第一本
The Island 岛

维多利亚·希斯洛普（VictoriaHislop）的处女座「岛」（The Island）以清新优美的文笔，一波三折的故事，以上世纪希腊麻风病人被放逐至麻风病隔离区——斯皮纳龙格岛的真实历史为背景，讲述了阿丽克西斯家族三代女孩的成长、成熟。那么，这本书到底有多引人入胜呢？请看两则摘自各大报刊的书评——
Similar to “Anne of Green Gables”, “The Island” is a story depicting the personalgrowth of three generations of girls in Alexis Fielding’s family. Well-known as Victoria Hislop’s first novel, it has received acclamationfor its compelling plot-line, eloquent and detailed descriptions as well as thewell-researched background that it is set against. Here are two extracts takenfrom the reviews of this novel by the press：
“Gripping…carries real emotional impact. ”
“扣人心弦……感人至深”—Daily Telegraph
“Hislop’sdeep research, imagination and patent love of Crete creates a convincingportrait of times on the island.”
“深入的历史研究，丰富的想象力，真切的情感（作者对希腊克里特岛以及文化的热爱）…真实的时代画卷”—Evening Standard
看了这些评论，你是不是被这本小说吸引了呢？

时间倒流回五十年前……伊莲妮（Eleni），一名优秀的小学教师，不幸染上了在当时还是药石无效的麻风病（leprosy）。她将要被送到麻风病隔离区（leper colony）斯皮纳龙格岛（Spinalonga）——即小说题目中的“岛”上——留下伤心欲绝的丈夫与年少的两个女儿玛丽娅（Maria）和安娜（Anna）。不久后二战爆发。在战火纷飞与疾病横行的年代，面临至亲被病痛夺去的惨境，两姐妹做的每一个选择，都将决定她们的一生——是逃避现实，沉溺罪欲，坠入深渊；还是坚强面对，顽强生存，重获希望？

Winding back theclock by 50 years, we see a family torn apart by leprosy—an incurable disease then. Eleni, a kind-heartedschool teacher respected and loved by students and their parents, hascontracted leprosy. The news shocks the family and neighbourhood, yet Eleni hasto be banished to the leper colony Spinalonga, otherwise known as the “Island”.
Her husbandcollapses under the weight of pain, heart-broken to send his wife away; her twodaughters, Maria and Anna, are devastated as well, pitiful and helpless,struggling to make sense of the sudden departure of their adoring mother, aswell as to comfort and assist their disoriented father.
Soon, World War II(WWII) has broken out. The flames of war soon burn to Crete, while the epidemicof leprosy has not loosen its grip. Death looms in the very air people breathe.
Every choice Mariaand Anna make, will determine their respective life: they can either choose toescape from reality by indulging in sinful passions, thereby sinking everdeeper into the abyss of despair and destruction; or, to bravely accept thereality as it is, struggle, unrelentingly, to survive on the strength of loveand hope?

故事的最后，阿丽克西斯（Alexis）终于解开了心中的疑惑，也为故事中的人所动容：这些人，在逆境绝境中不懈拼争，与疾病、战争、命运抗衡，不为生活的凄惨所恼，而是勇于创造美好，维护病人的尊严，忠于亲情、爱情，最终走出困境，获得新生；也为一些人而叹息：这些人，在难以接受的现实面前选择了躲避，沉迷声色，爱慕虚荣，最终难逃一死。而索菲亚（Sofia）也被女儿追寻过去、力解母亲心结的执著所感动，决定勇敢面对过去，重返故乡。

In the end, Alexishas found her answer: she has learned about her mother’s past, and her family’s. She is touched by the strength ofhuman spirit displayed by some of the people in the story—those who refuse to wallow in self-pityand languish in despair even when they are entrapped in the quagmire of themost painful and extreme conditions; those who courageously regain control oftheir life after disorienting changes; those create beauty despite dismalenvironment; those who live on hope and uphold their dignity, no matter howincapacitating the disease can be; those who retain unwavering loyalty infamily bonds and romantic relations; and those who eventually defeat death anddespair, and reborn into the light and hope of an entirely new life.
Meanwhile, Alexismourns for those who have lost their hope: those whose faith is shattered byharsh reality and never restored; those who rely on pursuits of vanity,extravagance and ecstasy to drown their fear, fear of lacking meanings andpurposes in life; those who sin, who betray their vows of fidelity, who forgofamily for their personal gains, and who eventually burn themselves to deathand destruction in the heat of unrestrained passion.
Sofia, moved byAlexis’ persistenceand sincerity, finally decides to run away from her past no more. She decidesto face it, bravely. She travels to Crete, and revisits her past…

而我推荐这本书的理由，除了其具有历史严肃性，且文笔优美生动，故事精彩之外，是因为其塑造的人物角色极有张力，性格鲜明突出，思想深邃，情感独特。这些角色，在时代背景之下，在面对同样困境时截然不同的选择，以及这些决定对她们人生的影响，不仅展现了一幅独特的克里特人文画卷，更是反映了人特有的精神品质与力量。此书对人性的探究，令人掩卷深思。
Besides the authentic historical backdrop and the well-crafted language as well as storyline, I would say that the most astounding aspect of this novel is the characterisation of protagonists. These characters are vivid, rich in emotive expressions, and deep in contemplative thoughts. Their vastly different worldviews and personalities animate their decision-making, and these choices they opt for profoundly impact their personal growth and life. The novel is more than an accurate portrait of Cretan people’s life and culture; it is also a display of the rich spiritual and emotional worlds of these people as unique human-beings. The novel applauds human strengths and exposes human weaknesses.The extent and depth to which it discusses human nature and human agency in the face of extreme setbacks earn it a worthy place in world literature.
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