IF WINTER BY A. S. M. HUTCHINSON BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1922 Copyright, 1921, BY A. S. M. HUTCHINSON. All rights reserved Published August, 1921 Reprinted August, 1921 twice Reprinted September, 1921 four times Reprinted October, 1921 three times Reprinted November, 1921 five times Reprinted December, 1921 eight times Reprinted January, 1922 four times Reprinted February, 1922 twice Reprinted March, 1922 Reprinted April, 1922 Reprinted July, 1922 Reprinted September, 1922 Reprinted November, 1922 FEINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA . . . Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind SHELLEY 1153502 CONTENTS PART ONE PAGE MABEL i PART TWO NONA 77 PART THREE EFFIE 187 PART FOUR MABEL EFFIE NONA 317 PART ONE MABEL F WINTER COMES CHAPTER I To take Mark Sabre at the age of thirty-four, and in the year 1912, and at the place Penny Green is to necessitate looking back a little towards the time of his marriage in 1904, but happens to find him in good light for observa tion. Encountering him hereabouts, one who had shared school days with him at his preparatory school so much as twenty-four years back would have found matter for recognition. A usefully garrulous person, one Hapgood, a solicitor, found much. Whom do you think I met yesterday Old Sabre You remember old Sabre at old Wickamotes . . . Yes, that s the chap. Used to call him Puzzlehead, temember 1 Because he used to screw up his forehead over things old kWickamote or any of the other masters said and sort of drawl out, Well, I dont see that, sir. . . . Yes, rather . . And then that other expression of his. Just the opposite. When old Wickamote or some one had landed him, or all of us, with some dashed punishment, andwe were gassing about it, used to screw up his nut in the same way and say, Yes, but I see what he means And some one would say, Well, what does he mean, you ass and he d start gassing some rot till some one said, Good IF WINTER COMES ford, fancy sticking up for a master And old Puzzle head would say, You sickening fool, I m not sticking up for him. I m only saying he s right from how he looks at it and it s no good saying he s wrong ... Ha Funny days. . . . Jolly nice chap, though, old Puzzle head was. . . . Yes, I met him. . . . Fact, I ran into him occasionally. We do a mild amount of business with his firm. I buzz down there about once a yeat. Tid borough. He s changed, of course. So have you, you know. That Vandyke beard, what Ha Old Sab e s not done anything outrageous like that. Real thing I seemed to notice about him when I bumped into him yes terday was that he did nt look very cheery. Looked to me rather as though he d lost something and was wondering