凯瑟琳•克莱斯曼•泰勒(Kathrine Kressmann Taylor, 1903—1996)
被誉为“撼动美国文坛的女作家”。泰勒是美国宾夕法尼亚州盖茨堡大学第一位获得终身教职的女性。她一生完成了三部小说和十余篇短篇小说。
Address Unknown (1938)
(The title is actually a mistranslation of the term "Adressat unbekannt," which is marked on the last envelope. The correct translation of "Adressat" is "addressee," not "address"; which is much more in keeping with the plot of the story.) It is the story of two German friends and business partners, art dealers in San Francisco. Martin, a gentile, returns with his family to Germany, exhilarated by the advances in the old country since the humiliation of the Great War. The Jewish partner, Max, remains in the States to keep the business going. The story is told entirely in letters between them, from 1932 to 1934, the technique used in 84 Charing Cross Road.
Martin writes about the wonderful Third Reich and this fellow Hitler. At first Max is covetous: "How I envy you! ... You go to a democratic Germany, a land with a deep culture and the beginnings of a fine political freedom."
But Max soon doubts his friend’s enthusiasm, having heard from eyewitnesses who got out of Berlin that Jews were being beaten and their businesses boycotted. Martin responds, telling Max that, while they may be good friends, everybody knows that Jews have been the universal scapegoats, and "a few must suffer for the millions to be saved."
"This Jew trouble is only an incident," Martin says. "Something bigger is happening." Nonetheless, he asks Max to stop writing to him. If a letter were intercepted, he (Martin) would lose his official position and he and his family would be endangered.
Max writes anyhow when his own sister, an actress in Berlin, goes missing. He becomes frantic to learn her fate. Martin responds on bank stationery (less likely to be inspected) and tells Max his sister is dead. He admits that he turned Griselle away when she came to him, her brother’s dearest friend, for sanctuary.
There is a gap of about a month. After that, Max starts writing letters to Martin at home, carrying only what looks like business and remarks about the weather, but written as though they have a hidden encoded meaning, with strange references to exact dimensions of pictures and so on. The letters refer to "our grandmother" and imply that Martin is also Jewish. The letters from Munich to San Francisco get shorter and more panicky, begging Max to stop: "My God, Max, do you know what you do? ... These letters you have sent ... are not delivered, but they bring me in and ... demand I give them the code ... I beg you, Max, no more, no more! Stop while I can be saved."
But Max continues: "Prepare these for distribution by March 24th: Rubens 12 by 77, blue; Giotto 1 by 317, green and white; Poussin 20 by 90, red and white."
At last a letter is returned to Max, stamped: Adressat unbekannt. Addressee Unknown.
The book’s "Afterword," lovingly written by Mrs. Taylor’s son, says that the idea for her story came from a small news article: American students in Germany wrote home with the truth about the Nazi atrocities, a truth most Americans, including Charles Lindbergh, would not accept. Fraternity brothers thought it would be funny to send them letters making fun of Hitler, and they wrote back, "Stop it. We’re in danger. These people don’t fool around. You could murder [someone] by writing letters to him." Thus emerged the idea of "letter as weapon" or "murder by mail."
Address Unknown was performed as a stage play in France, 2001, in Israel from 2002 (still running) and at the Promenade Theater, New York, 2004. It has also been performed in Germany, Italy, Turkey,Argentina, South Africa and in various cities of the USA.
Address Unknown (Cimzett Ismeretlen) premieres on the stage of Spinoza Haz in Budapest, Hungary on September 6, 2008.
五十多页一波三折,只是几封短短的通信,但却能让人从中看出玄机,看出一身冷汗。 全书的两次查无此人,丝丝入扣。压抑的政治环境、友情的微妙变化、为爱情牺牲的少女、出人意料的结局,错综复杂的人性...... “人性就是在一定社会制度和一定历史条件下形成的人的本性。”人性...
评分故事很短,但沉重得让人窒息,真实得让人落泪。 只是几封短短的通信,但却能让人从中看出玄机,看出一身冷汗。 一波三折,马丁和麦克斯都发生了改变。马丁被纳粹洗脑,被生活逼迫到冷血无情;麦克斯因格里塞尔的死激发出内心最恐怖的恶魔,变成了他最反对的施暴的样子。两次...
评分 评分搬家的时候清理旧物,翻出了小学到初中的信件与贺卡。信封微黄,贺卡褪色,写信人已杳无音讯,收件人已物是人非。只是重读的时候便在感慨,曾经单纯而真挚的你我何时才能重现? 寄过信件的我们知晓,当收件人错误或者无法联系时,便会退回然后写上“查无此人”之类的 话语。时...
评分短短40分钟,认真读完。 当翻到“查无此人“页面时。 犹如一扇厚厚的铁门!哐当!关上了所有未来。 不得不仔细再次推敲一封封书信,闭上眼设身处地地幻想,惶恐、绝望、渴求……纸上依稀浮现。 真实的书信,黑色的邮戳,如此真实的反应,对二位主人公的心里变化确实感到震撼,...
結局很震撼,超難忘……世界真黑暗……
评分的确很短,也很精彩。马丁为什么在间接害死老友妹妹(曾经的恋人)后,还奢求老友能放过他?答案只能是,他相信自己没做错,相信曾经的恋人该死。对比看路西法实验,人本质上大概真的是从众也爱权威的。
评分還以為是為了避免censorship才寫了歌頌hitler的話 沒想到. 後續發展也很是厲害. 1938年第一次發表 80年後看還是很讓人警醒.
评分的确很短,也很精彩。马丁为什么在间接害死老友妹妹(曾经的恋人)后,还奢求老友能放过他?答案只能是,他相信自己没做错,相信曾经的恋人该死。对比看路西法实验,人本质上大概真的是从众也爱权威的。
评分結局很震撼,超難忘……世界真黑暗……
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
© 2025 book.quotespace.org All Rights Reserved. 小美书屋 版权所有