Polly Evans’s itinerary for China was simple: travel by luxurious high-speed train and long-distance bus, glide along the Grand Canal and hike up scenic mountains. Instead, the linguistically impaired adventurer found herself on a primitive sleeper-minibus where sleep was out of the question; perched atop a tiny mule on a remote mountain pass; and attempting a dubious ferry ride down the Yangtze River. Polly was getting to know China in a way she’d never expected–and would never, ever forget.
From battling six-year-olds in kung-fu class to discovering Starbucks in Hangzhou, Polly relives her Asian adventure with humor, enthusiasm, frustration, and determination. Whether she’s viewing the embalmed cadaver of Chairman Mao or drinking yak-butter tea, this is Polly’s eye-opening account of a culture torn between stunning modern architecture and often bizarre ancient mysteries…and of her attempt to solve the ultimate gastronomic conundrum: how exactly does one eat a soft-fried egg with chopsticks
POLLY EVANS is very cowardly and not at all fond of danger. She does, however, have an unfortunate tendency to seek out discomfort and sometimes even downright pain. It was this ugly trait that led her five years ago to throw in her comfortable office job – complete with its twizzly chair and free use of the coffee machine – and to take off on a leg-battering bicycle tour of Spain.
The result of her endeavours was one very sore set of limbs and her first book, It's Not About the Tapas, which was short-listed for the WHSmith People’s Choice Travel Writing award. She indulged in further escapades the following year, this time swapping pedal-power for a motorbike to travel around New Zealand and to write her second book, Kiwis Might Fly. Polly's third book, Fried Eggs with Chopsticks, tells the story of her sometimes-desperate battle to tour China by public transport while On a Hoof and a Prayer sees her learning to ride horses in Argentina.
Polly's journalism has appeared in magazines and newspapers including the Sunday Times, the Times, the Independent on Sunday and the Guardian. In 2006, she won the Independent on Sunday / Bradt Travel Guides travel-writing competition for a piece she wrote about dog-sledding in Canada's Yukon Territory. Read all about it here. She was also the winner in 2005 of the British Guild of Travel Writers' Kenneth Westcott Jones Memorial Award for Best Transport Feature, for a piece she wrote about motorcyling in New Zealand; to read the article, click here. And in 2002 Polly won a Human Rights Press Award for a series of articles she wrote about racism in Hong Kong.