where it was. Ha But dashed funny I mentioned something about that appalling speech that chap made in that blasphemy case yesterday. ... Eh yes, absolutely frightful, wasnt it well, Im dashed if old Sabre did nt puzzle up his nut in exactly the same old way and say, Yes, but I see what he means I reminded him and ragged him about it no end. Absolutely the same words and expression. Funny chap . . . nice chap. . . . What did he say the blasphemy man meant Oh, J dont know some bilge, just as he used to about the masters. You know the man talked some rubbish aboul how the State couldnt have it both ways could n 1 blaspheme against God by flatly denying that all men wen equal and basing all its legislation on keeping one class uf andthe other class down could nt do that and at the same time prosecute him because he said that religion was well, you know what he said I m dashed if I like to repeat it. Joke of it was that I found myself using exactly the same expression to old Sabre as we used to ttse at school. I said, Good lord, man, fancy sticking up for a chap like that And old Sabre by Jove, I tell
从结构上来看,这本书的骨架搭建得极其稳固,逻辑链条严丝合缝,几乎找不到可以被诟病的地方。我通常是一个喜欢做笔记和梳理时间线的读者,这本书在这方面表现得非常出色,即便有着多次时间跳跃和多重视角切换,作者依然能保持叙事的清晰度。它没有采用那种线性的、平铺直叙的结构,而是巧妙地运用了倒叙和插叙,像一个精密的钟表,每一个齿轮都在恰当的时机咬合。最让我感到惊叹的是,那些看似无关紧要的支线情节,在故事的后三分之一处,竟然都汇集成一股强大的洪流,将主线推向了高潮。这种精心的布局,体现了作者对整体故事掌控力的自信,读完全书后,有一种酣畅淋漓的满足感,就好像看完了一场结构精妙的交响乐。
评分这本书的封面设计简直是艺术品,那种深沉的蓝色调,配上几笔留白的雪花,一下子就把你拉进了一个寒冷却又充满故事感的世界。我记得我第一次在书店看到它时,目光就再也移不开了。它的排版非常讲究,字体选择的恰到好处,既有古典韵味又不失现代的易读性,让人在阅读过程中有一种沉浸式的体验。更别提纸张的质感了,拿在手里沉甸甸的,翻动的每一页都伴随着轻微的沙沙声,这对于一个真正热爱纸质书的人来说,简直是一种享受。装帧的工艺也看得出是下过一番功夫的,即便是经常翻阅,书脊也保持得很好,没有出现松动或者磨损的迹象,这让我非常满意。这本书的整体视觉呈现,从内到外都散发着一种低调而奢华的气质,绝对值得收藏。每次把它放在书架上,它都能与其他书籍形成一种独特的视觉焦点,让人忍不住想再次拿起它,重温那些文字构建的场景。
评分阅读这本书的过程,与其说是消遣,不如说是一次深刻的自我对话。它探讨的主题——关于记忆的不可靠性、关于选择的重量、关于我们如何与过去的创伤共存——都非常沉重,但作者的处理方式却极其克制和富有同情心。它没有提供廉价的答案或皆大欢喜的结局,而是将核心问题抛给了读者,引发我们去反思自身在类似境遇下的反应。我读完之后,有好几天都无法轻易地从那个世界中抽离出来,那些角色的挣扎和坚持,仿佛在我身上留下了深刻的烙印。这本小说带来的思考深度,远超一般的娱乐性阅读,它迫使你直面人性中的复杂与脆弱。这正是一本“好书”的标志:它不仅讲述了一个故事,更重要的是,它改变了你观察世界的一点点角度。
评分这本书的语言风格,简直可以用“精炼而富有张力”来形容,充满了文学上的野心。作者似乎对每一个词语都进行了精确的“称重”,没有一句多余的废话,但同时,当他需要渲染情绪时,那种诗意和画面感又会如同潮水般涌来。我特别欣赏作者在描述自然现象时的笔触,那种将客观景物融入主观情感的手法,非常高妙。例如,某一个清晨的雾气描写,读起来既像是纯粹的风景描摹,又似乎暗示着主角即将面临的迷茫与不确定性。这种隐晦的象征手法,让阅读过程充满了主动参与性,读者需要自己去解读和填充那些留白之处。而且,不同角色的语言习惯和口吻区分得非常明显,即使不看署名,也能准确判断出是哪个人物在发声,这足见作者在人物塑造上的功力深厚。
评分我必须承认,这本书的叙事节奏处理得非常高明,它不像有些小说那样上来就直奔主题,而是像一位老道的指挥家,慢慢地、耐心地铺陈开来。开篇的几章用了大量的环境描写,那种对季节更迭的细腻捕捉,让我仿佛能闻到空气中弥漫的泥土和草木的气息。作者似乎并不急于揭示核心冲突,而是花了大量的篇幅去刻画人物的内心世界和他们所处的社会背景。这种“慢热”的手法,起初可能会让一些追求快节奏的读者感到一丝不耐烦,但我恰恰享受这种被作者牵着鼻子走的探索过程。随着情节的深入,那些看似不经意的细节,如同散落在地上的珍珠,忽然在某个转折点被串联起来,形成了一幅完整而震撼的画面。特别是对人物动机的挖掘,那种复杂性、那种难以名状的灰色地带,让人不得不停下来深思,这不是简单的善恶二元论,而是对人性的深刻洞察。
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