Written on the brink of World War II, Rebecca West’s classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia illuminates a region that is still a focus of international concern. A magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon probes the troubled history of the Balkans and the uneasy relationships among its ethnic groups. The landscape and the people of Yugoslavia are brilliantly observed as West untangles the tensions that rule the country’s history as well as its daily life.
Amazon.com Review
Part travelogue, part history, part love letter on a thousand-page scale, Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is a genre-bending masterwork written in elegant prose. But what makes it so unlikely to be confused with any other book of history, politics, or culture--with, in fact, any other book--is its unashamed depth of feeling: think The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire crossed with Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. West visited Yugoslavia for the first time in 1936. What she saw there affected her so much that she had to return--partly, she writes, because it most resembled "the country I have always seen between sleeping and waking," and partly because "it was like picking up a strand of wool that would lead me out of a labyrinth in which, to my surprise, I had found myself immured." Black Lamb is the chronicle of her travels, but above all it is West following that strand of wool: through countless historical digressions; through winding narratives of battles, slavery, and assassinations; through Shakespeare and Augustine and into the very heart of human frailty.
West wrote on the brink of World War II, when she was "already convinced of the inevitability of the second Anglo-German war." The resulting book is colored by that impending conflict, and by West's search for universals amid the complex particulars of Balkan history. In the end, she saw the region's doom--and our own--in a double infatuation with sacrifice, the "black lamb and grey falcon" of her title. It's the story of Abraham and Isaac without the last-minute reprieve: those who hate are all too ready to martyr the innocent in order to procure their own advantage, and the innocent themselves are all too eager to be martyred. To West, in 1941, "the whole world is a vast Kossovo, an abominable blood-logged plain." Unfortunately, little has happened since then to prove her wrong. --Mary Park --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
老规矩,1是原文,2是原译文,3是我的翻译。 1. “Her question made me remember that the word ‘idiot’ comes from a Greek root meaning private person. Idiocy is the female defect: intent on their private lives, women follow their fate through a darkness deep ...
评分 评分文 / 何怀宏(北京大学哲学系教授) 很少有一位作者为自己访问时间并不多的一个异邦写下这么多文字,而且这些文字还变成了传世的经典。写出两大卷《论美国的民主》的法国思想家托克维尔是罕见的一位,写出三大卷南斯拉夫文化游记的《黑羊与灰鹰》的英国女作家丽贝卡·韦斯特也...
评分为什么一个欧洲记者要几次三番地踏上巴尔干的土地,在战火纷飞的岁月去关注那些极平凡琐碎的事?即使今天,丽贝卡•韦斯特的《黑羊与灰鹰:巴尔干六百年,一次苦难与希望的探索之旅》一书已负盛名,要重复她的行旅仍令人感到疲乏和忧心。我们一面留心着“欧洲火药桶”,一面...
评分作为一部人文历史的游记文学作品,英国作者丽贝卡·韦斯特以其三次漫长之旅的深入考察和细腻笔触,全方位地梳理了巴尔干半岛历史上缘于民族、宗教和地缘等因素的内外政治纠葛、历史恩怨、民族分合与军事冲突。同时介绍了巴尔干的自然风光、历史遗迹、文化遗产、人文历史、民风...
