Dittie, a busboy with an inferiority complex and a driving ambition to become a millionaire, quickly rises to become a head waiter, but the respect he craves continues to allude him. When he marries a Nazi gym teacher, the Czechs despise him even more, while the Germans barely tolerate him. Rare stamps taken from wealthy Jews make his dream come true after the war, but his first-class hotel is soon nationalized by the Communists and he ends his life in poverty and isolation writing his memoirs. As is typical of Hrabal's work, the novel is full of zany characters whose antics range from supremely entertaining to bizarrely tragic.
敏感的小个子餐厅服务员,一心想成为“侍候英国国王”那样的人物。他兢兢业业地辛勤工作,尽管已经挣了多得能盖住整个地板的钱,却不时遭到不公的贬抑和诬蔑。他想尽办法要与别人比个高低,梦想自己成为百万富翁,好让别人对他刮目相看。后来他终于如愿以偿,然而讽刺的是,这个愿望竟然是在拘留所里实现的……作者从一个不起眼的餐厅服务员的眼光,审视纳粹法西斯罕为人知的人种培育中心、伤员疗养院等。没有激越的情绪或夸张的语言,全书以平静温和的语调,缓缓诉说着大时代下小人物的悲喜,却仍能感受到撼人的戏剧张力。
About Author
Bohumil Hrabal, Czech novelist and short story writer, whose tales show the influence of Surrealism, Dada, and psychoanalysis. Bohumil Hrabal gained international fame with Closely Watched Trains (1965), set in German occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. The novel was also made into a highly successful film, directed by Jiri Menzel. Hrabal's writings were banned after the Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968. Hrabal died at the age of 82. He fell from a window at the Bulovka hospital in Prague.
博胡米尔·赫拉巴尔,捷克著名小说家,作品大多描写普通、平凡、默默无闻、被抛弃在“时代垃圾堆上的人”。他对这些人寄予同情与爱怜,并且融入他们的生活,以文字发掘他们心灵深处的美,刻画出一群平凡又奇特的人物形象。1965年出版的作品《严密监视的列车》使他获得世界声誉,被改编成的同名电影也大获好评和成功。1968年苏联军队入侵捷克斯洛伐克,赫拉巴尔由于曾支持“布拉格之春”改革运动,而被列入黑名单。令人不解的是,他从医院的窗口坠楼身亡,享年82岁。
点击进入更多LT推荐
|