武士的悲伤
出版日期:2015-7
ISBN:9787538747559
作者:[西] 维克多·德尔·阿尔伯尔
页数:400页
内容概要
维克多·德尔·阿尔伯尔，毕业于巴塞罗那大学，获得历史学学位。他自1992年起在加泰罗尼亚警察部门工作。2006年，他因《死亡之重》获蒂弗洛斯小说奖。《武士的悲伤》是他第一部被翻译成英语的小说。
作者简介
一场官司让她一战成名，
背后却是一场惊天阴谋。
一段沉寂了四十年的爱恨情仇，
一个隐藏了四十年的家族秘密，
随着一场谋划已久的政变，
渐渐浮出水面……
《武士的悲伤》是维克多？德尔？阿尔伯尔第一部被翻译成英语的小说，结合了悬疑、政治、家族秘密和历史小说等元素，时空跨度长达四十年，情节错综复杂，充满爱恨纠葛、背叛、暴力与死亡。作者维克多？德尔？阿尔伯尔展现了高超的说故事功力，每一次的情节转折和谜底揭晓，时机都拿捏得无懈可击。
《武士的悲伤》有如一道黑暗的漩涡，使读者越陷越深，难以自拔。
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精彩书评 (总计3条)
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After I finished The Sadness of the Samurai, I had been seriously worried that there might not have been much reason to try and read anything else for a while. The intensity of this novel seemed unparalleled by anything that might come after it. Even though I am now lucky enough to be reading another astonishing novel, I can say with all honesty that within the past ten years, I haven't read anything like The Sadness of the Samurai.This novel is raw and brutal. It seemed that all my nerve endings were working beyond their capacity, just to help me process the story enough to concentrate on my next day routines until I could read some more (I primarily read at night when my two toddlers are sleeping). What makes The Sadness of the Samurai so special however, is that all the cruelty is juxtaposed with Victor Del Arbol's beautiful, at times tragic, writing. It's verging on poetic sometimes, other times it's straightforward, yet so powerful, it made me catch my breath.And it always crept up on me unexpectedly. That element of surprise, not in the events, but in the writing, added yet another layer of depth.Now, you'll probably see The Sadness of the Samurai categorized as one genre or another. But don't let it discourage you, if you don't read one specific genre this book is listed under. A thriller? Yes, it is that. A spy novel? I suppose one could call it that, as well. A historical fiction? Most definitely. One that will at the very least make you want to look up Spain's 20th century history, especially the years of WWII and after. But most importantly, it's a complex literary work of fiction. And that means, having read it, you won't end up dumber. The characters are frighteningly human...in their capacity for cruelty and in their fragility. Some of the people there are truly evil. There's no redemption for them, nor would they seek any. Not one remorseful thought enters their minds. Some are innocent victims, who pay a dear price for the sins of their parents. And of course, those in between: not wholly good but not wholly evil either. You'll have plenty of people to pick from to hate and to admire. I particularly liked Maria, who in the end is, when it really matters, a very brave woman. She's a person with integrity, one who fought, one who knowing full well the consequences, didn't