02.29 推薦兩本英語原版書,助力你寫出和母語一樣地道的英語文章


推薦兩本英語原版書,助力你寫出和母語一樣地道的英語文章

閱讀英語原版書除了可以讓我們提升詞彙量,還有助於我們感受地道英語的文采,提升自己遣詞造句的能力。學霸君今天找來了兩本文筆優美的英文原版書,希望能夠在你的寫作能力上有所幫助,下面跟著小編一起來看看這兩本書究竟是如何幫到你的吧。

推薦兩本英語原版書,助力你寫出和母語一樣地道的英語文章

All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See(所有我們看不見的光)是美國作者Anthony Doerr於2014年出版的一本以二戰為背景的小說。作者在接受NPR新聞採訪時提到了小說的創作靈感:2004年他在紐約乘地鐵時看到一位乘客因為手機沒信號而發火,他突然意識到我們現在習以為常的遠距離通信對於過去的人來說無異於是一個奇蹟。於是他想創作一部關於無線電通信對二戰期間人們影響的作品。這部作品最終花了他十年的時間才完成。

推薦兩本英語原版書,助力你寫出和母語一樣地道的英語文章

故事發生在二戰期間的法國:女主人公Marie-Laure從小生活在巴黎,她在六歲的時候失明,後來父親為她製作了整座城市的微縮模型,讓她通過觸摸模型記住城市的道路。1940年德國入侵巴黎後,她和父親被迫逃往法國西北部城市聖馬洛。男主人公Werner從小失去雙親,和妹妹生活在德國礦區的孤兒院,後來他憑藉無線電技術天賦躋身納粹精英學院。在一次追蹤盟軍無線電信號的過程中,他來到聖馬洛,並因此與Marie-Laure產生了交集。All the Light We Cannot See在出版後獲得了眾多獎項,它是2015年《紐約時報》十佳暢銷書之一,併入選《華盛頓郵報》和《衛報》等多家報紙年度最佳好書。它還獲得了2015年的普利策獎(虛構作品類)。普利策頒獎委員會給出的頒獎詞是:

An imaginative and intricate novel inspired by the horrors of World War II and written in short, elegant chapters that explore human nature and the contradictory power of technology.

這本書除了精巧的故事情節之外,最大的特點是文筆極其優美,很多句子讀起來像詩歌一樣。All the Light We Cannot See是那種即使句子裡有很多生詞不認識也不妨礙你欣賞其中文字美感的書。在國外書評網站Goodreads上,眾多網友毫不吝嗇對這部小說語言的讚美:

This book has the most hauntingly beautiful prose I've ever read. It's brimming with rich details that fill all five senses simultaneously. It's full of beautiful metaphors that paint gorgeous images. I didn't want this book to end, but I couldn't put it down.


The language is so fantastically precise - Anthony Doerr does things with verbs that make entire paragraphs sing - that the visual component of this book is quite astounding.


The writing was incredible, the descriptions so vivid. It did a superb job of showing the reader how the characters felt through their actions, rather than telling.

在這本書中作者使用了大量的修飾手法,而且對於動詞和名詞的使用也很有特色,下面舉幾個例子來說明(下面這幾個例子都適合朗誦出來):

Up and down the lanes, the last unevacuated townspeople wake, groan, sigh. Spinsters, prostitutes, men over sixty. Procrastinators, collaborators, disbelievers, drunks. Nuns of every order. The poor. The stubborn. The blind.

這一段是寫德軍入侵之前聖馬洛的眾生相。這一段幾乎沒有一個完整的句子,但用了大量的動詞和名詞,它們能夠很好地寫出此時聖馬洛居民混亂不安的狀態。此外,這一段文字讀起來也非常有節奏感。

With the door shut, the sound of the sirens softens. Above them, the ceiling bulb flickers.

這裡使用了壓頭韻的手法,shut, sound, sirens, softens這幾個詞不僅用得很巧妙,而且讀起來很自然,沒有那種刻意為之的生硬感,這足以看出作者的文字功底。

What is blindness? Where there should be a wall, her hands find nothing. Where there should be nothing, a table leg gouges her shin. Cars growl in the streets; leaves whisper in the sky; blood rustles through her inner ears.

作者最厲害的一點在於能把抽象的事物通過具體的事例生動地展現出來。比如這一段描寫失明感受的文字中,作者並沒有直接寫失明之後世界一片漆黑,而是通過兩個事例來說明:你以為前面有一堵牆,但實際上沒有;你以為前面沒有東西,但等你走過去的時候小腿會被桌子腿絆到。同時,失明的人對聲音會特別敏感,他們會注意到街上汽車的轟鳴,在空中翻轉的樹葉聲,甚至是血液在內耳血管裡流動的聲音,這些細節非常真實,也因此無比震撼。

To men like that, time was a surfeit, a barrel they watched slowly drain. When really, he thinks, it’s a glowing puddle you carry in your hands; you should spend all your energy protecting it. Fighting for it. Working so hard not to spill one single drop.

這裡對於時間的兩個比喻很形象:對於那些浪費時間的人,時間就像桶裝的酒,他們不斷揮霍,放任其流失殆盡。而對於珍惜時間的人,時間就像捧在手心不斷髮光的一灘水,他們小心翼翼地保護著它,生怕落下一滴。

But God is only a white cold eye, a quarter-moon poised above the smoke, blinking, blinking, as the city is gradually pounded to dust.

