From Publishers Weekly Veteran writer Poyer triumphs in a powerful tale of an underdog hero fighting against an invincible robber baron. In strong, supple prose that propels a tension-filled narrative, he captures the revolutionary spirit behind the struggle against near-slave-labor conditions for workers?many of them immigrants?in a giant oil consortium in western Pennsylvania during the bitter winter of 1936. Bill Halvorsen is a promising boxer hired as a driller by Dan Thunner, the owner of Thunder Oil Company and a local boxing league. Bill is courting Jennie, a Slovakian Catholic immigrant, and trying to prove to her family that he's husband material with a steady job, when an explosion at a Thunder refinery exposes the lack of safety regulations that lead to the gruesome deaths of five men, including his fiancee's young brother. Using stark detail, Poyer depicts the conditions of employees with no security or safety protection, subject to wage cuts to subsistence level pay when profits were threatened. Halvorsen sparks a brief walkout, catching the attention of the CIO, and Doris Golden, a strike organizer with secret Communist ties, is sent to unionize the oil industry, starting with Thunder. The movement gains momentum until a professional strike buster, Pearl Deatherage, convinces Thunner that brute force and political briberies will smash the workers' revolt. The ruthless Deatherage pushes Thunner further into the scab market, leading to murders that are blamed on the strikers. Then Bill comes up with a desperate plan. The terrifying denouement further illuminates the complexities of the workers' plight, yet there's not one scene of gratuitous violence in a novel full of violent death. Poyer's (As the Wolf Loves Winter) pitch-perfect dialogue and explosive imagery capture both sides of the bloody battle that gave birth to the unions. This is a stunning period tale in which the oft-forgotten essence of the American dream is visible in every chapter. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal A fiery accident at a Pennsylvania oil refinery in 1935 inspires the workers at Thunder Oil Company to strike. During a bitterly cold winter in the depths of the Depression, workers are desperate for decent food, better wages, warm housing, and fair treatment from management. When a ruthless professional strikebreaker and a CIO organizer with thinly veiled Communist sympathies join the dispute, the strike escalates to betrayal, sabotage, and murder. Poyer (As the Wolf