From Publishers Weekly Perhaps because her work ( The Good Mother ; Family Pictures ) is seductively readable and sells so well, Miller has been underrated as a serious writer. Yet she tackles important themes and creates complex characters who must confront weaknesses in their own natures to come to terms with the conditions of their lives. This novel is her best to date, a forceful and resonant portrayal of a woman who is trying to escape from her past. Lottie and Cameron Reed and Elizabeth Harbour grew up in Cambridge, Mass., the Reeds in a ramshackle house across the street from the Harbour's elegant manse--a social chasm they became aware of as teenagers. Circumstances now bring them back together: her second marriage in jeopardy, Lottie has flown from Chicago to clean out her mother's possessions; self-absorbed, glamorous Elizabeth has fled a marital crisis; and Cameron, who has always adored Elizabeth, rekindles their old romance. The Reed siblings are emotionally dysfunctional, due in part to their impoverished childhoods as offspring of a father who was imprisoned for embezzlement and an alcoholic, abusive mother. Independent, willful but vulnerable, Lottie suffers from repressed rage and guilt, unconscious denial and an inability to give or accept love. A tragedy brings the various relationships into collision. Miller's writing is controlled, authoritative and charged with meaning; she excels in creating credibly flawed but appealing characters while exploring a larger question: Is love possible in the post-Freudian age? BOMC main selection. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal Fortyish freelance writer Lottie leaves her new husband in Chicago to spend part of the summer in Cambridge, Massachusetts, getting the family house ready to sell now that her brother Cameron has placed their alcoholic mother in a nursing home. While she and her son Ryan paint and clean, Lottie examines the concept of love in an article she is writing, studying her own troubled marriage and Cameron's resumption of a love affair with childhood sweetheart Elizabeth. For Elizabeth, who is staying with her mother after leaving her philandering husband, this romance is just a fling. But Cameron's obsessive love for the golden girl of his youth leads to the tragic accident at the center of this affecting story. Through the intelligent and captivating character of Lottie, Miller ( Family Pictures, LJ 4/15/90) explores the world of relationships with astonishing insight to create an engrossing, rewarding novel. Highly recommended.- Patricia Ross, Westerville P.L., OhioCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. See all Editorial Reviews