中國有句古話叫:天地不仁,以萬物為芻狗。上面這句英文其實表達的是類似的意思:整座城市正在被炮火炸成廢墟,但“上帝”並不在乎,只有一輪殘月高懸在天空,冷冷地看著這一切。這也是戰爭最殘酷無情的地方。

The window glows. The slow sandy light of dawn permeates the room. Everything transient and aching; everything tentative. To be here, in this room, high in this house, out of the cellar, with her: it is like medicine.

這一段是寫Werner和Marie-Laure在聖馬洛相遇後的情景。作者通過對周圍氣氛的描寫來烘托Werner對Marie-Laure不斷加深的感情。同時第二句To be here, in this room, high in this house, out of the cellar, with her句式很整齊,語氣上也層層鋪墊,到最後一句it is like medicine在情感上實現了爆發。書中類似上面這樣的句子還有很多。All the Light We Cannot See是一本值得你反覆閱讀的小說,它會讓你在閱讀過程中感受到英語的語言之美,同時書中所體現的對戰爭和人性的思考也會對你有所啟發。

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry 作者Rachel Joyce是英國BBC Radio Four頻道的資深劇作家,她也是2007年Tinniswood Award最佳廣播劇獎的得主。The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry是她的第一部長篇小說,在出版後大受歡迎,得到了各大媒體的積極評價。

推薦兩本英語原版書,助力你寫出和母語一樣地道的英語文章

雖然這本小說的中文版譯名是《一個人的朝聖》,但這本書跟“朝聖”、“修行”這些宗教概念並沒有關係。它實際上講訴了一個關於成長與自我發現的故事:主人公Harold Fry(哈羅德·弗萊)一直是一個默默無聞的人,他在釀酒廠幹了四十年的銷售代表後默默退休,他沒有敵人,也沒有朋友,退休時公司甚至連歡送會也沒有開。他跟妻子Maureen住在英國鄉下,生活平靜,感情不鹹不淡。這一切直到他收到好友Queenie病危的消息後有了改變。哈羅德決定徒步從英國最西南一路走到最東北去看望Queenie,只因心懷一個信念:只要他一直在路上,Queenie就不會死。同時這場旅程也是主人公的自我反思之路,他在途中反省自己與妻兒的種種往事,最終勇敢地決定直面過去與現實,重新找回幸福與平靜,這也是書名中Pilgrimage一詞的寓意。作為一名資深劇作家,Rachel Joyce的文字功底非常深厚,從小說的遣詞造句中可以看出作者對語言的駕馭能力。同時,小說的劇情設置也非常巧妙成熟(這與作者多年寫劇本的經歷可能也有關),可讀性很高。作者在書中對於很多細節的處理都特別到位,舉幾個例子:

Harold lowered his limbs into the seat beside hers. A heavy stillness crept over him and, after resisting for a moment, he closed his eyes. The light glowed red against his eyelids, and the sounds of birdsong and passing cars merged into one, that was both inside him and far away.

這一段的背景是哈羅德在旅途中停下來在一戶人家裡面休息,在躺椅上睡著了。作者對於人物感受的描寫很仔細:通過the light glowed red against his eyelids來描寫在陽光中閉上雙眼所看到的亮紅色,用the sounds of birdsong and passing cars merged into one, that was both inside him and far away來描寫聽著鳥叫聲與車鳴聲逐漸入睡的狀態。

For the first time in his life, it was a disappointment to find that the post box cropped up sooner than expected.

這一句話的背景是哈羅德收到Queenie病危的信件後寫了一份回信,並準備拿到郵筒投遞。在走去郵筒的路上哈羅德想了很多事情,並希望郵筒能慢點出現,這樣他有更長的時間來思考。因此it was a disappointment to find that the post box cropped up sooner than expected這句話就寫出了人物的這種心理。

There were single drivers, and he supposed they must be office workers because their faces appeared fixed as if the joy had been squeezed away, and then there were women driving children, and they looked tired too.

哈羅德在路途中看到很多司機都表情僵硬,看起來似乎生活的樂趣都被擠幹了,as if the joy had been squeezed away這一比喻用得很形象。

Harold hovered outside the breakfast lounge, hoping it might be empty. He and Maureen could pass hours without saying a word, but her presence was like a wall that you expected to be there, even if you didn’t often look at it.

哈羅德和妻子Maureen的感情一直不鹹不淡,他們在日常生活中並沒有多少交流。對於哈羅德來說,妻子的存在就像屋子裡的牆——讓人覺得理所當然,同時又不會引起你太多關注。這同樣是一個非常精彩的比喻。

People were buying milk, or filling their cars with petrol, or even posting letters. And what no one else knew was the appalling weight of the thing they were carrying inside. The superhuman effort it took sometimes to be normal, and a part of things that appeared both easy and everyday. The loneliness of that.

很多人表面上過著非常平靜的生活,但其實除了他們自己,沒有人能夠理解他們內心經歷的掙扎。維持“正常”並不總是一件輕而易舉的事情,但能互相理解的人並不多,所以才有這樣的說法:人生而孤獨。The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry這本書不僅僅文筆優美,書中還涉及到對許多人生問題的探討,相信它們會給你帶來思考與啟發。推薦你去讀一讀這本小說。

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