The Covenant of Water | 誠品線上

The Covenant of Water

內容簡介

內容簡介 ✰ 紐時暢榜南印家庭史詩 ✰✰ 歐普拉讀書會選書 ✰ 帕蘭比爾家族代代有人溺水而亡，在悲傷與掙扎中，第三代終於有望解開詛咒之謎...1900年代，基督教家庭出身的12歲少女瑪莉安瑪和母親搭乘小舟、沿著河流進入喀拉拉邦，她一邊哭泣不願嫁給40歲的鰥夫，但她的母親已經因為太過疲倦沉沉睡去，當瑪莉安瑪看見喀拉拉邦時，卻為其美麗的山城景色和海岸風光震懾，如同海洋將一隻手伸進喀拉拉邦的丘陵，手指如奔放的河流在山丘間蜿蜒，瑪莉安瑪最終嫁入帕蘭比爾家，她的丈夫對她很好，並承諾等待她成年後才會正式與她結為夫妻，瑪莉安瑪住在帕蘭比爾的華美大宅裡，生活衣食無虞，但她卻尚不知道，這個家族的秘密：每一個世代都會有家族成員因「水」而死亡。瑪莉安瑪17歲時生下女兒茉兒，之後又生下兒子菲利波斯，大宅的管理人夏穆爾對帕蘭比爾家忠心耿耿，夏穆爾的兒子喬潘和菲利波斯年紀相仿，很快地成為玩伴，但當到了上學的年紀，喬潘卻因為他的種性是無產低階的普拉研人(Pulayan，多被其他高級種性當做農奴，一生被其主人所擁有)，沒有上學受教育的權利，當菲利波斯無法理解為什麼喬潘不能和他一樣上學、詢問媽媽馬莉安瑪時，她忽然驚覺，不知道該如何向孩子解釋種性制度為何要這樣區分彼此，被強硬拆散的喬潘與菲利波斯則注定漸行漸遠，瑪莉安瑪一生都待在帕蘭比爾的大宅中直至去世，見證種性制度對印度帶來的無盡創傷、三代的悲傷掙扎與印度獨立的歷史動盪，最終迎來解開水之詛咒的曙光。水，如同貫穿時空與空間，連結所有人物的悲歡喜樂，也映照著喀拉拉邦在融合基督教、印度教與多元種族的文化面貌。史丹佛大學醫學院教授佛吉斯曾任史丹佛大學醫學院教授與系主任，一次因緣際會加入愛荷華大學的寫作工作坊，意外開啟「一半醫生、一半寫作」的生涯，以精湛的寫實手法與優美文字見長，他的首作《雙生石》膾炙人口、長踞紐時暢榜兩年。新作The Covenant of Water為三代家族史詩，延續前作中的愛、信念與醫學等主題，描寫1900到1970年代之間南印喀拉拉邦帕蘭比爾家族的遭遇，也見證印度從殖民地成為國家的過程。AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB SELECTION'One of the best books I've read in my entire life. It's epic. It's transportive . . . It was unputdownable!' Oprah Winfrey, OprahDaily.comSpanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water follows a family in southern India that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning - and in Kerala, water is everywhere.At the turn of the century a twelve-year-old girl, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this poignant beginning, the young girl and future matriarch - known as Big Ammachi - will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life, full of the joys and trials of love and the struggles of hardship.A shimmering evocation of a lost India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humour, deep emotion and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.

各界推薦

各界推薦 One of the best books I've read in my entire life. It's epic. It's transportive . . . It was unputdownable! -- Oprah Winfrey, OprahDaily.comSplendid, enthralling...this is why literature, in all its comforting and challenging forms, matters -- Maaza Mengiste ― GuardianMajestic...life-affirming, compassionate, and gripping from start to finish ― Mail on SundayGrand, spectacular, sweeping and utterly absorbing ― New York Times Book ReviewDeliciously inventive.... Over the course of three generations, two seemingly disparate, deeply connected narratives unfold in an ode to India, family and medical marvels ― TIME magazineAn immense, immersive work, brimming with interconnected storylines that meander and converge like great river tributaries . . . The novel encompasses intense passion and tragedy, as well as a medical mystery . . . An essential, even healing feat of imagination, a whole world to get lost in ― Los Angeles TimesAn epic melodrama of medicine ― Wall Street JournalWhat binds and drives this vast, intricate history as it patiently unspools are vibrant characters, sensuous detail and an intimate tour of cultures, landscapes and mores across eras...A magnificent feat ― Washington PostMuch will be written about Abraham Verghese's multigenerational South Indian novel in the coming months and years...Ever the skillful surgeon, Verghese threads meaningful connections between macrocosmic and microcosmic details so elegantly that they are often barely noticeable at first ― NPR.orgFourteen years in the making, Abraham Verghese's The Covenant of Water was worth the wait . . . A massive achievement. Rarely can such an intricate story, following a dozen major characters over more than 70 years, be described as flying by, but this one does ― St Louis Post-DispatchWhat a joy...to experience the exquisite, uniquely literary delight of all the pieces falling into place in a way one really did not see coming...By God, he's done it again. ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

作者介紹

作者介紹 Abraham VergheseAbraham Verghese is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the author of books including My Own Country and The Tennis Partner. His most recent book, Cutting for Stone, spent 107 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and sold more than 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone. It was translated into more than twenty languages and is being adapted for film by Anonymous Content. Verghese was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2016, has received five honorary degrees, and lives and practices medicine in Stanford, California where he is the Linda R. Meier and Joan F. Lane Provostial Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

商品規格

最佳賣點

最佳賣點 : 歐普拉讀書會選書，紐約時報‧衛報‧華盛頓郵報‧科克斯書評等佳評如潮！