The new novel from the bestselling Patrick Gale. Renowned Canadian artist Rachel Kelly -- now of Penzance -- has buried her past and married a gentle and loving Cornish man. Her life has been a sacrifice to both her extraordinary art and her debilitating manic depression. When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies painting obsessively in her attic studio in Penzance, her saintly husband and adult children have more than the usual mess to clear up. She leaves behind an extraordinary and acclaimed body of work -- but she also leaves a legacy of secrets and emotional damage it will take months to unravel. A wondrous, monstrous creature, she exerts a power that outlives her. To her children she is both curse and blessing, though they all in one way or another reap her whirlwind, inheriting her waywardness, her power of loving -- and her demons. Only their father's Quaker gifts of stillness and resilience give them any chance of withstanding her destructive influence and the suspicion that they came a poor second to the creation of her art.
The reader becomes a detective, piecing together the clues of a life -- as artist, lover, mother, wife and patient -- which takes them from contemporary Penzance to 1960s Toronto to St Ives in the 1970s. What emerges is a story of enduring love, and of a family which weathers tragedy, mental illness and the intolerable strain of living with genius. Patrick Gale's latest novel shines with intelligence, humour and tenderness.
Patrick Gale was born in 1962 on the Isle of Wight. He is the author of nine novels, including Tree Surgery for Beginners, The Facts of Life, Little Bits of Baby, and Kansas, rough Music and a collection of stories, Dangerous Pleasures. As well as writing and reviewing fiction, he has contributed to various anthologies; written for television; published a biography of Armistead Maupin; written a short history of the Dorchester Hotel and chapters on Mozart's piano and mechanical music for H C Robbins Landon's The Mozart Compendium. Apart from the writing and the music, Patrick is a dedicated bridge player. He lives in north Cornwall, England.
I try...but just feel bored after several pages. Recently, I feel need to stay away from so call "modern literature". Always be disappointed by books these day.
评分立意不错,我也是看了简介才买的这本书:She leaves behind an extraordinary and acclaimed body of work -- but she also leaves a legacy of secrets and emotional damage it will take months to unravel。女画家+精神分裂症+神秘遗作。还有比这更有吸引力的主题吗?虽然...
评分The language is not bad and there are some scenes which are impressive and touching .But on the whole , it fails to convince me. I felt tired after finishing it , as if I had looked at a poorly focused photo for too long . And the author thinks Gong Li...
