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Classic nineteenth-century literature can be difficult to read and hear. But this production is an exception. Buck Schirner's characters are so vivid, so well enunciated, that we wish Stowe had created more people for Schirner to give voice to. His characters argue about slavery, lament their fortunes and survive by their wits. He gives each person emotion and depth and reads Stowe's prose with conviction. Indeed, it's hard not to, given the moral force behind her words. The only negative is when Schirner reads in his own voice, which is low and flat. Because of his excellent vocal work, though, the book reminds us that the debate over race and human worth was as vivid in the 1850's as it is today.
湯姆是莊園主薛爾比傢的一個黑奴,因為他為人忠實、得力,且對人友愛、樂於幫助人,深受莊園主一傢和其他奴隸的喜愛,尤其是謝爾比的兒子喬治少爺非常喜歡他,稱他為湯姆叔叔。湯姆叔叔的小屋是一間木頭房子,屋裏掛著幾幅聖經故事插圖,他的妻子剋洛伊嬸嬸是莊園的廚娘,他們有三個孩子……
這部小說布局獨具匠心,采用穿插輪敘的方式,沿著兩條平行綫索描述瞭兩個黑奴不同的遭遇,塑造瞭忠誠友善但逆來順受的湯姆和勇於抗爭的伊拉莎夫婦等典型形象,並通過人物和場景描繪顯示瞭一個時期的美國社會生活麵貌。 內容簡介
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a novel by American abolitionist author Harriet Beechehr Stowe which treats slavery as a central theme. The work was first published on March 20, 1852. The story focuses on the tale of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering black slave, the central character around whose life the other characters—both fellow slaves and slave owners—revolve. The novel dramatizes the harsh reality of slavery while also showing that Christian love and faith can overcome even something as evil as enslavement of fellow human beings.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century (and the second best-selling book of the century after the Bible) and is credited with helping to fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold. The book's impact was so great that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the American Civil War, some historians believe he said, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!"
The book also created and spread several common stereotypes about African-Americans, many of which endure to this day. These include the affectionate, dark-skinned mammy; the Pickaninny stereotype of black children; and the Uncle Tom, or dutiful, long-suffering servant faithful to his white master or mistress. In recent years, the negative associations with Uncle Tom's Cabin have to a large degree overshadowed the historical impact of the book.
First published in 1843, Charles Dickens' classic tale of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, whose cold and embittered heart is warmed by the joys and rewards of love, is the ideal holiday read. 作者簡介
Harriet Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) depicted life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom. It energized anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South. She wrote more than 20 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. She was influential both for her writings and her public stands on social issues of the day.
精彩書評
This is one of those books that everybody has heard about but few people these days have actually read. It deserves to be read - not simply because it is the basis for symbols so deeply ingrained in American culture that we no longer realize their source, nor because it is one of the bestselling books of all time. This is a book that changed history. Harriet Beecher Stowe was appalled by slavery, and she took one of the few options open to nineteenth century women who wanted to affect public opinion: she wrote a novel, a huge, enthralling narrative that claimed the heart, soul, and politics of pre-Civil War Americans. It is unabashed propaganda and overtly moralistic, an attempt to make whites - North and South - see slaves as mothers, fathers, and people with (Christian) souls. In a time when women might see the majority of their children die, Harriet Beecher Stowe portrays beautiful Eliza fleeing slavery to protect her son. In a time when many whites claimed slavery had "good effects" on blacks, Uncle Tom's Cabin paints pictures of three plantations, each worse than the other, where even the best plantation leaves a slave at the mercy of fate or debt. By twentieth-century standards, her propaganda verges on melodrama, and it is clear that even while arguing for the abolition of slavery she did not rise above her own racism. Yet her questions remain penetrating even today: "Is man ever a creature to be trusted with wholly irresponsible power?"
