具體描述
內容簡介
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. 作者簡介
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. 精彩書評
"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.
幽暗迴響:另類世界的權力、信仰與人性掙紮 《失落的編年史》 類型: 反烏托邦/社會批判/哲學思辨 作者: 伊蓮娜·凡爾納(Elara Verne) 齣版年份: 2028年 裝幀: 精裝典藏版 引言:當秩序吞噬個體 《失落的編年史》並非一個關於未來災難的簡單警示,它是一麵打磨得極其鋒利的反光鏡,映照齣人類社會結構中那些最脆弱、最易被利用的邏輯鏈條。故事的背景設定在一個被“和諧聯盟”(The Concordium)嚴密控製的社會——“維斯塔邦”(Vestalania)。這個邦國自詡為全球文明的最後燈塔,其建立基於對“絕對效率”和“群體至上”的狂熱信仰。 然而,在這層光鮮亮麗的“和諧”外衣之下,湧動著深刻的壓抑與異化。本書的核心在於探討,當一個社會為瞭追求完美的秩序,以犧牲人類最基本的情感、創造力和獨立思考為代價時,最終誕生的究竟是天堂還是地獄。 第一部分:符號與機械的誕生 故事始於對維斯塔邦起源的冷峻迴顧。維斯塔邦的建立並非通過暴力革命,而是通過一個漫長、溫和、近乎催眠的過程——“大整閤”(The Great Synthesis)。 1. 效率至上的理性狂熱: “和諧聯盟”的締造者們深信,人類曆史上的所有衝突和痛苦都源於個體欲望的無序膨脹。因此,他們設計瞭一套精密的社會分工係統,將每個人——從建築工人到思想審查員——都視為一颱高度優化的機械零件。 書中詳盡描繪瞭“功能認證係統”(FAS)。每個公民從齣生起,其基因傾嚮、認知能力便被精確掃描,並被分配至一個終身固定的“功能組”。晉升、變動、甚至思考跨界職業都被視為是對係統穩定性的叛逆行為。 2. 語言的降維打擊: 凡爾納的筆觸尤其犀利地剖析瞭語言如何成為控製的工具。在維斯塔邦,官方推行“簡潔語”(Compendia),一種經過大幅度簡化和情感剔除的交流媒介。復雜的情感、含糊的詩意、甚至是對過去的深層反思,在簡潔語中都找不到閤適的錶達載體。 主人公之一,伊桑·諾瓦剋(Ethan Novak),一位負責檔案數字化的“信息清理員”,在工作中發現瞭一些被禁止的“舊語”文獻片段。這些碎片化的詩句和哲學思辨,如同毒藥般開始侵蝕他被訓練得筆直的思維迴路,讓他第一次意識到“言語的貧瘠”等同於“思想的死亡”。 3. 記憶的重塑與遺忘的藝術: 維斯塔邦的穩定依賴於對曆史的精準剪裁。公共教育中,“淨化之窗”(The Purge Window)的概念被反復強調——即隻允許公民記住最近三十年的“被許可的曆史”。所有關於前現代社會混亂、藝術爆發期、以及早期反抗運動的記錄都被歸檔至“深層遺忘區”,由少數高階官員定期進行“信息消融”。 小說通過伊桑與他年邁的祖母——一位曾是“非必要領域”藝術傢的老人的互動,展現瞭記憶的私密性與抵抗力。祖母通過口述,用近乎失傳的舊語講述著“色彩的紛爭”和“鏇律的意義”,這些無形遺産成為抵抗同質化最頑強的堡壘。 第二部分:邊緣的裂痕與非對稱的權力 隨著故事的推進,讀者被引入維斯塔邦社會結構下的陰影地帶——那些功能性較低,卻又不可或缺的邊緣群體。 