——— one of the best foreign novels I've ever read. The characters are vividly portrayed, mixed with some black humor; the storyline, especially the third part, is twisted and bizarre, and the climax is repeated.
"Washington Post • Book World" evaluation: a gripping family lament, an emotional vortex intertwined with romantic love and racial hatred...
1. Synopsis of the story
The story takes place in the United States in the 1940s.
Laura, the "leftover girl" who grew up in the city, finally waited for Henry at the age of thirty-one, and she didn't know if she had love, "but he loved me, and I knew he would feed me and be loyal to me, and we would have strong and intelligent children." For all these reasons, of course I will love him too." So, after a bland proposal that was very different from what they had imagined, they got married.
One day, Henry suddenly said that he had bought a farm, and although reluctantly, Laura set out from the town to set foot on the "muddy land" that her husband called "Promised Land". "It's not that they own the land, it's the land that devours them." She began to face anger, uneasiness and fear, as well as the obedient father-in-law Paby.
Here she became acquainted with black sharecroppers and experienced first-hand racial discrimination. In the words of the sharecropper's son Junsell, "There (in Germany) I was a liberator, a hero. But in Mississippi, I became a who ploughed the ground again:
Through a shared war experience and trauma, Juncell and Laura's husband's brother Jack became friends.
Junser's love affair with a German girl is discovered by Pappy, who and other whites want to lynch him. Jack's unsuccessful attempt to rescue him was forced to choose what to do with Junsell: eyes, tongue, hands, castration. --Junser's tongue was cut off. Jack smothers his father, Paby, with a pillow, to avenge Juncell, to avenge himself...
Dissatisfied with real life and yearning for a better life, Laura and Jack have a bad love affair, after Paby's death, Jack leaves, Laura finally got her wish and moved to town with her husband, everything is business as usual, "everything begins with love, and ends with love." ”
Second, the artistic style
The narrative is unique
Each chapter is narrated by one person, a total of six people, namely: Laura, Henry (Laura's husband), Jack (Henry's brother), Junsell (retired black soldier), Florence (Junser's mother), Harp (Junsell's father), what they do, think, and see is real and rich. Rotate over and over again as the story progresses. Everyone seems to be unrelated to each other, but there are inextricable connections.
The language style is funny and humorous
The men trimmed and powdered me until they were satisfied, and they held up a mirror for me to see, as if the person in the mirror was a gift to me. I looked at the stranger in the mirror and said it wasn't me.
Kissing me for the first time, Henry held my face in both hands, without twisting, as if holding a hat he liked or a bowl that he had been using to shave his face.
I seemed to have changed from head to toe. Because you're in love... This made me feel for the first time in front of my friends and relatives a glory that I had never had in my life. I seem to have become more funny and humorous, and I deserve something better.
I was sweating nervously, and it didn't feel like dancing, it was like picking cotton on a farm.
It felt as if someone had sneaked into our house at night and turned my otherwise sweet and obedient wife into a shrew.
It's still a sad world that even those who sit with you and share bread can't believe.
Unlike most foreign novels that are obscure, this vivid image, many plots make people feel familiar, if replaced by Chinese name, it is like a "Chinese mother":
The characters are vividly depicted
The man was tall and hunched over, like a bear. Behind him stood a petite woman, peering at us through the top of the man's shoulder.
It was already eight o'clock in the evening after dinner, and the children were already sleepy and prostrated themselves against the bowl in front of them.
As soon as I entered the room, Laura began to hum, a sign that she was clearly indicative of her attitude. No matter what, women will always find a way to make you understand their feelings in their hearts. Laura's method is music: she sings when she is satisfied, becomes humming when she is unhappy, and whistles uncontrollably when she thinks about whether to sing or hum.
Whenever a daughter coughed, it was as if he had been stabbed with a knife. At this point you have to find something for the man to do, so I sent him to boil more boiling water.
The scene description is delicate and evocative
The eight of us stood in the nearly empty living room, eating hot freshly baked biscuits, licking our slimy fingers as we gurgled with cold.
The depiction of the concentration camp is creepy
A few seconds before it was about to hit the cow, the cow turned its head and stared straight at me. It could have dodged, but it just stood there, motionless, watching my car crash into it.
Details of suppressing your feelings:
Rhetorical techniques are used with ease
Synaesthesia when describing secret feelings for her husband's brother:
In the longing for the attention of her husband who is devoted to the farm, the exaggerated writing method makes people can't help but be sad:
If I want him to pay more attention to me, I'm afraid I have to grow a tail and bark like a mule.
Anger when a request is rejected:
When I was rejected, there was a burning anger in my chest, and it was strange that the bed was not ignited by my anger.
simile:
Flolorus's body trembled, trembling like a mule who had worked hard to cultivate the ground.
Literature is the art of language, and proficiency in the use of language is the basic skill of a writer. Unfortunately, many people now lack basic language cultivation, trying to attract readers by relying on bizarre storylines. And this book is a perfect combination of language and story, which is why it is so wonderful.