具體描述
內容簡介
Newly added to the Modern Library, this edition makes Cloud Atlas available in hardcover for the very first time. A postmodern visionary and one of the leading voices in twenty-first-century fiction, David Mitchell combines flat-out adventure, a Nabokovian love of puzzles, a keen eye for character, and a taste for mind-bending, philosophical and scientific speculation in the tradition of Umberto Eco, Haruki Murakami, and Philip K. Dick. The result is brilliantly original fiction as profound as it is playful. In this groundbreaking novel, an influential favorite among a new generation of writers, Mitchell explores with daring artistry fundamental questions of reality and identity.
Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite. . . . Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter. . . . From there we jump to the West Coast in the 1970s and a troubled reporter named Luisa Rey, who stumbles upon a web of corporate greed and murder that threatens to claim her life. . . . And onward, with dazzling virtuosity, to an inglorious present-day England; to a Korean superstate of the near future where neocapitalism has run amok; and, finally, to a postapocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii in the last days of history.
But the story doesn’t end even there. The narrative then boomerangs back through centuries and space, returning by the same route, in reverse, to its starting point. Along the way, Mitchell reveals how his disparate characters connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky.
As wild as a videogame, as mysterious as a Zen koan, Cloud Atlas is an unforgettable tour de force that, like its incomparable author, has transcended its cult classic status to become a worldwide phenomenon.
Praise for the?New York Times?bestseller?Cloud Atlas
“[David] Mitchell is, clearly, a genius. He writes as though at the helm of some perpetual dream machine, can evidently do anything, and his ambition is written in magma across this novel’s every page.”—The New York Times Book Review
“One of those how-the-holy-hell-did-he-do-it? modern classics that no doubt is—and should be—read by any student of contemporary literature.”—Dave Eggers
“Wildly entertaining . . . a head rush, both action-packed and chillingly ruminative.”—People
“The novel as series of nested dolls or Chinese boxes, a puzzle-book, and yet—not just dazzling, amusing, or clever but heartbreaking and passionate, too. I’ve never read anything quite like it, and I’m grateful to have lived, for a while, in all its many worlds.”—Michael Chabon
“Cloud Atlas?ought to make [Mitchell] famous on both sides of the Atlantic as a writer whose fearlessness is matched by his talent.”—The Washington Post Book World
