具体描述
内容简介
This fine novel sets in opposition two of Thomas Hardy's most unforgettable creations: his heroine, the sensuous, free-spirited Eustacia Vye, and the solemn, majestic stretch of upland in Dorsetshire he called Egdon Heath. The famous opening reveals the haunting power of that dark, forbidding moor where proud Eustacia fervently awaits a clandestine meeting with her lover, Damon Wildeve. But Eustacia's dreams of escape are not to be realized--neither Wildeve nor the returning native Clym Yeobright can bring her salvation.
Injured by forces beyond their control, Hardy's characters struggle vainly in the net of destiny. In the end, only the face of the lonely heath remains untouched by fate in this masterpiece of tragic passion, a tale that perfectly epitomizes the author's own unique and melancholy genius. 作者简介
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist, in the tradition of George Eliot, he was also influenced both in his novels and poetry by Romanticism, especially by William Wordsworth. Charles Dickens is another important influence on Thomas Hardy. Like Dickens, he was also highly critical of much in Victorian society, though Hardy focused more on a declining rural society.
While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life, and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially therefore he gained fame as the author of such novels as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). However, since the 1950s Hardy has been recognized as a major poet, and had a significant influence on The Movement poets of the 1950s and 1960s, including Phillip Larkin.
The bulk of his fictional works, initially published as serials in magazines, were set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex and explored tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances. Hardy's Wessex is based on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom and eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire, in south west England.
托马斯·哈代(Thomas Hardy),英国诗人、小说家。他是横跨两个世纪的作家,早期和中期的创作以小说为主,继承和发扬了维多利亚时代的文学传统;晚年以其出色的诗歌开拓了英国20世纪的文学。
哈代一生共发表了近20部长篇小说,其中最著名的当推《德伯家的苔丝》、《无名的裘德》(Jude the Obscure)、《还乡》和《卡斯特桥市长》。诗8集,共918首,此外,还有许多以“威塞克斯故事”为总名的中短篇小说,以及长篇史诗剧《列王》。 精彩书摘
The heaven being spread with this pallid screen and the earth with the darkest vegetation, their meeting-line at the horizon was clearly marked. In such contrast the heath wore the appearance of an instalment of night which had taken up its place before its astronomical hour was come: darkness had to a great extent arrived hereon, while day stood distinct in the sky. Looking upwards, a furze-cutter would have been inclined to continue work; looking down, he would have decided to finish his faggot and go home. The distant rims of the world and of the firmament seemed to be a division in time no less than a division in matter. The face of the heath by its mere complexion added half an hour to evening; it could in like manner retard the dawn, sadden noon, anticipate the frowning of storms scarcely generated, and intensify the opacity of a moonless midnight to a cause of shaking dread.
In fact, precisely at this transitional point of its nightly roll into darkness the great and particular glory of the Egdon waste began, and nobody could be said to understand the heath who had not been there at such a time. It could best be felt when it could not clearly be seen, its complete effect and explanation lying in this and the succeeding hours before the next dawn: then, and only then, did it tell its true tale. The spot was, indeed, a near relation of night, and when night showed itself an apparent tendency to gravitate together could be perceived in its shades and the scene. The sombre stretch of rounds and hollows seemed to rise and meet the evening gloom in pure sympathy, the heath exhaling darkness as rapidly as the heavens precipitated it. And so the obscurity in the air and the obscurity in the land closed together in a black fraternization towards which each advanced half-way.
The place became full of a watchful intentness now; for when other things sank brooding to sleep the heath appeared slowly to awake and listen. Every night its Titanic form seemed to await something; but it had waited thus, unmoved, during so many centuries, through the crises of so many things, that it could only be imagined to await one last crisis?the final overthrow.