turn her back on her moral responsibility. Really, I could go on for hours about how well Del Arbol builds up his characters, but that's one of the reasons why you may want to read the book and judge for yourself.I need to stress that The Sadness of the Samurai is not for people whose sensibilities are easily offended. It is not for those who can't stand graphic violence, rape and the bestial side of human nature. I'm saying this not because the brutality takes anything away from the story, but because it is a very important, crucial even, element that makes Del Arbol's book so raw and so astounding, and if a wrong person reads it, they will give a low rating and low opinion on a book they shouldn't be reading in the first place.TranslationThe Sadness of the Samurai has been translated from Spanish by Mara Lethem. While I couldn't find much information on the web about this translator, I did notice that she has a fairly established record and has been a translator for at at least three different Spanish authors. Just like Del Arbol is a splendid writer, so is Ms. Lethem a talented translator. As a native European, for lack of a better word, I know that there are noticeable differences in a story's overall atmosphere between a novel written by a European author and that by an American one. European novels generally take on a slightly darker tone, explore existential questions and the nature of humans with gloomy outcomes, as opposed to the lighter tones of American novels, where the outlook on life is almost always positive in the end, offering hope and at least some little bit of optimism. Mara Lethem captured the character and atmosphere of that Spanish novel really well, for which I am very grateful. -
从翻启第一页至今，已经一个月。虽然我不是读书很快的人，但一本四百页的书花了这么长时间才读完，也确实太久了。一边想着已经拖延太多要尽快看完了，可是又实在没什么进展。如此漫长的这一个月，我的内心也是在煎熬中度过的。所以，一定不要赶着读书，会失去阅读最大的乐趣。
之所以如此步履维艰，要从作者的风格说起。客气一点形容其文笔的话，嗯~用“极其的细腻”好了。近期读过《无声告白》和《蚕》两部女作家的小说，对于女性特有的“文笔细腻”属性加成也是有体会的。如果说《无》的文字节奏安排的恰到好处，那么《蚕》则有些不分主次的啰嗦过头，阅读过程是头疼不已。不过，一切在《武士的悲伤》面前，都是小巫见大巫了。看作者的名字，“维克多·德尔·阿尔伯尔”似乎是一位男性，但“难能可贵”的是竟能从此作中读出些许的阴柔特质。至于细腻程度，说得夸张一点，怕也是可以冠绝女性文坛了。
全书给人一种感觉：作者在草创完成后，用了相当长一段时间来修改。每一章节的每一段文字都被扩展开来，加以细致的环境描写、人物内心勾勒和旁白。同时，作者爱用的比喻也有些频繁到读者无法不去留意的程度。虽然单拿出任何一段都值得细细地品味、反复去体会，可这种无时无刻都要深入理解却是颇浩大的工程。每读个十几页就会觉得十分累人，这种感觉让你在下次阅读时无法愉快的将书捧起。加之本书从头至尾基本是压抑和仇恨的基调，使得这些事无巨细喋喋不休越来越像一个女人绝望之下的抱怨，让人唯恐避之不及。我想，这是整个故事不那么好读的罪魁祸首。如此一直下去，进展缓慢就是自然而然的了。
在结构上，本书并没有按惯常的时间顺序叙述，而是把相隔四十年的两段故事分割后穿插在一起（此时莫名想起《穆斯林的葬礼》）。这种不常见的时空跳跃的观感提高了阅读的乐趣，也增加了读者捋清情节的难度。或者说试图在混沌中找到真相是一种痛并快乐着的体验。话说回来，如果按时间顺序写，整个故事就会平淡无奇的多。所谓的“惊天阴谋、家族秘密”这样言过其实的文字也只有在这种特殊的结构编排下，才能感受到些许吧！
一把名为“武士的悲伤”的日本刀作为某种象征而存在，但这件象征物是极其突兀的。故事的舞台在远离日本的西班牙，作者也没有为这件东洋武器出现在欧洲故事中做让人信服的铺垫，使得这充满隐喻的道具在故事中始终处于让人感觉莫名其妙的尴尬境地。武士刀在环境中的违和感，让和其有关的情节处于严重的撕裂状态。读者因对它合理性的怀疑，始终无法融入进情节中。也许作者对日本武士文化的热爱让其不顾后果地将之写入书中，亦或一把武士刀的存在也只是为使小说显得与众不同的噱头。
