評論
打印
Books & arts
文藝板塊
Book review
書評
Icelandic fiction
冰島小說
Lines of beauty
美麗的線條
Miss Iceland.
冰島小姐
By Audur Ava Olafsdottir.
作者：奧杜爾·阿瓦·奧拉夫斯多蒂爾
One of iceland’s most celebrated authors, Audur Ava Olafsdottir writes quirky and beguiling fiction about people who leave familiar environments, venture into the unknown and end up learning more about themselves than about their new surroundings. In “Butterflies in November”, a woman turns her back on her worries and heads off with her best friend’s deaf-mute son, her three goldfish and her recent lottery winnings on a zany yet enlightening Icelandic road-trip. In the grittier “Hotel Silence”, a suicidal man books a one-way flight to a war-torn country, but instead of fulfilling his death-wish acquires a fresh lease of life.
奧杜爾·阿瓦·奧拉夫斯多蒂爾是冰島最著名的作家之一，她寫了很多離奇而迷人的小說，講述了人們離開自己熟悉的環(huán)境，并冒險進入未知世界，最終，人們探索了新的環(huán)境，并對自己產(chǎn)生了更深刻的認知。在《Butterflies in November》一書中，一位婦女撇開自己的擔心，帶著自己最好的朋友的聾啞兒子、三條金魚以及最近中獎的彩票獎金，踏上了一次滑稽可笑又發(fā)人深省的冰島公路旅行。在標榜著勇氣的《Hotel Silence》一書中，一位想要自殺的男子訂了一張前往戰(zhàn)亂國家的單程機票，但他并沒有實現(xiàn)自己死亡的愿望，反而獲得了新生。
In “Miss Iceland”, her latest novel to appear in English—smoothly translated by Brian FitzGibbon—the protagonist embarks on a journey of self-discovery when she moves from her sparsely populated home region to the capital. Her attempts to settle down in a big city and achieve her ambitions in a conservative world make for an absorbing, bittersweet tale.
《冰島小姐》是她最新的英文小說，由布萊恩·菲茨吉本翻譯，主人公從人煙稀少的家鄉(xiāng)搬到首都，踏上了自我發(fā)現(xiàn)的旅程。她試圖在一個大城市安頓下來，在一個保守的世界里實現(xiàn)自己的抱負，這是一個引人入勝、苦樂參半的故事。
Hekla arrives in Reykjavik in 1963 with grand plans to become a writer. Almost immediately she is offered a different kind of opportunity. A board member of the Reykjavik Beauty Society tells her it is looking for “unattached maidens, sublimely endowed with both clean-limbedness and comeliness” to participate in the Miss Iceland contest. Hekla declines, but quickly learns that men call the shots and value her looks more than her literary talent.
1963年，赫克拉帶著成為一名作家的宏偉計劃來到了雷克雅未克。她幾乎立刻就得到了一個與眾不同的機會。雷克雅未克美容協(xié)會的一位董事會成員，告訴她該協(xié)會正在尋找“擁有干凈的肢體和美麗的外表的獨身少女”，參加冰島小姐的比賽。赫克拉謝絕了，但很快就發(fā)現(xiàn)男人們說了算，而且他們更加看重她的長相，而不是她的文學才華。
譯文由可可原創(chuàng)，僅供學習交流使用，未經(jīng)許可請勿轉載。
