Ahmed Bahgat từ Elanthoppu, Tamil Nadu, India

abahgat

12/22/2024

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

Ahmed Bahgat Sách lại (10)

2019-05-14 11:31

Thanh Xuân Của Chúng Ta Sẽ Dài Bao Lâu? - Phát Hành Dự Kiến 05/05/2018 Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Thảo Thảo

I continue my foray into modern Scottish literature with Iain Banks' 2007 novel "The Steep Approach to Garbadale." I am ashamed to admit that of the large number of Banks' books, I have only read "Raw Spirit," which I consider the ultimate book about drinking Scotch and driving the narrow roads of Scotland (not to done in that sequence). "The Steep Approach to Garbadale" is both a page-turner and a story of great human richness. This is about a likeable man, Alban Wopuld, and his relationship with a large, rich, eccentric family (" . . . the more I've seen of this family and everybody else's, the more I've realised there's no such thing as a normal one." p. 352). I can hardly summarize the plot here, which is quite complex, but a major theme is Alban's youthful love for his first cousin Sophie, and the way that love, which he turns into almost a religion, paralyzes his relationships thereafter. He must either win Sophie or free himself from her, and neither seems possible until some rather devastating information that comes only in the final pages of the novel. But along the way, this book is filled with wonderful insights into Scottish and British society, with Banks' characteristic anti-American and anti-capitalist diatribes, and with some absolutely unforgettable descriptions of place. Having just returned from travels in Singapore and Hong Kong, I was stunned by his descriptions of each. His travel in Singapore with his cousin Fielding is reminiscent of Hunter Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," but in Singapore druggies risk not just being thrown into prison but being flogged and/or hanged. And Hong Kong . . . well he nails it. Just read pages 237-238 and enjoy. Gosh, I can't help the following for the benefit of anyone who has ever landed at the old Hong Kong airport, now unfortunately replaced: "He looks out the window at a tall building rushing past about a metre from the wingtip. It's night and he sees a Chinese guy looking at him. The guy is wearing stripy shorts and a grey vest and leaning on the concrete balcony of this appallingly close apartment block; he flicks a lighter and ignites a cigarette. Alban will later swear he could identify the lighter as a Zippo." Great . . . and no exaggeration. I must have landed there ten times, and I think I've seen the same guy.

Người đọc Ahmed Bahgat từ Elanthoppu, Tamil Nadu, India

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.