“‘武士的悲伤’是谁的悲伤？”这是读者自然会问的问题。作为一出延续爱恨纠葛四十年的悲剧，所有亲历者心中都怀有不同程度的伤痛。如果说，书名代之所有人的悲伤，那未免也太含糊笼统而不能让人信服了。安德雷斯痴迷武士文化、身着和服、武士刀也归其所有，首先想到的“武士”就会是他。但其出场寥寥，在书中的地位也未重要到与这一身份相匹配的程度。玛利亚作为一个被人当枪使的女性，缺席了前一个故事，似乎也非武士所指。塞萨尔迫于现实而放弃抗争的无奈与武士精神亦不相符。
那么，谁又配得起“武士”的称号呢？
加布里埃尔。
加布里埃尔曾亲口说起“武士的悲伤”的起源——一名在战场上嗜血、残忍但却厌恶战争的日本武士的佩刀。这把刀代表了武士最宝贵的品格：勇敢、忠诚、凶猛、高贵、精确和力量；但同时也代表了最坏的：死亡、痛苦、折磨、凶残和疯狂。而这些，似乎就是对其一生的总结。他欺骗并杀害了伊莎贝尔，成为一切罪恶的源头；作为卧底他忠诚于主子但双手粘满无数人的鲜血；他是这把刀的缔造者；他的妻子、女儿因为自己的过往而自杀、被人利用，这些无时不在折磨着他，使他处于自责的痛苦中……全书所有人物中，加布里埃尔出场并不算多，但其形象最为立体鲜活。其表现出的内心挣扎是读者可以透过纸面感受到的，其他人则显羸弱了。
得出“加布里埃尔是武士”的结论，我也是惊讶的。他是故事的主角么？不，当然不是。主角是玛利亚，是塞萨尔，亦或根本没有主角。在前一个故事里，他不过是个身份充满谜团的神秘人。而后一个故事中多数时间他只是个痛苦、木讷的父亲。可他就是那个最关键的人物，因为他的后半生是将所有人的命运连接在一起的那条锁链。如此说来，书名所指的是一个非主角了，有点啼笑皆非，也有点讽刺。或许说明我的揣测并不合作者的原意，但不知还有什么更好的解释了。
全书印刷清晰，字号略小但字体顺眼。单页24行，行距适中，排版算比较实在的，四百页的分量控制在一个很好的厚度。封面设计乍看还好，只是细节的不讲究使其缺乏质感，并不耐看。
最后，摘录个人较喜欢的一段原文，作为结束：
“生命对我们并不公平。我们为那些无法慰籍的事寻找慰籍，无法解释的事寻找解释，无法辩解的事寻找辩解。疯狂没有理由；被生活毒害的内心也没有逻辑。我曾问自己为什么好人是那些遭受失去挚爱、背叛、离弃和羞辱之苦最多的人。我曾问过我们的主……但是这个老神父还没有找到任何答案。” -
"The Sadness of the Samurai" is an ambitious, skillfully-wrought novel that encompasses just about everything life can throw at us. Primarily it's a story of cruel, twisted men whose horrific crimes spread out over forty years, profoundly damaging the innocent and the not-so-innocent.The plot bounces between two time frames with two separate sets of characters that eventually intertwine in mostly plausible if somewhat convoluted fashion. As such, it's a bit confusing at first. The superficial reader will likely be turned off early on. Others may be put off by the oppressive bleakness and the appalling violence of this very noir effort, only slightly lessened by the author's matter-of-fact way of writing such things. Those readers intrigued enough to persevere, however, will be rewarded with a deeply interesting, thought-provoking read.The characters are well defined and with few exceptions remain within their intended characterization. One such exception is Isabel's inexplicable unwillingness to fight for her own life after having had the courage to engineer her husband's attempted assassination. The ending, too, is shockingly unexpected, although given the circumstances it really shouldn't be.I liked this book very much, but I confess to a weakness for foreign literature. The historical and cultural differences present a vastly different perspective that American readers don't often find in American fiction.
精彩短评 (总计6条)
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I really recommend it. It has everything you would expect from a book: history, mystery, intrigues, politics, all perfectly written. -
这是一本没有幸福的或者即将幸福的角色的书，所以让人感到压抑。非常遗憾了是，作者的思路比较混乱，故事讲得糊里糊涂。 -
故事节奏有点慢，有些情节比较黑暗。。。 -
“生命对我们并不公平。我们为那些无法慰籍的事寻找慰籍，无法解释的事寻找解释，无法辩解的事寻找辩解。疯狂没有理由；被生活毒害的内心也没有逻辑。我曾问自己为什么好人是那些遭受失去挚爱、背叛、离弃和羞辱之苦最多的人。我曾问过我们的主……但是这个老神父还没有找到任何答案。”原文里摘录 -
事实上我很喜欢这种黑暗、压抑的风格，但是故事实在是有点虎头蛇尾，比较平淡。 -
翻译的不错，故事本身不太让人愉快