具体描述
内容简介
It is the world of the near future, and Offred is a Handmaid in the home of the Commander and his wife. She is allowed out once a day to the food market, she is not permitted to read, and she is hoping the Commander makes her pregnant, because she is only valued if her ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she was an independent woman, had a job of her own, a husband and child. But all of that is gone now...everything has changed. 作者简介
When Margaret Atwood announced to her friends that she wanted to be a writer, she was only 16 years old. It was Canada. It was the 1950s. No one knew what to think. Nonetheless, Atwood began her writing career as a poet. Published In 1964 while she was still a student at Harvard, her second poetry anthology, The Circle Game, was awarded the Governor General's Award, one of Canada's most esteemed literary prizes. Since then, Atwood has gone on to publish many more volumes of poetry (as well as literary criticism, essays, and short stories), but it is her novels for which she is best known.
Atwood's first foray into fiction was 1966's The Edible Woman, an arresting story about a woman who stops eating because she feels her life is consuming her. Grabbing the attention of critics, who applauded its startlingly original premise, the novel explored feminist themes Atwood has revisited time and time again during her long, prolific literary career. She is famous for strong, compelling female protagonists -- from the breast cancer survivor in Bodily Harm to the rueful artist in Cat's Eye to the fatefully intertwined sisters in her Booker Prize-winning novel The Blind Asassin.
Perhaps Atwood's most legendary character is Offred, the tragic "breeder" in what is arguably her most famous book, 1985's The Handmaid's Tale. Part fable, part science fiction, and part dystopian nightmare, this novel presented a harrowing vision of women's lives in an oppressive futuristic society. The Washington Post compared it (favorably) to George Orwell's iconic 1984.
As if her status as a multi-award-winning, triple-threat writer (fiction, poetry, and essays) were not enough, Atwood has also produced several children's books, including Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut (1995) and Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes (2003) -- delicious alliterative delights that introduce a wealth of new vocabulary to young readers. 精彩书评
"In this Orwellian dramatization, religion becomes a tool of repression and social control to force women into the roles of stay-at-home wives, domestic staff, prostitutes, or surrogate mothers. They have no rights to their bodies or property and are completely dependent upon men. Those women who have had at least one child find themselves forced into the role of breeding machine, producing children for childless couples. References to 20th-century issues abound, including Agent Orange, abortion, women's rights, and escape attempts to Canada. At least 14 different readers make it easy for the listener to distinguish among the various characters. Despite sound effects and some indistinguishable white noise, there are a few spots with dead air. This program will be of interest to Atwood fans and those interested in futuristic tales. Recommended for public and academic libraries."