——For great reviews of books for girls
《失落的編年史:亞瑟王時代的迷霧與榮耀》 一部深入探尋傳說與史實的宏大敘事,揭示不列顛黃金時代的真實麵貌。 序言:當迷霧籠罩卡美洛 曆史的長河中,總有一些時代閃耀著令人目眩的光芒,卻又被無盡的迷霧所環繞。亞瑟王的時代,無疑是其中最為璀璨,也最為模糊的一段。它被吟遊詩人的歌謠浪漫化,被後世的騎士精神所崇拜,但其背後的真實肌理——一個在羅馬帝國崩塌後,蠻族入侵與凱爾特文化掙紮求存的殘酷境地——卻常常被掩蓋。《失落的編年史:亞瑟王時代的迷霧與榮耀》並非又一本重復傳說故事的通俗讀物,而是一次嚴謹而深入的考古學、曆史學與語言學交叉驗證的探險。 本書的基石建立在對現有文獻(包括威爾士的《Mabinogion》、亞瑟生平的早期拉丁文記錄,以及與布立吞語係相關的口頭傳統殘篇)進行細緻的重構與批判性分析之上。我們緻力於剝離十六世紀浪漫主義的厚重外衣,直麵五世紀至六世紀不列顛島上的權力真空、文化衝突以及身份認同的劇烈變動。 第一部:羅馬的遺産與五國的紛爭 在公元410年羅馬軍團撤離之後,不列顛的南部與東部陷入瞭前所未有的混亂。本書首先詳細描繪瞭這一“黑暗時期”的社會結構重塑。我們探討瞭當地的“布立吞貴族”如何試圖繼承羅馬的行政體係,但麵對日益增強的薩剋森、盎格魯和硃特人的海上傳擾,這種努力顯得力不從心。 焦點章節: 《最後的行省:羅馬化精英的睏境》:分析瞭在缺乏帝國軍事和財政支持下,卡萊爾(Caerleon)和巴斯(Bath)等羅馬化城市如何衰落,以及當地大地主階層(可能就是後來的小王國領袖)如何從管理者異化為地方武裝領袖。 《海岸綫的警報:早期衝突與“德拉烏金格爾”(Dreangwuln)的興起》:通過對古老的戰場遺址和早期碑銘的分析,我們重建瞭早期反入侵戰爭的樣貌。重點研究瞭“德拉烏金格爾”——即那些在邊境地帶領導防禦戰的軍事統帥——這一角色的形成過程,亞瑟可能正是在這一背景下崛起的。 第二部:傳說中的英雄與曆史的碎片 本書的第二部分是本書最具挑戰性的部分,即嘗試將那些流傳韆古的亞瑟王傳說與可考證的曆史事件進行對接。我們不求證實圓桌騎士是否真的存在,而是探究這些故事的“曆史內核”可能指嚮哪些真實的人物和事件。 我們深入研究瞭尼尼烏斯(Nennius)的《曆史》(Historia Brittonum)中關於“十二場戰役”的記載。通過地理信息係統(GIS)對這些戰役地點的可能性進行交叉比對,我們提齣瞭一個關於亞瑟軍事生涯的全新時間軸,重點關注他作為一名“Dux Bellorum”(戰爭領袖)的實際運作模式。 關鍵議題: 《莫德雷德之謎:傢族權力鬥爭的早期投影》:探討瞭莫德雷德(Mordred)和梅林(Myrddin)等人物在不同時期文獻中的形象演變。我們認為,許多關於背叛的傳說,可能反映瞭七世紀早期威爾士諸王國之間殘酷的繼承權爭奪,而非單一的宮廷陰謀。 《格溫娜維爾與權力聯姻:凱爾特王室的政治婚姻策略》:分析瞭王後在早期不列顛政治中的作用。格溫娜維爾(Guinevere)的形象,可能象徵著不同布立吞部落間為瞭共同抵抗外敵而達成的關鍵聯盟,她的“不忠”或許是政治聯盟破裂的隱喻。 第三部:文化衝突與信仰的十字路口 亞瑟王的時代,是古典信仰(基督教)與古老凱爾特異教信仰激烈碰撞的時期。本書花瞭大量篇幅來探討這種精神世界的拉鋸戰,因為這深刻影響瞭社會階層的劃分和知識的傳承。 深入探討: 《修道院的燈塔:聖帕特裏剋與基督教的“再入侵”》:考察瞭愛爾蘭和威爾士的早期修道院在知識保存中的關鍵作用。這些修道院不僅是宗教中心,也是拉丁語和羅馬法律思想在蠻族時代得以喘息的避風港。 《聖杯的起源:物質崇拜與精神追尋的交匯點》:聖杯(Holy Grail)的故事被認為是中世紀騎士精神的巔峰,但本書追溯瞭其更古老的源頭——凱爾特神話中對“豐饒之角”和魔法容器的崇拜。我們分析瞭這些民間信仰如何被基督教化,成為一種象徵著神聖權威和恢復秩序的工具。 結論:永恒的邊緣 《失落的編年史》最終論證,亞瑟王與其說是一位確切無誤的國王,不如說是一個時代精神的集閤體——一個在絕望中誕生的、代錶著不列顛抵抗精神的集體記憶符號。他的故事之所以能夠流傳至今,是因為它完美地捕捉瞭在文明斷裂時,人們對於秩序、正義與英雄領導力的深切渴望。 本書提供的不是一個終極答案,而是對提問方式的修正:我們不該問“亞瑟王是否真實存在?”,而應問“是什麼樣的曆史壓力,催生瞭亞瑟王這個永恒的象徵?” 讀者將跟隨本書,穿越曆史的迷霧,親眼見證一個英雄在無政府狀態下,如何一步步構建起一個短暫而輝煌的秩序幻影。 本書特色: 詳盡的地圖考證與地理對照,精確還原六世紀不列顛的權力分布圖。 對早期布立吞語地名與拉丁文記載的語言學解析。 引用未被廣泛翻譯的早期教士往來信件,提供第一手的時代背景資料。 這是一部獻給所有對曆史的真實麵貌抱有無限好奇心的讀者的作品。它將帶你遠離浪漫的幻想,直麵那個充滿勇氣、血腥與不確定性的真實時代。