书籍介绍
这并非一部以战争为卖点的小说。敦刻尔克的伤、后方的医院、空袭的黑暗，都被作者有意虚化成背景，真正被写进骨子里的，是两个人之间克制而疼痛的相爱。Laurie优柔、反复、一再辜负那个“什么也不要、只求付出全部”的Ralph，让不少读者痛心于他的“作”；而当他终于闯入一个成年同性恋者的社交圈，却看清这里多数人不过“把缺陷活成了事业”——这种对自我接纳方式的锐利区分，才是全书最见功力的地方。它不煽情，也不提供爽感，而是逼读者和主角一起，在天真与世故、逃避与承担之间做出选择。适合愿意慢下来、对人性幽微处有耐心的读者；追求情节刺激或时代氛围者或许会觉得闷。
AI导读
核心看点
- 本书聚焦二战背景下英国退伍军人劳里与和平主义者安德鲁之间纯洁而隐秘的同性恋情，细腻刻画了战争创伤后个体对情感慰藉的渴望，以及这种关系在保守社会环境中的脆弱与美好，展现了人性在极端环境下的温情与挣扎。
- 剧情核心冲突围绕劳里在纯真爱情与世俗欲望间的艰难抉择展开。随着导师拉尔夫的回归，劳里被卷入一个充满世故与冷漠的同性恋社交圈，被迫面对理想化情感与现实复杂人性之间的巨大鸿沟，探讨道德边界与自我认同的危机。
- 作者玛丽·瑞瑙特以古希腊哲学隐喻贯穿全书，将灵魂比作驾驭两匹骏马的御者，深刻剖析人物内心的欲望、恐惧与道德困境。文本不仅是对同性情感的勇敢书写，更是对人性弱点、背叛及自我毁灭倾向的严肃文学审视。
读者共识
- 读者普遍认为本书情感基调沉重且令人窒息，主角劳里的自私与优柔寡断引发强烈反感，而拉尔夫的悲剧命运令人心痛。许多读者批评剧情过于戏剧化且脱离现实，认为人物塑造单薄，缺乏对二战背景的真实反映，整体阅读体验沉闷且令人不适。
- 尽管文学价值受到部分认可，但多数读者对书中扭曲的人际关系和病态的情感模式感到困惑与排斥。评论指出作者后期转向希腊题材是明智之举，因为本书在处理现代同性情感时显得干瘪且模式化，缺乏其希腊小说中的鲜活生命力与饱满情感。
- 部分读者认为本书在探讨人性黑暗面和社会偏见方面具有历史意义，但叙事手法过于压抑，缺乏建设性的情感出口。读者共识在于，这是一部充满争议的作品，其艺术成就难以掩盖情节上的令人沮丧与人物行为的不可理喻，不建议寻求轻松阅读体验的读者尝试。
精彩摘录
- "The party had warmed up by this time. A momentary detachment came upon Laurie as he looked on. After some years of muddled thinking on the subject [of his homosexual desire], he suddenly saw quite clearly what it was he had been running away from; why he had refused Sandy's first invitation, and wha"
- "They had come to a bridge over the river. The ground was high here, the river ran between cliffs. Laurie thought how in peacetime, from here, the town would have lain below them like a starry sky. Now, as the bridge gave gently on its chains in the wind that swept along the gorge, there was only a d"
- "In seven years, thought Laurie, every cell in one's body has been replaced, even our memories live in a new brain. That is not the face I saw, and these are not the eyes I saw with. Even our selves are not the same, but only a consequence of the selves we had then. Yet I was there and am here; and t"
- "There was a long silence after he had spoken. Then Ralph said, with the crudity of deep feeling, "You've got someone there." "Yes," Laurie said. Voices came through the shell now; kindness and loyalty tapped remindingly on the walls. He said dully, "But you couldn't have known that.""
- "Ralph said, "So this is your house." "Yes. It's been mine for four hours, now...It looks different." Ralph stood looking in silence, and then said quietly, "It couldn't be different." They went up the path together, not speaking till Ralph said, "You'll keep this place?" "If I can." "You must. It go"
- "...Only pressure of circumstances made him admit even to himself that he thought Laurie strikingly handsome...."
- "...Laurie's Tacitly acknowledged position as a leader of public opinion had been founded not on spectacular escapades, which in real life are often a nuisance, but by a quiet positiveness and a knack of settling other people's quarrels without getting involved in them..."
- "He had got to the door. His footsteps must have been heard by now; there could be no more procrastination. He knocked. "Come in," Said Lanyon briskly. At this point Laurie ceased to feel any awkwardness. Fright had swallowed everything. Concerned only not to show it, he walked in. Lanyon was sitting"
用户评论
这本书以后，Mary奶奶就转纯希腊题材了。本书是以二战英国的背景，讲希腊模式的爱恋。不知为啥，感觉很闷。二战时期的英国，是很有味道的。这里却像个空壳子，脱离了时代，模式化的干瘪。那些真-希腊小说，要鲜活与饱满得多
Laurie真是作啊，Ralph都快被他作死了。
里面的drama queen情节太符合gay界的现实了。
英伦，二战，公学，基情 。嗯，你值得拥有！
Great but sad
He had asked for nothing, expect to give everything. 天呐看到Ralph被如此对待，我真的痛入骨髓。Laurie真的应该认识一下Cliff和Maurice。
站错cp的我真是心痛至死（。
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