When she’s not on the road, Polly lives in London. She is currently working on her fifth book about dogsledding in Canada's Yukon territory.
评分
评分
评分
评分
我必须承认,这本书的后劲实在太大了,以至于我花了好几天时间才从那种氛围中抽离出来。与其他同类型小说不同的是,它没有提供一个干净利落的结局,没有将所有线头都系上蝴蝶结。相反,它提供了一种近乎开放式的、充满张力的收尾,留下了大量的空间供读者去填补和想象。很多读者可能会抱怨这种“模棱两可”,但我恰恰认为这是作者高明之处。他没有替我们做决定,而是将最终的判断权交给了我们自己。我个人更倾向于书中那个较为悲观的解读路径,但也清楚地看到了另一种充满希望的可能。这种双重性,让这本书具备了极强的重读价值。每一次重读,根据我自身阅历的变化,我似乎都能发现一些之前忽略掉的伏笔或象征意义。比如第一次读时关注的是A的行动,第二次读时才注意到B在角落里那个微不足道的动作,原来那个动作才是关键的指示灯。这完全是一种智力上的享受,需要读者全程保持高度的专注和批判性思维。
评分从装帧设计到内容编排,这本书都透露着一种毫不妥协的匠人精神。我尤其欣赏作者对于时间线处理的巧妙安排。它并非严格遵循线性叙事,而是像一幅精美的挂毯,将不同时间点的场景以一种近乎跳跃的方式编织在一起,但最终所有线索又奇迹般地汇聚到了同一个情感焦点上。这种叙事上的“非线性”,要求读者必须全神贯注,稍不留神就会迷失在时间的迷宫里。此外,书中对“缺失”的描写达到了出神入化的地步——没有出现的东西,比出现的东西更具分量。一个空着的座位、一封从未寄出的信件、一句被咽回去的话,这些“未完成”构成了叙事中最有力量的部分。阅读这本书的过程,与其说是阅读一个故事,不如说是在参与一个复杂的解谜过程,只不过谜底不是谁干的,而是“为什么会变成这样”。它迫使你审视那些我们习以为常的假设,挑战你对既定现实的认知,读完后,你会觉得自己的思维框架被悄悄地拓宽了一点点,这种阅读体验,无价。
评分说实话,我一开始对这种带着强烈地域色彩的作品是持保留态度的,因为很多时候,地方特色会喧宾夺主,让故事本身变得松散。但这本书完全颠覆了我的预期。作者对当地风俗的描绘,不是那种生硬的百科全书式的罗列,而是巧妙地将其融入到角色的日常对话和行为逻辑之中。比如,他们处理某种传统节日祭祀的方式,那些繁琐的仪式感,不仅烘托了气氛,更揭示了隐藏在平静外表下的社会阶层和权力结构。我印象最深的是对“声音”的运用,作者似乎有一种魔力,能让读者“听见”文字。街道上的叫卖声、远处教堂传来的钟声,甚至人物心跳加速时的那种嗡鸣感,都被捕捉得丝丝入扣。阅读过程中,我感觉自己就像是潜伏在人群中的一个观察者,每一个低语、每一个眼神的闪躲都没有逃过我的注意。情节的推进就像剥洋葱,一层层剥开,你以为看到了核心,却发现后面还有更深层次的矛盾。尤其是一些配角的命运,虽然篇幅不多,却描画得入木三分,他们的悲剧性选择,往往是推动主线剧情发展不可或缺的催化剂,让人在掩卷之后依旧久久不能忘怀。
评分这本书的文学性绝对是顶级的,它拒绝简单的娱乐化叙事,更像是一场对存在意义的哲学思辨。它的句子结构复杂多变,时而是短促有力的排比句,营造出紧张的追逐感;时而又变成冗长优雅的长句,如同细密的水流,缓缓铺陈人物的内心挣扎。这种语言上的张弛有度,极大地提升了阅读的层次感。我特别欣赏作者对于“记忆”这一主题的处理。书中多次出现闪回的片段,但每一次的闪回都带着新的解读和视角,仿佛我们对过去的理解总是在不断被修正。这让我开始反思自己生活中那些自以为清晰的片段,是不是也存在被情感扭曲的可能性。更难得的是,尽管主题深刻,作者却从未让文字显得晦涩难懂,他总能用一个极其日常化的比喻,将复杂的概念瞬间点亮。读完后,我甚至产生了一种强烈的冲动,想把书中那些精彩的段落摘抄下来,贴在我的工作桌前,时时提醒自己,好的故事不只是讲述事件,更是构建一种看待世界的全新方式。
评分这本书的封面设计简直是一场视觉的冒险,那种大胆的色彩搭配和略带复古的字体选择,一下子就抓住了我的眼球。我拿到书的时候,就被那种厚重的纸张质感所吸引,读起来非常舒服,翻页的时候甚至能听到轻微的沙沙声,让人联想到老图书馆里那些尘封已久的手稿。故事的开篇节奏把握得极佳,作者并没有急于抛出所有线索,而是用一种近乎散文诗的笔触,缓缓描绘了一个充满迷雾的小镇景象。我特别喜欢其中对光影的处理,比如清晨穿过老橡树叶子的碎金般的光斑,或者午夜时分煤气灯下那些拉长的、扭曲的影子,这些细节的刻画,立刻构建了一个既熟悉又带着一丝诡异的氛围。主角的性格塑造也十分立体,他那种表面上的冷漠和内心深处对真相的渴望形成了强烈的张力,让人忍不住想知道他到底会如何应对接下来的挑战。我当时就在想,这本书的作者一定是对生活有着极其敏锐的观察力,才能捕捉到这些不易察觉的微妙之处。整本书的叙事腔调,从一开始的沉静内敛,到中期逐渐加速,充满了对人性和道德边界的深刻探讨,读到一半时,我甚至停下来,花了十分钟来回味上一章结尾那个令人心悸的转折点。
评分 评分 评分 评分 评分本站所有内容均为互联网搜索引擎提供的公开搜索信息,本站不存储任何数据与内容,任何内容与数据均与本站无关,如有需要请联系相关搜索引擎包括但不限于百度,google,bing,sogou 等
© 2026 book.quotespace.org All Rights Reserved. 小美书屋 版权所有