是关于‘事’的书，它的价值在于其对人类情感光谱的全面展现。
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