The Refugees

比爾‧蓋茲推薦作家、普立茲獎得主阮越清第一本短篇小說集精準觀察了那些啟程至另一個國度的人們的想望，以及定義我們人生的自我成就英國《衛報》重磅推薦：在這個豎立圍牆與恐外的時代，阮越清八篇痛徹心扉又充滿希望的故事，每一個政客都應該閱讀。普立茲獎、麥克阿瑟天才獎、卡內基優秀小說獎得主阮越清，為生活在移民的家園與出生國這兩個世界之中的生命發聲。懷抱著對出生地母國與成長地國家所帶來複雜難以言喻的情感，以《同情者》一鳴驚人、享譽國際的阮越清，在這本小說集裡伸展出更廣闊且綿密的觸角，探索「流亡者」對家庭關係、身分認同等文化衝擊問題。年輕的越南難民來到舊金山與兩名同性戀男性同住，遭遇了從未有過的性別認知；一位婦女的丈夫受失智症所苦，將她誤認為前任女友而衍生出種種衝突；一個住在胡志明市的女孩，看到同父異母的姊姊從美國歸來，完成了她一輩子都無法完成的夢想；城市裡的越南社群正風風火火地募款資助一批民兵反攻祖國，經營小商店的母親似乎與友人為此而生嫌隙──這些是流亡者們的日常與非常、美夢與碎夢、打擊與衝擊。阮越清自《同情者》25萬字篇幅格局轉而經營珠玉短篇，卻是力道更強、視點更犀利，寫出這群流離失所的人們如何適應新生活的鬥爭，敏銳深刻的社會觀察加上富含情感的文字表現，讓他在世界文壇持續受到高度關注與討論。In The Refugees, Viet Thanh Nguyen gives voice to lives led between two worlds, the adopted homeland and the country of birth. From a young Vietnamese refugee who suffers profound culture shock when he comes to live with two gay men in San Francisco, to a woman whose husband is suffering from dementia and starts to confuse her for a former lover, to a girl living in Ho Chi Minh City whose older half-sister comes back from America having seemingly accomplished everything she never will, the stories are a captivating testament to the dreams and hardships of immigration. The second piece of fiction by a major new voice, The Refugees is a beautifully written and sharply observed book about the aspirations of those who leave one country for another, and the relationships and desires for self-fulfillment that define our lives.