--Laurie Selwyn, Grayson Cty. Law Lib.
幽暗回响:另类世界的权力、信仰与人性挣扎 《失落的编年史》 类型: 反乌托邦/社会批判/哲学思辨 作者: 伊莲娜·凡尔纳(Elara Verne) 出版年份: 2028年 装帧: 精装典藏版 引言:当秩序吞噬个体 《失落的编年史》并非一个关于未来灾难的简单警示,它是一面打磨得极其锋利的反光镜,映照出人类社会结构中那些最脆弱、最易被利用的逻辑链条。故事的背景设定在一个被“和谐联盟”(The Concordium)严密控制的社会——“维斯塔邦”(Vestalania)。这个邦国自诩为全球文明的最后灯塔,其建立基于对“绝对效率”和“群体至上”的狂热信仰。 然而,在这层光鲜亮丽的“和谐”外衣之下,涌动着深刻的压抑与异化。本书的核心在于探讨,当一个社会为了追求完美的秩序,以牺牲人类最基本的情感、创造力和独立思考为代价时,最终诞生的究竟是天堂还是地狱。 第一部分:符号与机械的诞生 故事始于对维斯塔邦起源的冷峻回顾。维斯塔邦的建立并非通过暴力革命,而是通过一个漫长、温和、近乎催眠的过程——“大整合”(The Great Synthesis)。 1. 效率至上的理性狂热: “和谐联盟”的缔造者们深信,人类历史上的所有冲突和痛苦都源于个体欲望的无序膨胀。因此,他们设计了一套精密的社会分工系统,将每个人——从建筑工人到思想审查员——都视为一台高度优化的机械零件。 书中详尽描绘了“功能认证系统”(FAS)。每个公民从出生起,其基因倾向、认知能力便被精确扫描,并被分配至一个终身固定的“功能组”。晋升、变动、甚至思考跨界职业都被视为是对系统稳定性的叛逆行为。 2. 语言的降维打击: 凡尔纳的笔触尤其犀利地剖析了语言如何成为控制的工具。在维斯塔邦,官方推行“简洁语”(Compendia),一种经过大幅度简化和情感剔除的交流媒介。复杂的情感、含糊的诗意、甚至是对过去的深层反思,在简洁语中都找不到合适的表达载体。 主人公之一,伊桑·诺瓦克(Ethan Novak),一位负责档案数字化的“信息清理员”,在工作中发现了一些被禁止的“旧语”文献片段。这些碎片化的诗句和哲学思辨,如同毒药般开始侵蚀他被训练得笔直的思维回路,让他第一次意识到“言语的贫瘠”等同于“思想的死亡”。 3. 记忆的重塑与遗忘的艺术: 维斯塔邦的稳定依赖于对历史的精准剪裁。公共教育中,“净化之窗”(The Purge Window)的概念被反复强调——即只允许公民记住最近三十年的“被许可的历史”。所有关于前现代社会混乱、艺术爆发期、以及早期反抗运动的记录都被归档至“深层遗忘区”,由少数高阶官员定期进行“信息消融”。 小说通过伊桑与他年迈的祖母——一位曾是“非必要领域”艺术家的老人的互动,展现了记忆的私密性与抵抗力。祖母通过口述,用近乎失传的旧语讲述着“色彩的纷争”和“旋律的意义”,这些无形遗产成为抵抗同质化最顽强的堡垒。 第二部分:边缘的裂痕与非对称的权力 随着故事的推进,读者被引入维斯塔邦社会结构下的阴影地带——那些功能性较低,却又不可或缺的边缘群体。 1. “情绪调配员”的悖论: 维斯塔邦的公民需要保持恒定的生产效率,这要求情绪必须被严格控制。因此,催生了一个特殊的群体——“情绪调配员”(Affect Regulators)。他们的工作是运用先进的神经反馈技术和精确的药物配比,确保特定功能组在工作时处于“最佳的低兴奋状态”。 副线人物,蕾拉·萨恩(Leila Sarn),就是一名天赋极高的调配员。她的任务是稳定一个长期处于压力下的“系统维护核心组”。讽刺的是,蕾拉本人却必须长期服用“抗共振剂”来压抑自己对这份工作的深刻厌恶。小说的精彩之处在于揭示了:维护社会“无情感”的秩序者,恰恰需要最深刻的情感感知力才能完成任务。 2. “创造性滞留区”的秘密: 尽管维斯塔邦崇尚效率,但联盟深知,彻底扼杀创造力会导致技术和文化的停滞。因此,他们设立了“创造性滞留区”(Zone of Creative Stasis)。在这里,一些被认为“无法适应标准化流程”的天才被隔离。 他们被允许进行创作,但其作品必须是“可控的、可预测的、且最终服务于联盟宏大叙事的”。这里诞生了华而不实的建筑设计、空洞的交响乐,以及被联盟包装成“对过去美好幻想的缅怀”的虚假艺术品。小说深入探讨了:当艺术被要求“服务于权力”时,它是否还具有存在的价值? 3. 系统的自我修正与清洗: 《失落的编年史》最引人入胜的是对权力内部运作的描绘。联盟并非铁板一块,其内部充满了对“效率阈值”的争论。当伊桑发现的旧语碎片指向某个关于“创始文件遗失”的禁忌信息时,他触发了系统深层的自我保护机制。 系统没有直接采取粗暴的镇压,而是启动了“温和重定向程序”——通过精准操纵伊桑的工作流、社交网络乃至睡眠周期,使他主动放弃追寻真相,转而沉迷于更高阶的“信息净化”工作,让他自愿成为自己想要摧毁之物的执行者。这种无形的、心理层面的控制,比物理囚禁更令人不寒而栗。 第三部分:人性的微光与未竟的探索 尽管笼罩在严密的控制之下,小说并未走向完全的绝望。凡尔纳通过对人际关系中细微“故障”的捕捉,展现了人性无法被完全消除的韧性。 1. 情感的串联: 伊桑与蕾拉在一次任务交集中相遇。他们之间的交流,最初是基于对各自领域“不合理性”的共同观察,逐渐演变成一种默契。这种默契不是基于爱情的浪漫,而是基于对“不被允许的深度交流”的渴望。他们通过分享那些被编码的、只有彼此能理解的眼神和细微的肢体语言,重建了一个私密的、未被联盟监测的“语义空间”。 2. 符号的反叛: 小说的结局并未导向一场大规模的起义,因为反抗的土壤已经被系统性地移除。反而是对符号和意义的微小重夺,构成了最后的希望。 伊桑在被“重定向”的边缘,留下了一个只有他自己和蕾拉才能理解的“信息错误”——他将一个被禁止的古代文字符号,嵌入到他日常处理的一份关于“能源配给效率”的报告尾注中。这个符号的含义是“觉醒的间隙”。 蕾拉在调配系统中接收到这份报告时,她没有采取修正措施,而是选择在接下来的一个小时内,将她负责区域的所有公民的“情绪阈值”轻微调高了0.001%。这微小的提升,引发了数百人同时感受到了一瞬间的、无法名状的困惑、烦躁,甚至是一丝久违的怀旧感。 尾声: 《失落的编年史》以开放式的结尾收束。我们不知道这个“微光”是否能点燃变革的火种,但它确凿地证明了:一个系统可以控制行为,可以简化语言,但它无法彻底驯服人类对“意义”和“真实连接”的内在需求。这本书是对所有试图用单一逻辑定义复杂人性的尝试,发出的最深沉、最持久的质疑。它邀请读者审视我们自身社会中,那些看似不可动摇的“效率”与“秩序”的代价。