One of the great heroines of American literature, Isabel Archer, journeys to Europe in order to, as Henry James writes in his 1908 Preface, “affront her destiny.” James began The Portrait of a Lady without a plot or subject, only the slim but provocative notion of a young woman taking control of her fate. The result is a richly imagined study of an American heiress who turns away her suitors in an effort to first establish—and then protect—her independence. But Isabel’s pursuit of spiritual freedom collapses when she meets the captivating Gilbert Osmond. “James’s formidable powers of observation, his stance as a kind of bachelor recorder of human doings in which he is not involved,” writes Hortense Calisher, “make him a first-class documentarian, joining him to that great body of storytellers who amass what formal history cannot.”
Henry James was born in New York in 1843 and was educated in Europe and America. He left Harvard Law School in 1863, after a year's attendance, to concentrate on writing, and from 1869 he began to make prolonged visits to Europe, eventually settling in England in 1876. His literary output was prodigious and of the highest quality: more than ten outstanding novels, including The Portrait of a Lady and The American; countless novellas and short stories; as well as innumerable essays, letters, and other pieces of critical prose. Known by contemporary fellow novelists as 'the Master', James died in Kensington, London, in 1916.
Anita Brookner is the author of twenty novels, including Falling Slowly, Undue Influence, and Hotel du Lac, which won the Booker Prize. She lives in London.
《一位女士的画像》这本书并不在我的阅读计划中。亨利·詹姆斯虽然鼎鼎大名,但我只是知道他写过《小说的艺术》。(另一个例子是E·M·福斯特,同样鼎鼎大名,写过《小说面面观》。) 读了序言之后,虽然不觉得怎么样,但还是决定把它读完。厚达700页的书,却清新流畅,可以一...
评分 评分这本书最让我着迷的一点,是它对“选择”与“代价”这一永恒主题的探讨,其深度远超我最初的预期。它并不是简单地讲述一个关于财富或爱情的故事,而更像是一部关于“如何成为你自己”的深刻寓言。女主角的每一步探索,都是在试探社会既定的边界,以及内心对自由的渴望的极限。然而,作者残酷而真实地展示了,在那个特定时代,女性为追求独立意志所必须付出的沉重代价。这种代价不是外在的惩罚,更多的是内在的破碎和幻灭感。阅读的后期,我为这种“看透一切却又无力回天”的境地感到深深的悲凉,但同时也对其所展现出的坚韧与清醒产生了极大的敬意。它迫使我思考,真正的成长是否必然伴随着某种程度的失落?那些我们为之奋斗的理想,在现实的打磨下,最终会以何种面貌呈现?这部作品没有给出简单的答案,而是将这个沉甸甸的问题,留给了每一个合上书页的读者。
评分说实话,初读这本书的时候,我一度感到有些“气闷”,仿佛被裹进了一层厚厚的、略带潮湿的欧洲上流社会的空气里。那种压抑感,并非情节的惊悚,而是一种氛围上的、对个体自由的无声挤压。作者的笔触极其冷静、客观,几乎不带个人评判,只是像一个精密的记录仪,忠实地记录下女主角在面对选择时所经历的内心煎熬与外界的诱惑。我特别注意到,书中的场景描写往往带着一种象征意义,比如那些宏伟却略显沉寂的庄园,或者光线昏暗的会客室,都成了烘托人物内心孤立无援的最佳背景板。更令人玩味的是,小说中对“教养”、“得体”这些社会规范的探讨,显得如此微妙而有力。这些规范如何在不经意间扼杀了真挚的情感,将一个本应充满活力的灵魂塑造成一个符合社会期待的精致标本,这种对社会结构的无声批判,才是这本书最锋利的武器。我仿佛能听到那些优雅的社交辞令背后,隐藏着的却是深切的自我怀疑和不甘。
评分这部宏大的叙事仿佛带着一种无可抗拒的魔力,将我牢牢吸附在了文字构筑的世界里。作者对人物心理的刻画之精妙,简直令人拍案叫绝,仿佛能透过纸面,直接窥见那些复杂、矛盾甚至隐晦的情感波动。叙事节奏的掌控也极其老到,时而如潺潺溪流般细腻舒缓,娓娓道来生活中的琐碎与沉思;时而又陡然加快,在关键的冲突和抉择面前,笔锋如同锋利的刻刀,毫不留情地揭示出人性的幽暗与光辉。我尤其欣赏小说中对于时代背景的烘托,那种十九世纪末、二十世纪初的社会氛围、贵族阶层的虚伪与挣扎,都通过环境描写和人物对话自然而然地流淌出来,构建了一个既真实又带有强烈宿命感的舞台。阅读过程中,我常常需要停下来,细细咂摸那些看似不经意的对白,因为它们往往蕴含着对生活、对婚姻、对女性自我价值的深刻洞察。这种层次感和厚重感,让每一次重读都可能带来新的领悟,绝非那种一目了然的通俗小说可比拟。它需要读者投入极大的耐心与专注,去品味那份缓慢酝酿出的悲剧美学。
评分这本书的结构布局堪称教科书级别,它不是那种大起大落的戏剧冲突,而是更偏向于一种“命运的缓慢收紧”。人物群像的塑造极为成功,每一个配角,无论戏份多寡,都仿佛拥有自己完整而复杂的人生轨迹。他们像是围绕着核心人物旋转的行星,各自散发着不同的引力和推力,共同决定着主角的最终走向。特别是某些男性角色的复杂性,他们既有令人着迷的魅力和智慧,骨子里却又流淌着令人不安的控制欲和虚荣心,这种矛盾的结合,使得那些看似诱人的机会变得异常危险。我常常为主角的每一次“正确”或“错误”的判断而感到揪心,因为我知道,在这个特定的社会框架下,没有真正的两全其美,每一步前行都可能意味着对自我某种程度的牺牲。这种精密的因果链条,让故事的推进充满了宿命论式的张力,让人在阅读时不禁反思:如果是我处于那样的境地,是否能做出更明智的抉择?
评分从语言的韵律感上来说,这部作品达到了极高的水准。它的句子结构往往是复杂而精巧的,充满了从句和修饰语,这不仅没有让阅读变得晦涩,反而像是在品味一首用散文写成的古典乐章,每一个词语的放置都恰到好处,服务于整体的音乐性和情感的递进。我特别欣赏作者在处理角色内心独白时的那种疏离感和精准度,仿佛是透过一层薄薄的玻璃在观察角色的灵魂,既保持了观察者的距离,又捕捉到了最微小的颤动。这种冷静的笔法,与故事内容中蕴含的巨大情感张力形成了强烈的对比,达到了“不动声色处生波澜”的艺术效果。相较于那些直抒胸臆的作品,这种含蓄、内敛的表达方式,更考验读者的想象力和共情能力,但也正因如此,一旦被其意境所捕获,那种震撼感会持续更久,难以忘怀。
评分Life is better, because there is love. Death is good, but there's no love.
评分Life is better, because there is love. Death is good, but there's no love.
评分Life is better, because there is love. Death is good, but there's no love.
评分Life is better, because there is love. Death is good, but there's no love.
评分Life is better, because there is love. Death is good, but there's no love.
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