Loves Winter, LJ 3/15/96) presents the story from many points of view, focusing on a young strike leader, the union organizer, the strikebreaker, and the oil company owner. No one is completely right, fair, honest, or loyal to his cause as the strike changes the lives of every person in the county. This fourth installment in Poyer's "Hemlock County" series, reminiscent of Steinbeck's Depression-era novels, is violent, touching, and incredibly sad as the story careens to its explosive conclusion. Highly recommended for larger fiction collections.AKaren Anderson, Superior Court Law Lib., PhoenixCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. See all Editorial Reviews
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老实说,我通常不太喜欢这种叙事跳跃性很大的作品,总觉得抓不住重点。但这本书成功地颠覆了我的固有印象。它不像传统小说那样按部就班地铺陈情节,而是像一幅被打乱了时间轴的壁画,你需要自己去拼凑那些散落的碎片,才能看到全貌。这种阅读体验初看或许有些吃力,但一旦适应了作者的节奏,你会发现每一个看似无关紧要的场景,都在后续的章节中找到了精妙的落点,那种“原来如此”的恍然大悟感,是阅读其他作品时难以获得的巨大满足。尤其是作者对环境氛围的渲染,简直是教科书级别的。无论是描写边境地带的凛冽寒风,还是描绘都城奢靡腐朽的黄昏景象,都充满了强烈的画面感和听觉冲击力。我感觉自己能闻到羊皮纸和旧蜡烛的味道,能听到盔甲碰撞的声响。它不仅仅是一个故事,更像是一场精心设计的、多感官参与的沉浸式剧场。
评分这本书最让我印象深刻的地方,在于它对“记忆”和“遗忘”的哲学探讨,写得极其深刻而富有诗意。故事中有一条暗线,是关于历史如何被篡改,真相如何在时间的洪流中被稀释、被重塑的。主角们为了维护某种信念或地位,不断地与过去的幽灵搏斗,试图定义“真实”。作者的文笔非常冷峻,带着一种近乎冰冷的精确性去剖析这些概念,但同时又夹杂着一股无法抑制的悲悯情怀。有一段关于失落文明遗迹的描写,仅仅用了几段话,却构建出一种宏大而又令人心碎的末世美学,让我久久不能忘怀。我甚至觉得,这本书的语言本身就构成了一种独特的艺术形式,它毫不费力地在简洁的句子和华丽的排比之间切换自如,完美地匹配了不同场景下的情绪张力。对于那些喜欢在小说中寻找形而上思考的读者来说,这本书绝对是不可多得的珍品。
评分我得承认,我是在朋友的极力推荐下才翻开的,原本以为会是一部晦涩难懂的“严肃文学”,但实际上,它的情节驱动力强得惊人。它拥有史诗般的格局,但讲述故事的方式却异常贴近地面,充满着烟火气。你看到的不是高高在上的神祇或英雄,而是那些在泥泞中挣扎求生的小人物,他们有最朴素的愿望——吃饱穿暖,保护家人——但却被卷入了时代巨轮的碾压之下。作者对底层人物心理状态的捕捉尤其精准,那种对命运的无力感和偶尔迸发出的反抗火花,描绘得极其真实可信。我特别喜欢其中关于一个民间工匠家族的故事线,他们的手艺和技艺,竟然成了对抗腐朽权力的无声武器。这种将宏大叙事与微观情感完美融合的写法,使得整部作品既有深度,又不失阅读的畅快感,完全没有拖沓之处。
评分这本书的结构设计堪称精妙绝伦,它巧妙地采用了多线叙事,并且不断地在不同的时间点之间跳跃,就像一个经验丰富的指挥家在掌控着一支庞大的交响乐团。每一个声部(即每一条故事线)都有其独立的高潮和转折,但它们最终汇聚在一起时,所产生的共鸣效果是震撼人心的。我特别欣赏作者处理视角转换的方式。有时我们从一个局外人的全知视角审视全局,下一刻又瞬间被拉进某个角色的第一人称内心世界,这种强烈的代入感,极大地增强了故事的戏剧张力。更难能可贵的是,尽管人物众多,背景复杂,作者却从未让读者感到迷失。每一次视角切换,都像是为解开一个谜团提供了新的关键线索。读完最后一部分,我几乎是带着一种失重感合上的书本,仿佛刚刚结束了一段漫长而又刻骨铭心的旅程,那种余韵久久不散,让人忍不住想立刻重读一遍,去捕捉那些第一次匆忙中错过的伏笔。
评分这本小说简直是文字的盛宴,作者的叙事技巧高超到令人咋舌。我必须承认,起初我对这种篇幅宏大的历史架空题材是抱有疑虑的,总担心情节会失控,人物会扁平化。然而,从翻开第一页开始,我就被卷入了一个极其细腻、结构复杂的权力斗争漩涡之中。故事的核心冲突并非简单的善恶对决,而是不同意识形态和生存哲学之间不可调和的张力。书中对那个虚构王国的政治生态描写得入木三分,从高耸入云的宫殿阴谋到街头巷尾的窃窃私语,每一个细节都服务于构建一个真实可信的社会肌理。尤其是关于“信誉”和“忠诚”的探讨,作者并没有给出简单的答案,而是通过几位主角的悲剧性选择,展现了在极端环境下,人性的复杂与摇摆。阅读过程中,我常常需要停下来,回味那些充满哲理性的对话,它们如同淬了火的利刃,直指人性的幽暗与光辉。那种沉浸式的体验,仿佛我不是在阅读,而是在那个时代亲身经历了这一切的起伏跌宕,为书中人物的每一次抉择感到揪心和无奈。
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