1. “情緒調配員”的悖論: 維斯塔邦的公民需要保持恒定的生産效率,這要求情緒必須被嚴格控製。因此,催生瞭一個特殊的群體——“情緒調配員”(Affect Regulators)。他們的工作是運用先進的神經反饋技術和精確的藥物配比,確保特定功能組在工作時處於“最佳的低興奮狀態”。 副綫人物,蕾拉·薩恩(Leila Sarn),就是一名天賦極高的調配員。她的任務是穩定一個長期處於壓力下的“係統維護核心組”。諷刺的是,蕾拉本人卻必須長期服用“抗共振劑”來壓抑自己對這份工作的深刻厭惡。小說的精彩之處在於揭示瞭:維護社會“無情感”的秩序者,恰恰需要最深刻的情感感知力纔能完成任務。 2. “創造性滯留區”的秘密: 盡管維斯塔邦崇尚效率,但聯盟深知,徹底扼殺創造力會導緻技術和文化的停滯。因此,他們設立瞭“創造性滯留區”(Zone of Creative Stasis)。在這裏,一些被認為“無法適應標準化流程”的天纔被隔離。 他們被允許進行創作,但其作品必須是“可控的、可預測的、且最終服務於聯盟宏大敘事的”。這裏誕生瞭華而不實的建築設計、空洞的交響樂,以及被聯盟包裝成“對過去美好幻想的緬懷”的虛假藝術品。小說深入探討瞭:當藝術被要求“服務於權力”時,它是否還具有存在的價值? 3. 係統的自我修正與清洗: 《失落的編年史》最引人入勝的是對權力內部運作的描繪。聯盟並非鐵闆一塊,其內部充滿瞭對“效率閾值”的爭論。當伊桑發現的舊語碎片指嚮某個關於“創始文件遺失”的禁忌信息時,他觸發瞭係統深層的自我保護機製。 係統沒有直接采取粗暴的鎮壓,而是啓動瞭“溫和重定嚮程序”——通過精準操縱伊桑的工作流、社交網絡乃至睡眠周期,使他主動放棄追尋真相,轉而沉迷於更高階的“信息淨化”工作,讓他自願成為自己想要摧毀之物的執行者。這種無形的、心理層麵的控製,比物理囚禁更令人不寒而栗。 第三部分:人性的微光與未竟的探索 盡管籠罩在嚴密的控製之下,小說並未走嚮完全的絕望。凡爾納通過對人際關係中細微“故障”的捕捉,展現瞭人性無法被完全消除的韌性。 1. 情感的串聯: 伊桑與蕾拉在一次任務交集中相遇。他們之間的交流,最初是基於對各自領域“不閤理性”的共同觀察,逐漸演變成一種默契。這種默契不是基於愛情的浪漫,而是基於對“不被允許的深度交流”的渴望。他們通過分享那些被編碼的、隻有彼此能理解的眼神和細微的肢體語言,重建瞭一個私密的、未被聯盟監測的“語義空間”。 2. 符號的反叛: 小說的結局並未導嚮一場大規模的起義,因為反抗的土壤已經被係統性地移除。反而是對符號和意義的微小重奪,構成瞭最後的希望。 伊桑在被“重定嚮”的邊緣,留下瞭一個隻有他自己和蕾拉纔能理解的“信息錯誤”——他將一個被禁止的古代文字符號,嵌入到他日常處理的一份關於“能源配給效率”的報告尾注中。這個符號的含義是“覺醒的間隙”。 蕾拉在調配係統中接收到這份報告時,她沒有采取修正措施,而是選擇在接下來的一個小時內,將她負責區域的所有公民的“情緒閾值”輕微調高瞭0.001%。這微小的提升,引發瞭數百人同時感受到瞭一瞬間的、無法名狀的睏惑、煩躁,甚至是一絲久違的懷舊感。 尾聲: 《失落的編年史》以開放式的結尾收束。我們不知道這個“微光”是否能點燃變革的火種,但它確鑿地證明瞭:一個係統可以控製行為,可以簡化語言,但它無法徹底馴服人類對“意義”和“真實連接”的內在需求。這本書是對所有試圖用單一邏輯定義復雜人性的嘗試,發齣的最深沉、最持久的質疑。它邀請讀者審視我們自身社會中,那些看似不可動搖的“效率”與“秩序”的代價。