好的,以下是一份不包含《还乡》内容的,关于一部虚构小说的详细简介: 《星辰之烬:亚瑟王的遗产》 作者: 伊莱亚斯·凡恩(Elias Thorne) 类型: 史诗奇幻/历史重构 装帧: 精装典藏版 页数: 约 780 页 推荐读者: 喜爱复杂政治斗争、深入角色心理刻画以及宏大世界观构建的奇幻文学爱好者。 --- 卷首语 当信仰的火焰被权力之风吹熄,当英雄的誓言被背叛的寒霜冻结,不朽的传奇便只剩下灰烬。在这片被遗忘的土地上,真正的骑士精神已然消逝,留下的只有对昔日荣光的徒劳追忆,以及一双双渴望填补权力真空的贪婪之手。 --- 故事梗概 《星辰之烬:亚瑟王的遗产》 并非讲述亚瑟王英勇事迹的颂歌,而是一部深入剖析“后亚瑟时代”——那个英雄逝去、帝国崩塌的黑暗时代的史诗性反思录。故事背景设定在卡美洛陷落数十年之后,昔日统一不列颠的雄伟构架已然碎裂成无数互相倾轧的男爵领地、蛮族部落和新兴的宗教派系。 主线围绕三条交织的命运展开,他们代表了后亚瑟时代无法调和的矛盾:理想的陨落、现实的残酷与新秩序的萌芽。 第一部:灰烬中的守望者 人物: 埃尔温·德·维尔(Elwin de Vere),前皇家骑士团的低阶书记官,如今是偏远边境一座摇摇欲坠修道院的图书管理员。 埃尔温是卡美洛鼎盛时期的亲历者,他目睹了圆桌会议的荣耀,也目睹了最后一次会战中骑士们的溃败。他拒绝拿起武器,因为他认为真正的亚瑟精神并非靠剑术维系,而是靠知识与记忆保存。 当一股名为“圣火教团”的狂热宗教力量开始向北推进,声称要以铁腕净化被异教徒和巫术污染的土地时,埃尔温发现自己被卷入了保护修道院珍贵古籍的斗争中。这些古籍中不仅包含卡美洛的编年史,更包含关于“圣杯”的真正来源——一个可能颠覆圣火教团教义的禁忌秘密。他必须决定:是让知识在烈火中一同焚毁,以求自保,还是冒着生命危险,成为历史的最后一位守望者。 第二部:铁血的继承者 人物: 莱安娜·菲茨罗伊(Lady Lyanna Fitzroy),科恩瓦尔(Cornwall)公爵的私生女,一个在男性主导的封建世界中以其残酷的政治手腕和卓越的军事天赋崛起的女性领主。 莱安娜拒绝承认任何旧时代的法律和血脉继承。她从父亲的遗产中继承了一块贫瘠的土地和一群心怀不满的骑士。她深知,在秩序崩塌的时代,仁慈是奢侈品。她的目标是重建一个比卡美洛更加坚固、更加务实的王国,一个不依赖于空洞誓言,而是依赖于铁蹄和财富的实体。 她的故事线聚焦于一系列惊心动魄的外交博弈和军事行动。她与北方的皮克特人(Picts)进行残酷的拉锯战,同时应对南方摩根王朝(Morgannic Dynasty)的间谍渗透。莱安娜的挑战在于,她必须在维持其统治的必要残忍与她内心深处对稳定与和平的渴望之间找到平衡点。她与一位神秘的东方军阀结盟,后者带来的异域技术和战术,将彻底改变不列颠的战争形态。 第三部:迷途的先知 人物: 盖瑞斯(Gareth),一位在迷雾沼泽中长大的年轻术士,他声称自己是梅林(Merlin)的最后一位学徒,或是被遗弃的后裔。 盖瑞斯并不关心王座或土地。他的世界被异象、低语和失控的自然力量所笼罩。他肩负着一个近乎不可能完成的使命:平息在亚瑟王陨落时被撕裂的“灵界屏障”。每一次强大的魔法施放,都会导致现实世界扭曲,引发不可预测的灾难——或许是突然的永冬,或许是古代巨兽的苏醒。 他被卷入了埃尔温和莱安娜的冲突之中。埃尔温需要他的知识来解读古老咒语,保护典籍;而莱安娜则视他为潜在的巨大威胁或不可多得的战争工具。盖瑞斯在追求真相的过程中,逐渐意识到他所追寻的“梅林之道”可能比他想象的更加黑暗和危险,甚至可能导致比卡美洛覆灭更可怕的终局。 主题与深度 本书的核心在于探讨“遗产的腐蚀性”。它审视了当一个宏伟的理想破灭后,追随者们将如何重塑或摧毁它留下的残骸。 理想主义与实用主义的冲突: 埃尔温代表着对过去的执着和精神价值的守护,而莱安娜则是冷酷的现实主义者,她认为只有能带来即时生存的秩序才是真正的价值。 信仰的武器化: 圣火教团的崛起展示了宗教信仰如何被用作政治压迫和领土扩张的工具,挑战了传统上对“神圣事业”的浪漫化认知。 魔法的代价: 盖瑞斯的旅程揭示了强大的力量并非恩赐,而是沉重的负担。每一次对超自然力量的利用,都会在世界和施术者自身留下难以磨灭的创伤。 文学风格 凡恩的写作风格继承了古典史诗的磅礴气势,却融入了现代心理学的细腻入微。叙事节奏张弛有度,既有宏大战争场景的血腥描绘,也有在幽暗图书馆和寒冷城堡中对角色内心挣扎的深度挖掘。语言富有画面感,对中世纪的阴郁、泥泞与宏伟进行了细致入微的复原。 结语 《星辰之烬》是一部关于“重建”的故事,但它提出的问题是:在一个英雄已死、神话已破的时代,我们应该重建什么?是虚假的荣光,还是我们从灰烬中学到的痛苦教训?在这片被星辰之火灼伤的土地上,新的王国正在诞生,但它们的根基,将永远被过去的阴影所笼罩。 --- (本书不含任何关于古代英格兰田园风光、乡村社会结构、或任何与特定历史时期农民生活息息相关的叙事元素。)