评分The language is not bad and there are some scenes which are impressive and touching .But on the whole , it fails to convince me. I felt tired after finishing it , as if I had looked at a poorly focused photo for too long . And the author thinks Gong Li...
评分立意不错,我也是看了简介才买的这本书:She leaves behind an extraordinary and acclaimed body of work -- but she also leaves a legacy of secrets and emotional damage it will take months to unravel。女画家+精神分裂症+神秘遗作。还有比这更有吸引力的主题吗?虽然...
这本书的叙事节奏处理得极其老练,它不是那种平铺直叙地介绍什么东西的指南,更像是一场缓慢渗透的心理实验。你开始阅读时,以为自己在看某种后现代的解构主义文本,但随着页码的推进,你会发现它渗入了更深层的、关于记忆和时间本身的探讨。那些被描述的“展品”往往与特定的历史时期或未被主流承认的亚文化思潮紧密相关,但作者总是巧妙地将这些关联线索打乱,使得读者无法轻易地将它归类到任何已知的艺术史框架内。我花了很长时间才意识到,这本书的真正主题不是“展览”,而是“诠释的权力”。谁有权决定什么值得被展示?什么会被永久地尘封在档案深处?书中对于那些“被审查的展品”的只言片语的提及,比那些被详细描述的展品更引人入胜。它用一种近乎冷静的、抽离的语调,营造出一种强烈的疏离感,让你感觉自己像一个闯入了一场高度机密的私人对话的局外人,既兴奋又心虚。
评分这本书的结构本身就是一种艺术品,它拒绝任何线性的阅读路径。你可以在任何一页停下来,然后感觉你已经掌握了某种“秘密”,但当你翻到下一页时,那个秘密又被新的、更令人困惑的线索所取代。我发现自己经常需要停下来,合上书本,在房间里踱步,试图梳理出一条清晰的脉络,但每次都以失败告终——而这正是这本书的魅力所在。它拒绝被简化,拒绝被轻易归档。它更像是一个不断自我繁殖的文本生态系统,里面的每一个描述都指向了另一个不存在的注释或参考文献。对于那些期待一本“导览手册”的读者来说,这本书无疑是令人沮丧的,但对于热衷于解构与重构的阅读者来说,它提供了一个无限的游乐场。我特别欣赏作者处理“空白”的方式,那种留白不是因为缺乏想象力,而是经过深思熟虑的、策略性的撤退,迫使读者成为这场虚构盛宴的主导策展人。
评分那本关于一座不存在的展览的手册,简直是文字构建的迷宫。我第一次翻开它时,就被那种近乎偏执的细节感给吸了进去。作者似乎在用一种近乎考古学家的严谨,描绘那些根本不存在的艺术品。每一件“展品”都有着详尽的背景故事、模糊不清的创作者生平,甚至连展厅的灯光角度和空气湿度都被精确地记录下来。但最令人不安的是,你越是深入这些描绘,就越发觉得这些“作品”的缺席感愈发强烈。它像是一个巨大的、结构精巧的空壳,挑战着我们对“真实存在”和“被记录”之间的界限。我尤其喜欢其中对一件名为“沉默的回响”的雕塑的描述——据说它是由被遗忘的语言碎片铸成的,在特定的频率下才会显现出形状。这种将纯粹的虚构提升到近乎可触摸的现实层面的写作技巧,令人拍案叫绝。这本书不是在谈论艺术,它本身就是一件关于“如何感知缺席”的装置艺术。它迫使读者主动填补那些被精心留出的空白,完成这场脑海中的“展览”。
评分这本书的“体感”非常独特,它读起来不像小说,也不像散文集,它更像是从某个被遗忘的、高度组织化的国家档案馆中窃取出来的文件汇编。其中对档案管理、文献保存技术,乃至文物修复伦理的描绘,达到了令人发指的精确度,这使得整个虚构的“展览”具有了令人信服的重量感。我特别关注了书中反复出现的关于“复制品与原作的悖论”的讨论,作者似乎在用这种方式质疑我们这个时代对图像无限复制的痴迷。阅读过程中,我感觉自己像一个拿着放大镜的侦探,试图在那些看似完美无瑕的文字描述中找到一个逻辑上的裂缝,一个能证明这一切都是幻觉的证据。然而,每一次我以为自己找到了突破口时,作者又会抛出一个更坚固的、由脚注和交叉引用构建起来的防御工事。这本书的精髓在于,它成功地将“阅读”本身变成了一种关于“信念”的考验。它不是关于你在看什么,而是关于你选择相信什么。
评分我必须承认,初读时我差点被它那些看似严谨的术语和引文搞糊涂了。作者似乎很享受用一种高度学术化的腔调来讨论荒诞不经的事情,这种反差制造了一种奇特的张力。这本书的语言风格是那种带着冷峻的知识分子气质的,充满了晦涩的哲学隐喻和对早期现代主义理论的巧妙化用。但如果你能穿透那层学术外壳,你会发现其下流淌着一股非常个人化的、近乎哀伤的情绪。它像是一本给失眠者的睡前读物,那些精心编织的细节在你脑海中不断盘旋,让你无法真正入眠,却又对这种精神上的折磨感到着迷。特别是其中关于“不可见的媒介”的那一章,简直是天才之作,它探讨了声音、气味和时间流逝本身如何成为艺术载体。这种对感官边界的不断试探,让这本书的阅读体验远超于普通的文学作品,它更像是一种感官的“校准练习”。
评分Dysfunctional families and mental illness. Can't get any better than that,right?very humane
评分Dysfunctional families and mental illness. Can't get any better than that,right?very humane
评分Dysfunctional families and mental illness. Can't get any better than that,right?very humane
评分Dysfunctional families and mental illness. Can't get any better than that,right?very humane
评分Dysfunctional families and mental illness. Can't get any better than that,right?very humane
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