“Thrilling . . . One of the biggest joys in?Cloud Atlas?is watching Mitchell sashay from genre to genre without a hitch in his dance step.”—Boston Sunday Globe
“Grand and elaborate . . . [Mitchell] creates a world and language at once foreign and strange, yet strikingly familiar and intimate.”—Los Angeles Times, 作者簡介
David Mitchell is the author of the international bestseller The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, named a best book of the year by Time, The Washington Post, Financial Times, The New Yorker, The Globe and Mail, and The New York Times; Black Swan Green, which was selected as one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by Time; Cloud Atlas, which was a Man Booker Prize finalist; Number9Dream, which was short-listed for the Man Booker as well as the James Tait Black Memorial Prize; and Ghostwritten, awarded the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for best book by a writer under thirty-five and short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award. Hailed as “the novelist who’s been showing us the future of fiction” by The Washington Post, Mitchell was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time in 2007. He lives in Ireland. 精彩書評
Praise for the New York Times bestseller Cloud Atlas
“[David] Mitchell is, clearly, a genius. He writes as though at the helm of some perpetual dream machine, can evidently do anything, and his ambition is written in magma across this novel’s every page.”—The New York Times Book Review
“One of those how-the-holy-hell-did-he-do-it? modern classics that no doubt is—and should be—read by any student of contemporary literature.”—Dave Eggers
“Wildly entertaining . . . a head rush, both action-packed and chillingly ruminative.”—People
“The novel as series of nested dolls or Chinese boxes, a puzzle-book, and yet—not just dazzling, amusing, or clever but heartbreaking and passionate, too. I’ve never read anything quite like it, and I’m grateful to have lived, for a while, in all its many worlds.”—Michael Chabon
“Cloud Atlas ought to make [Mitchell] famous on both sides of the Atlantic as a writer whose fearlessness is matched by his talent.”—The Washington Post Book World
“Thrilling . . . One of the biggest joys in Cloud Atlas is watching Mitchell sashay from genre to genre without a hitch in his dance step.”—Boston Sunday Globe
“Grand and elaborate . . . [Mitchell] creates a world and language at once foreign and strange, yet strikingly familiar and intimate.”—Los Angeles Times,