这本小册子,拿到手上就让人感到一种沉甸甸的质感,纸张的纹理粗粝而真实,仿佛能触摸到那些遥远年代的尘土。它的装帧设计朴素得近乎寡淡,没有时下流行的华丽封面插图,只有简洁的留白和古朴的字体,这反而形成了一种强大的引力,让人忍不住想一探究竟。我原本以为这会是一本晦涩难懂的学术著作,毕竟涉及的历史背景和地域风情都相当陌生,但翻开扉页后,那种扑面而来的叙事节奏感立刻将我拉入了作者构建的世界。行文如同一条蜿蜒的河流,时而湍急,时而平静,充满了对细节的执着捕捉。它不是那种一目了然的畅销书,它要求读者慢下来,去品味那些隐藏在字里行间的文化密码和历史的厚重感。阅读过程中,我常常需要停下来,查阅一些背景资料,但这并没有带来阅读的疲惫,反而更像是在一位博学的老友带领下,进行一次深度的文化探险。那种通过文字构建出的氛围,是如此立体而有层次感,让人仿佛能闻到空气中弥漫的香料气息和古老石墙上的苔藓味。
评分坦白说,这本书的阅读门槛并不低,它需要读者具备一定的耐心和对陌生地域文化的好奇心。初读时,我确实感到有些吃力,那些错综复杂的地名和历史事件让人应接不暇,一度让我怀疑自己是否能跟上作者的思路。但正是这种“挑战性”,构成了它独特的魅力。它拒绝提供廉价的消遣,而是提供了一场智力与情感的双重洗礼。随着阅读的深入,我开始体会到作者在知识的海洋中航行时所展现出的那种老练和自信。她似乎总能在最恰当的时候,引述一段恰如其分的文献或传说,来佐证她当下的观察,使得整个论述结构变得异常坚实。这种知识的融会贯通,没有丝毫的炫耀感,完全服务于她想要呈现的那个真实而多面的世界。读完之后,留下的不是一个简单结论,而是一串串待解的、引人深思的问题,激发了更深层次的求知欲。
评分从文学技巧的角度来看,这本书的结构安排堪称大师级。它没有采用线性的时间推进,而是采取了一种螺旋上升的叙事方式,旧的元素会不断以新的面貌在不同的章节中重现,但每一次重现,都伴随着视角和理解的深化。这种重复与变化的设计,极大地增强了主题的密度和回响。我特别喜欢作者对对话的处理,那些引用的民间语言和对话片段,充满了地方色彩,被精准地置入叙事流中,既保留了其原始的野性,又通过后来的阐释,使其内涵得以清晰展现。读完此书,我感觉自己的知识地图被重新绘制了,原先模糊不清的区域被细致地标注了出来,而那些原本以为熟悉的区域,也因新的参照物而焕发出了不同的光彩。这是一次对阅读习惯的挑战,更是一次精神上的富足之旅,它提供了一种看待世界的全新透镜。
评分这本书的叙事视角非常独特,它巧妙地在宏大的历史脉络和极其个人化的观察之间进行着自由穿梭。我尤其欣赏作者在描绘那些地域风光时所展现出的那种近乎于诗意的精准。她不仅仅是在记录“看到了什么”,更是在传达“感受到了什么”。比如,对某一处沙漠光影变化的描绘,那种细腻到令人心惊的笔触,让人完全可以想象出太阳是如何缓慢地吞噬地平线,留下无尽的、带着赭石色的苍凉。更难得的是,作者没有采取居高临下的审视姿态,而是以一种近乎谦卑的姿态去接触和理解那些她所记录的对象。这种尊重和共情,使得书中的人物形象,无论大小,都拥有了鲜活的生命力,他们不再是历史教科书上的符号,而是有着自己喜怒哀乐的个体。阅读体验像是在听一首精心编排的交响乐,高低起伏,层次分明,每一个音符(每一个段落)都有其存在的必要性,共同烘托出一种复杂而迷人的整体意境。
评分如果用一个词来形容这本书给我的整体感受,那便是“疏离中的亲密”。作者以一个局外人的身份进入了那个特定的文化环境,她的观察是冷静且客观的,这一点从她克制的用词中可以清晰地感受到。然而,正是这种恰到好处的距离感,让她得以捕捉到常人可能忽略的那些微妙的张力——旧与新、传统与现代、信仰与世俗之间的微妙碰撞。书中对仪式和日常琐事的描绘,堪称一绝,它捕捉到了生命最本质的那种循环往复的韵律。那些看似不起眼的日常细节,被赋予了强烈的象征意义,仿佛透过微小的镜片,折射出了整个时代的侧影。它不是一本轻松愉快的读物,它沉重,但它的沉重是值得的,因为它让我们得以窥见人类经验的复杂性与韧性。每一次翻页,都像是在进行一次精神上的“抽丝剥茧”。
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