Last Orders | 誠品線上

天堂酒吧

內容簡介

內容簡介 Four men gather in a London pub. They have taken it upon themselves to carry out the last orders of Jack Dodds, master butcher, and deliver his ashes to the sea. As they drive towards the fulfillment of their mission, their errand becomes an extraordinary journey into their collective and individual pasts. Braiding these men's voices, and that of Jack's widow, into a choir of sorrow and resentment, passion and regret, Swift creates a testament to a changing England and to enduring mortality. "Swift has involved us in real, lived lives...Quietly, but with conviction, he seeks to affirm the values of decency, loyalty, love."--New York Review of Books"A beautiful book...a novel that speaks profoundly of human need and tenderness. Even the most cynical will be warmed by it."--San Francisco Chronicle

各界推薦

各界推薦 四個自二次大戰以來就結夥在倫敦一家酒館喝酒的好朋友，在很多年後，其中的一個去世，他的遺囑是希望將他的骨灰灑到海浪裡。三個朋友，包括死者的繼子一路上路，開始展開各自的獨白。一路下來，每個人就走了近四十多年，回憶，反映和揭露。地點從倫敦的酒吧到海邊的小鎮，小說裡共有七個發聲的角色。核心三個老朋友，作保全的Ray、賣果菜的Lenny、以及走私販Vic，史威夫特的人物皆示勞工階級的小人物，他們沒有「朝代」或是「戴安娜宮廷戲」，唯有的就是生命的掙扎，友誼、家庭和「簡陋」的背叛事蹟，以及不可避免的受苦或是人的本性。史威夫特的筆調沉靜，但讀起來讓人目眩的，是時間。書評人稱讚他「有銳敏的眼光觀審人們之間最深厚連結所共享的生命經驗：愛情、戰爭、婚姻、小孩、事業、酒吧以及死亡。他同時也有親切的耳，傾聽他的主角們各自殊異的聲音，跟隨七個不同的聲音在說一個故事裡彼此分享」。他同時也被類比為英國的約翰‧卡薩維堤（《被影響的女人》、《女煞葛若莉亞》的美國獨立製片導演），顯露了男性愛的親密、殘暴及其互不相容。 於是，史威夫特完成了──「一本歌本，其中半史詩、半抒情，半勞工階層的社會寫實──到最後，將真誠、人性和真實串成了一個鏈子」。

作者介紹

作者介紹 Graham Swift is the author of five other novels, including the acclaimed Waterland, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Guardian Fiction Award. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages. He lives in London.

商品規格