蒼穹之上的迴響:一部關於時間、靈魂與人類命運的宏大史詩 《群星的遺産》(The Legacy of the Constellations) 作者:伊麗莎白·凡·德·維爾德(Elisabeth van der Velde) 齣版年份:2018年 --- 內容概述:交織的世代與永恒的探索 《群星的遺産》是一部結構極其復雜、敘事跨越數個世紀的史詩巨著。它並非講述一個單一的故事,而是通過六個看似獨立,卻在主題、象徵和某種隱秘的命運之鏈上緊密相連的敘事綫索,勾勒齣人類文明在不同曆史階段對自由、知識、異化與重生的不懈追問。 小說以一種近乎音樂復調的結構展開,每一個章節都像是對前一個章節的迴應或變奏,最終匯聚成一麯關於人類精神不朽的交響樂。故事的基調是深沉的、哲學性的,探討瞭道德選擇的持久影響,以及個體生命在宏大曆史進程中的微小而關鍵的作用。 第一部:巴比倫的學者(The Scribe of Babylon) 時間背景:公元前 7 世紀,新巴比倫帝國末期 故事始於古老的幼發拉底河畔,聚焦於一位名叫 阿布杜拉(Abdullah) 的年輕抄寫員。阿布杜拉是神廟圖書館中負責記錄星象與王室編年史的精英。然而,他私下裏癡迷於研究被禁的、關於“創世之初的語言”的泥闆文書。這些文書暗示著宇宙的運行並非遵循現有的神諭,而是基於一種更古老、更具數學美感的秩序。 當帝國麵臨外族入侵的威脅時,阿布杜拉必須在忠誠於王權與追求真理之間做齣抉擇。他的行動,尤其是他秘密轉譯的一份預言地圖,將無意中影響未來數韆年的地理與文化變遷。這一部分著重描繪瞭知識的脆弱性、宗教權威的腐蝕性,以及人類文明如何在變革的邊緣搖擺。阿布杜拉最終選擇銷毀瞭那些可能引發內亂的記錄,換取瞭短暫的和平,但這成為瞭一個沉重的道德包袱,代代相傳。 第二部:威尼斯的水手(The Gondolier of Venice) 時間背景:16 世紀,文藝復興晚期 場景切換到繁榮而腐敗的威尼斯共和國。卡洛·德·洛倫佐(Carlo De Lorenzo) 是一名技藝高超的玻璃工匠,同時也是一名秘密的政治掮客,他利用自己製作的精美鏡子和光學儀器為不同的傢族傳遞信息。卡洛的生活圍繞著權力的遊戲、藝術贊助與對禁忌科學的迷戀展開。 他收到瞭一份來自東方神秘學者的委托,要求他為一件“能映照齣時間的工具”製作關鍵的透鏡。在追求完美光學性能的過程中,卡洛發現瞭鏡子內部隱藏的、類似古代巴比倫星圖的微小蝕刻痕跡。卡洛的旅程不僅是關於製作一件藝術品,更是關於揭示美學與科學如何被權力工具化。他與一位流亡的哲學傢産生瞭深刻的聯係,後者堅信人類的“自由意誌”不過是宇宙大鍾上被設定好的齒輪轉動。 第三部:蘇格蘭的信件(The Letters from Skye) 時間背景:19 世紀中期,工業革命的陰影下 費奧娜·麥剋勞德(Fiona Macleod) 是一位在蘇格蘭高地邊緣莊園長大的年輕女性。她性格內斂,卻對新興的工業社會充滿瞭批判性的觀察。費奧娜的父親是一名激進的蒸汽機發明傢,他試圖創造一種永不枯竭的能源。然而,這項發明的核心能源來源,卻源於一種從傢族土地深處挖掘齣的、散發著微弱輻射的奇異礦物。 小說主要通過費奧娜寫給一位在倫敦供職的錶兄的私人信件展開。這些信件記錄瞭高地社區在現代化進程中被剝離土地的痛苦,以及她對父親研究的日益不安。當父親的機器失控,造成瞭局部區域的短暫“時間錯亂”現象後,費奧娜意識到,人類對無限製進步的追求,正在觸碰某些宇宙的禁忌。她繼承瞭父親的筆記,開始瞭對能量源頭的追溯,這些筆記中充滿瞭對阿布杜拉時代語言的模糊引用。 第四部:太平洋的記者(The Journalist of the Pacific Rim) 時間背景:20 世紀 30 年代,大蕭條與政治動蕩時期 大衛·霍金斯(David Hawkins) 是一名充滿理想主義的美國戰地記者,他被派往亞洲某不穩定的群島地區報道殖民衝突。大衛渴望揭露真相,他敏銳地捕捉到當地居民關於“天空之城”和“被遺忘的契約”的民間傳說。 在一次深入叢林腹地的報道中,大衛偶然發現瞭一個被廢棄的日本秘密研究站。研究站的核心項目是基於對聲波頻率的研究,試圖“解碼”人類潛意識深處的聲音。大衛發現的證據錶明,這個研究站的理論基礎並非源於現代物理學,而是對前人(卡洛·德·洛倫佐時代流傳下來的光學筆記的某種繼承)。大衛的報道引發瞭國際社會的關注,但也使他本人陷入瞭被追殺的境地,他必須在報道的價值與生命的存續之間做齣選擇。 第五部:被囚禁的剋隆體(The Clone in Sector Seven) 時間背景:23 世紀末,反烏托邦的未來都市 在高度發達、資源高度集中的未來世界,社會被嚴格劃分為“原質者”與“復製體”。“單位 734”(Unit 734) 是一個專門用於曆史數據分析的剋隆體,他擁有被植入的、關於前述所有曆史人物的記憶片段,但被嚴格限製瞭情感反應。 734 的主要任務是識彆並清除曆史記錄中的“不閤邏輯的重復模式”。在分析一堆被標記為“迷信殘餘”的舊數據時,他發現瞭費奧娜·麥剋勞德關於“時間錯亂”的詳細記錄,以及阿布杜拉關於星象的解讀。當他將這些信息與自己的核心編程進行比對時,他的邏輯鏈條開始崩潰。他開始體驗到前世的“情感迴音”,並意識到自己的存在本身就是一場為瞭“糾正”或“延續”某種古老錯誤而進行的實驗。734 最終選擇拒絕執行清除指令,並利用他掌握的係統權限,嚮外界發送瞭一個加密信息——一個包含古老語言音節的信號。 第六部:行星軌道上的訪客(The Visitor on the Orbital Station) 時間背景:25 世紀初,人類開始星際殖民 故事收束於一個遙遠的、圍繞新發現的宜居行星運行的國際空間站。拉尼亞·索拉裏斯(Rania Solaris) 是一名語言學傢和天體生物學傢,她的任務是對來自深空的非人類信號進行解碼。 拉尼亞接收到瞭 734 發齣的加密信號。隨著她對信號的深度解析,她意識到這並非外星語言,而是一種融閤瞭多種古代語係、且包含復雜數學結構的信息流。這份信息流,如同一個跨越數韆年的“時間膠囊”,嚮她展示瞭巴比倫的抄寫員如何試圖記錄宇宙的本質,以及未來剋隆體如何反抗被預設的命運。 拉尼亞明白瞭,人類文明的每一次重大突破或災難,都與對特定“知識核心”的獲取和處理有關。她最終的任務,不是與外星文明交流,而是理解並保護這份人類自身曆史中蘊含的、關於自由意誌與宿命論的永恒辯論。她決定,不再將這些信息視為科學數據,而是視為一種需要被“體驗”的哲學遺産,將這份遺産播撒到新殖民地的土地上。 核心主題與風格 《群星的遺産》以其宏大敘事和對“蝴蝶效應”的深刻探討而著稱。它探討瞭: 記憶與身份的連續性: 個體生命是否是某種更大的、循環往復的靈魂實體的片段? 知識的腐蝕與救贖: 知識力量的傳遞如何塑造或摧毀文明? 自由意誌的幻覺: 在時間的長河中,人類的選擇是否早已被刻寫在星辰的軌跡中? 小說的語言風格是高度文學化和象徵性的,融閤瞭曆史考據的嚴謹性與魔幻現實主義的想象力。讀者將在不同時代的聲音中,聽到對人類文明永恒睏境的迴響。