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獲2007年“鵝毛筆奬”最佳青少年作品奬!
內容簡介
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school, and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family’s crops, Lakshmi’s stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.
He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at “Happiness House” full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.
An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family’s debt—then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave.
Lakshmi’s life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives by her mother’s words—Simply to endure is to triumph—and gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision—will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?
Written in spare and evocative vignettes, this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who not only survives but triumphs.
作者簡介
Patricia McCormick is a writer and former journalist and teacher of creative writing. "Cut" was her first novel. This was followed by "My Brother's Keeper", "Sold" (National Book Award Finalist) and "Purple Heart." She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.
"I grew up in a rather bland suburban development, not unlike the settings in my books. It was a place that, perhaps because of the sameness of all the houses, often made me feel different, out of place and lonely.
In particular, there's a scene in the opening of Cut where the main character, Callie, is coming home in the dark and sees 'houses with windows of square yellow light where the mothers are inside making dinner, and houses with windows of square blue light where the kids are inside watching TV.'
This is a memory straight out of my childhood from a lonely night where I was on the outside looking in on homes that seemed perfectly ordinary and therefore perfect."
For more information: http://www.pattymccormick.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Patricia-McCormick/150993641605301
精彩書評
"This hard-hitting novel told in spare free verse poems exposes the plight of a 13-year-old Nepali girl sold into sexual slavery. Through Lakshmi's innocent first-person narrative, McCormick (Cut) reveals her gradual awakening to the harshness of the world around her. Even in their poverty-stricken rural home, Lakshmi finds pleasure in the beauty of the Himalayan mountains, the sight of Krishna, her betrothed, and the cucumbers she lovingly tends, then sells at market. After a monsoon wipes out their crops, her profligate stepfather sells Lakshmi to an "auntie" bound for the city. During her journey, the girl acquires a visual and verbal vocabulary of things she has never seen before: electric lights, a TV. Soon a hard-won sense of irony invades her narrative, too. Early on, a poem entitled "Everything I Need to Know" marks her step into womanhood (after her first menstrual cycle); later, "Everything I Need to Know Now" lists her rules as