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这本书的文字简直像一团迷雾,让人捉摸不透,读完之后心里空落落的,好像被什么东西攫住了,却又说不上来。作者的叙事方式极其跳跃,场景之间的转换毫无预兆,让人常常需要停下来,反复阅读前文,试图在那些零散的片段中拼凑出一个连贯的画面。我花了很长时间才适应这种叙事节奏,起初真的有些抓狂,感觉自己像是在一个巨大的迷宫里打转,找不到出口。书中的角色塑造也颇为晦涩,他们的动机隐藏在层层叠叠的潜台词之下,你很难确切地判断他们到底在想什么,或者他们行为的真正驱动力是什么。很多时候,你只能根据只言片语去猜测,而这些猜测往往很快又被新的情节打乱。它不是那种让你读完就能拍案叫绝的类型,更像是一次精神上的马拉松,考验着读者的耐心和解读能力。这本书更像是一面镜子,映照出的是读者内心深处的困惑和不安,而不是一个清晰的故事轮廓。它带来的感受是复杂的,夹杂着被疏离的挫败感和某种程度上被挑战的兴奋感。读完后,我花了整整一个下午来整理思绪,试图理清那些盘根错节的象征意义,但最终,很多地方依然像蒙着一层薄纱,朦胧不清,留给我的,更多是挥之不去的意象和情绪上的回响。
评分这本书的语言风格简直是文艺腔的极致体现,每一个句子都像是精心雕琢过的宝石,华丽、晦涩,充满了拗口的修辞手法。作者似乎对每一个词语的选择都抱着近乎偏执的态度,导致很多地方的表达非常绕,需要反复推敲才能领会其表面下的含义。举个例子,书中描述一个下雨天的场景,硬是写了将近三页,充斥着各种关于水汽、光线折射、以及雨滴撞击不同材质声音的细致入微的描写,虽然画面感是强烈的,但推进故事的效率几乎为零。这种过度追求文字美感的倾向,使得阅读过程变成了一种疲劳的审美负担。我更喜欢那种一气呵成的叙事,而这本书似乎刻意在制造阅读的阻碍,仿佛在对读者说:“你看,我的文字多优美,你得慢慢品尝。” 这种故作高深的姿态,让我感到有些不适。虽然我承认其中不乏精妙的段落,但整体阅读体验却是沉重的、拖沓的,让人很难沉浸于故事本身。看完后,我感觉需要立刻找一本情节紧凑的小说来“净化”一下眼睛。
评分这本书的节奏感是完全失控的,时而快得像一场疾驰的追逐戏,信息量爆炸,角色们在几页之内经历了数年的变化;时而又慢得像滴水的沙漏,一个简单的动作可以被拉伸成十几页的篇幅,充满了各种无关紧要的细节补充。这种剧烈的、毫无预警的节奏变化,让读者的大脑始终处于一个高度紧张又随时可能崩溃的状态。最令人困惑的是,那些被快速带过的重要事件,比如一场战争的爆发或者关键人物的死亡,只是被寥寥数语带过,然后篇幅又迅速集中到对某件日常物品纹理的详细描绘上。这完全打乱了我阅读的预期和心理预期。我无法理解作者这种权重的分配,它似乎完全是随机的。结果就是,我读完后,对故事的脉络记得一清二楚的,却是那些与主线毫无关系的支节末梢。这本书更像是一种文学上的行为艺术,挑战的是我们对“叙事有效性”的传统认知,但作为一部小说,它在引导读者进入故事体验方面,是彻底失败的。
评分老实说,这本书的结构简直是反人类的,读起来非常费劲,我感觉自己像在解一道数学难题,而不是享受文学作品。作者似乎对情节的线性发展有一种天然的排斥,全书的推进是碎片化的、非线性的,而且充满了大量的内心独白和哲学思辨,这些思辨往往没有明确的结论,只是在原地打转。我不得不承认,有些章节我只能囫囵吞枣地读过去,因为一旦深究下去,逻辑的链条就会断裂。书中的世界观构建得非常宏大,但细节却处理得极其粗糙,很多重要的背景设定和人物关系都是通过闪回或者模糊的对话来呈现的,这对于追求清晰度的读者来说,简直是灾难。我尤其不能理解作者在中间穿插的那几段关于古代冶金术的描述,它们与主线剧情的关联性几乎为零,读起来完全是两个不搭界的文本拼凑在一起的感觉,让人不禁怀疑是不是编辑漏掉了什么重要的说明性文字。这本书更像是一份作者未完成的手稿,充满了实验性的勇气,但缺乏必要的打磨和导引,让普通读者望而却步,我花了很大力气才坚持读完最后几页,更多的是一种完成任务的解脱感,而非阅读的愉悦。
评分我必须指出,这本书在情感处理上达到了一个令人不安的“冷漠”程度。书中的角色们仿佛都被一层厚厚的冰壳包裹着,他们之间所有的交流都像是例行公事,缺乏最基本的人类情感温度。即使在面对重大的悲剧或转折点时,作者也只是用一种近乎科学报告般的冷静笔触来记录,完全没有试图去触动读者的同情心或愤怒感。我试图去寻找一个能够产生共鸣的角色,哪怕只是一个微小的瞬间,但都以失败告终。这种刻意的抽离感,让整个故事读起来索然无味,像是在观看一个没有演员的舞台剧,只有布景和道具,却没有灵魂。我怀疑作者是否真的理解人类复杂的情感光谱,或者他就是故意要探讨“情感缺失”的主题,如果是后者,那他的探讨方式也过于极端,以至于将读者彻底推开门外。这本书需要的不是读者去理解故事,而是去理解作者如何抗拒表达情感,这本末倒置的阅读体验,让人感到非常迷茫和失落。
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