Oswaldo Webel từ Thab Prik, Mueang Krabi District, Krabi, Thailand

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04/29/2024

Dữ liệu người dùng, đánh giá và đề xuất cho sách

Oswaldo Webel Sách lại (10)

2018-08-22 10:30

Cung Đường Vàng Nắng (Bìa Mềm) Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Dương Thụy

Conventional wisdom is that the further apart on the political spectrum two people are, the greater the intensity of the culture war. In T.C. Boyle's new novel When The Killing's Done, the war is definitely intense, and the casualty counts are high, but the war waged is between two groups most would consider ideologically similar: environmentalists and animal rights activists. And in this novel of left-on-left violence, one side emerges as the unequivocal winner. The problem, though, is that there's never any question which side will win. There's no real moral conflict for the reader. Boyle makes his own agenda clear from the outset by making it painfully obvious who you're to side with. And let's just say it's not the animal rights side that includes a bunch of fanatical, cartoonish weirdos. That's especially true when the environmentalist side is represented by a mild-mannered, reasonable, sympathetic Asian-American biologist. Who would you root for? The battleground for the novel is the Channel Islands, a small group of islandds off the California coast near Santa Barbara. Alma Takesue is a young biologist who works for the U.S. National Parks Service, and is working hard to rid the islands of man-brought invasive (and nasty) species, such as rats and feral pigs, in order to return the ecosystem to its natural state. This involves a lot of killing, anathema to Dave LaJoy, a 42-year-old dreadlocked electronics magnate, who has founded and funds an organization called For the Protection of Animals. In a novel that's supposed to draw you in with moral ambiguity, this much is very clear: Dave is an asshole — he's the kind of guy who is needlessly mean to strangers (at a restaurant, he sends three bottles of wine back before leaving in a huff), who is convinced the whole world is against him, and who is always yelling at his folk singer girlfriend Anise. Pockmarking Dave and Alma's increasingly intense clashes is flashback to Alma's family history and Anise's mother's time on the island as a sheepherder. Intended to illustrate the characters' historical connections to the island, they feel superfluous, like dropped-in short stories (of course, Boyle is an accomplished short story writer, as well), and thus add little to the story. Furthermore, very much in contrast to a novel that is otherwise intricately and precisely written (well, for the most part — there are a few over-written descriptions and a tortured metaphor here and there*), Dave's dialogue is atrocious. It just doesn't fit. He says things like "Don't f@ck with me. Not here. Not now," and "You're no better than executioners. Nazis, that's what you are. Kill everything, that's your solution. Kill, kill, kill." It's so bad, I began to wonder if Boyle is doing it on purpose, as another tactic to be sure readers are not on Dave's side. What it does accomplish, though, is not only to turn Dave further into a caricature of an animal rights activist, but also to me further away from enjoying this book. Amidst the detritus of Bad Dave and his bad dialogue, there really is an interesting moral dilemma here. Outside the context of this novel, the question of whether it's okay to kill animals for the sake of restoring a natural ecosystem is an incredibly complex and interesting one to ponder. Not so to Boyle, apparently. But why set up such a great conflict only to make the winner a foregone conclusion? This novel could've been great — it had potential to really make readers think hard to determine which side they are on. But that idea is immediately smothered and destroyed, like so many native species without capability to defend themselves. *Not because it's gross, but because it feels like purposefully bad fiction, this particular one made me close the book, take a deep breath, and then continue: "...the boy steps forward on his own in initiative and grinds his heel into the animal's head till the gray and pink strands of the neural matter sluice free, like spaghetti."

2018-08-22 12:30

Mỗi Tối Một Truyện Mẹ Kể Bé Nghe - Mùa Đông Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Dương Minh Hào

Placute coincidente cu Gabriela Melinescu: amindoua sint femei, poete si au emigrat din Romania, ajungind sa fie foarte cunoscute & apreciate in tarile de adoptie, Suedia, respectiv Germania. Herta Muller se afla de 10 ani pe lista propunerilor Germaniei pentru premiul Nobel. Spre deosebire de cartea Gabrielei Melinescu-Ghetele fericirii (referirile le fac pentru ca e cartea citita anterior, deci conexiunile sint involuntare), Regele se-nclina si ucide are o latura mult mai grava. Experienta personala este aici primordiala. Mi-a placut imbinarea de tonuri; cind lucid, rational (multe pagini de adevarate panseuri filozofice, exercitii lexicale romano-germane cu multe comparatii si exemple), cind emotional (experienta personala in comunism - securitate, anchete sau experientele parintilor si ale bunicilor in lagarele comuniste, dependenta de bautura a tatalui, fost ofiter SS). In dulcele stil dada, Herta Muller avea obiceiul sa decupeze cuvinte din ziare, cu care mai apoi isi construia poeziile. Prima pe care eu am citit-o a fost acum vreun an: *** Si un citat din carte, care mi-a placut: "Tacerea nu-i o pauza de vorbire, ci o treaba in sine. Cunosc de-acasa felul de viata al taranilor carora nu le statea in obicei sa recurga la vorbe. Cine nu-ti povesteste niciodata nimic despre el insusi, nu vorbeste mult. Cu cit erai in stare sa taci mai mult, cu-atit mai puternic iti faceai simtita prezenta. Ca toti cei din casa, invatasem si eu nu s-astept ca lucrurile sa-mi fie spuse in cuvinte, ci sa interpretez la celalalt orice tresarire cit de mica a ridurilor fetei, a carotidei, narilor sau coltului gurii, a barbiei sau a degetelor. Traind printre taciturini, ochii nostri erau deprinsi sa discearna ce simtaminte poarta fiecare cu sine prin casa. Mai mult ciuleam ochii decit urechile. Consecinta fiind o agreabila incetineala, o greutate prea mare si prelungita acordata lucrurilor pe care le purtam in cap. Vorbele nici nu pot atinge o asemenea greutate, fiindca nu stau locului. De indata ce-au fost spuse, abia rostite, au si amutit. Si nu le poti pronunta decit una cite una, succesiv. O propozitie urmeaza la rind abia dupa ce propozitia anterioara s-a dus. Dar in tacere lucrurile iti vin toate deodata: tot ce n-ai spus mult timp, ba chiar si ceea ce nu vei spune niciodata persista aici laolalta. E o stare stabile, ferecata in sine. Iar vorbirea – o ata ce se sfisiie singura, trebuind reinnodata mereu."

Người đọc Oswaldo Webel từ Thab Prik, Mueang Krabi District, Krabi, Thailand

Người dùng coi những cuốn sách này là thú vị nhất trong năm 2017-2018, ban biên tập của cổng thông tin "Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn" khuyến cáo rằng tất cả các độc giả sẽ làm quen với văn học này.