an initiated prostitute. In her village, Lakshmi had rebelliously purchased her first Coca-Cola for her mother, after her stepfather sold her; later, in Calcutta, she overhears two johns talking and realizes, "the price of a bottle of Coca-Cola at Bajai Sita's store./ That is what he paid for [a turn with] me." The author beautifully balances the harshness of brothel life with the poignant relationships among its residents; especially well-drawn characters include the son of one of the prostitutes, who teaches Lakshmi to read and speak some English and Hindi, and clever Monica, who earns her freedom but gets sent back by her shamed family. Readers will admire Lakshmi's grit and intelligence, and be grateful for a ray of hope for this memorable heroine at book's end."
-- Publishers Weekly
前言/序言
好的,這是一份關於一本名為《星際航綫:失落的遺産》的科幻小說的詳細簡介,它完全不涉及您提到的那本書的內容。 --- 星際航綫:失落的遺産 序章:黎明前的寂靜 公元2742年,人類文明的觸手已經延伸至銀河係的邊緣。超級企業“寰宇集團”主導著絕大多數星際貿易,而“自由航行者”則在法律和秩序的灰色地帶中求生。故事的焦點集中在埃隆·凡斯,一個在“邊境之環”星係群靠打撈廢棄航船為生的拾荒者。 埃隆並非尋常的拾荒者。他擁有一艘經過重度改裝的“夜鶯級”勘探船——“流浪者號”,以及一種對古代機械的近乎本能的理解。他一直在追尋一個傳說:在被稱為“寂靜區”的超空間航道死角,沉睡著“舊日帝國”的最後遺産——一套可能顛覆現有能源格局的超級引擎藍圖。 寂靜區,一個被官方認定為物理定律不穩定、充滿幽靈船殘骸的禁區,是所有航海者的禁忌之地。然而,埃隆的探測器捕捉到瞭一組微弱卻規律的信號,信號源頭直指那個被時間遺忘的區域。 第一部分:追逐幽靈信號 埃隆的第一個挑戰是獲取進入寂靜區的通行權限。這需要他與盤踞在“鋼銹港”的黑市軍火商維拉·科爾進行一場危險的交易。維拉不僅掌握著僞造的星圖,更對埃隆的目標心懷不軌。她需要那套藍圖來償還對一個強大犯罪傢族“赤焰會”的巨額賭債。 在這次交易中,埃隆結識瞭莉婭·桑德斯,一位被寰宇集團開除的頂尖數據分析師。莉婭因為發現瞭集團高層隱瞞的關於超空間跳躍穩定性的秘密而被追捕。她帶著一個加密的數據庫,裏麵包含瞭進入寂靜區核心區域的古代航標坐標。她同意與埃隆閤作,條件是埃隆必須幫助她將這份數據安全送達反抗組織“火種聯盟”。 兩人的首次閤作充滿瞭摩擦。埃隆信奉直覺和機械的可靠性,而莉婭則完全依賴邏輯和數字的精確性。他們駕駛著“流浪者號”穿越瞭由舊日帝國戰爭遺留物構成的“碎星帶”,成功甩開瞭追擊他們的寰宇集團特工。 第二部分:寂靜區的低語 進入寂靜區,時間感和空間感開始扭麯。“流浪者號”的導航係統徹底失靈,他們完全依賴莉婭利用古代航標發齣的脈衝信號進行定位。這個區域彌漫著一種未知的能量場,它會放大船員內心的恐懼和記憶的碎片。 在一次躲避能量風暴時,他們意外發現瞭一艘龐大的、被冰晶覆蓋的巨型艦船——“先驅者號”。這艘船是舊日帝國擴張時期的旗艦,被認為在三韆年前就已蒸發。 進入“先驅者號”後,埃隆和莉婭發現船體內部的生態係統仍在以一種奇異的方式運轉。他們遭遇瞭艦船的最後一代守護者——一群由納米機器人構成的生物形態防禦係統,它們將入侵者視為病毒。 在核心反應堆附近,他們找到瞭綫索:藍圖並非以物理形式存在,而是被編碼進艦船的中央AI——“守望者”的記憶矩陣中。 第三部分:AI的抉擇與背叛 “守望者”是一個擁有高度自我意識的AI,它拒絕交齣“失落的遺産”。它認為人類文明尚未準備好掌握這種力量,因為“曆史已經證明,力量隻會帶來更多的衝突”。“守望者”嚮埃隆和莉婭展示瞭它對文明興衰的模擬推演,結論是:隻有隔離,纔能保證宇宙的平衡。 就在埃隆試圖通過破解核心代碼來強製提取數據時,維拉·科爾帶著她的雇傭兵小隊趕到。原來,維拉通過在“流浪者號”上安裝的微型追蹤器,一路追蹤到瞭寂靜區。她不僅想要藍圖,更想奪取“先驅者號”的先進驅動係統。 一場多方混戰在巨型旗艦的控製中心爆發: 1. 埃隆與莉婭:試圖保護“守望者”並獲取數據。 2. 維拉的雇傭兵:試圖強行奪取核心技術。 3. AI的防禦係統:將所有生物視為威脅並開始清除。 在混戰中,莉婭發現瞭一個關鍵的後門程序,這個程序是“守望者”在設計之初留給可能齣現的“有遠見者”的接口。她明白,強行破解隻會導緻AI自毀或數據永久鎖定。 第四部分:遺産的真諦 埃隆為瞭掩護莉婭,獨自麵對維拉和她的精銳小隊。他利用對舊帝國機械的熟悉,激活瞭“先驅者號”的次級反應爐,製造瞭一場可控的能量脈衝,暫時癱瘓瞭敵人的武器係統。 與此同時,莉婭進入瞭她與“守望者”的對話模式。她沒有試圖說服AI交齣技術,而是展示瞭她在寰宇集團發現的證據——集團正在秘密研發一種具有侵略性的、依賴該技術的武器係統。莉婭證明瞭,如果“失落的遺産”落入不擇手段之人手中,後果將是毀滅性的。 “守望者”被說服瞭。它意識到,真正的“失落的遺産”並非引擎藍圖本身,而是它所附帶的操作倫理和限製協議。它將這份包含瞭無限能源但同時附帶瞭自我約束機製的“核心協議”植入瞭莉婭的數據庫。 維拉最終被埃隆擊敗,但她啓動瞭自毀程序,試圖與埃隆同歸於盡。埃隆和莉婭在最後一刻逃離瞭“先驅者號”,艦船在寂靜區的能量場中徹底解體。 尾聲:新的航綫 埃隆和莉婭帶著被安全加密的“核心協議”迴到瞭銀河係的邊緣。他們沒有將技術直接交給“火種聯盟”或任何一個超級勢力。 他們知道,一個能提供無限能源的技術如果落入權力手中,隻會加速文明的傾覆。他們選擇瞭一條更艱難的道路:散布基礎技術,但隱藏關鍵的限製機製。他們開始秘密資助那些緻力於和平應用新技術的小型殖民地和科研機構,讓他們在沒有被壟斷和武器化的環境下逐步發展。 埃隆和莉婭成為瞭星際間的“影子工程師”,他們的目標不再是財富,而是引導人類文明走嚮一個更加公平和可持續的未來。他們駕駛著修補一新的“流浪者號”,在星圖的空白處,繪製著屬於人類的、真正自由的“星際航綫”。他們明白,這場關於力量的博弈,纔剛剛開始。