Three classic works—including the virtuosic Revolutionary Road, soon to be a major motion picture—that exemplify the remarkable gifts of this great American master.
Richard Yates’s first novel, Revolutionary Road is the unforgettable portrait of a marriage built on dreams that tragically never come to fruition. In The Easter Parade, he tells the story of two sisters whose parents’ divorce overshadows their entire lives. And in the stories in Eleven Kinds of Loneliness, we witness men and women striving for better lives amid discouragement and disillusion.
Richard Yates shone bright upon the publication of his first novel, Revolutionary Road, which was nominated for the National Book Award in 1961. It drew unbridled praise and branded Yates an important, new writer. Kurt Vonnegut claimed that Revolutionary Road was The Great Gatsby of his time. William Sytron described it as "A deft, ironic, beautiful novel that deserves to be a classic." Tennessee Williams went one further and said, "Here is more than fine writing; here is what, added to fine writing, makes a book come immediately, intensely, and brilliantly alive. If more is needed to make a masterpiece in modern American fiction, I am sure I don't know what it is."
In 1962 Eleven Kinds of Loneliness was published, his first collection of short stories. It too had praise heaped upon it. Kurt Vonnegut said it was "the best short-story collection ever written by an American."
Yates' writing skills were further utilized when, upon returning from Los Angeles, he began working as a speechwriter for then-Senator Robert F. Kennedy until the assassination of JFK. From there he moved onto Iowa where, as a creative writing teacher, he would influence and inspire writers such as Andre Dubus and Dewitt Henry.
His third novel, Disturbing the Peace, was published in 1975. Perhaps his second most well-known novel, The Easter Parade, was published in 1976. The story follows the lives of the Grimes sisters and ends in typical Yatesian fashion, replicating the disappointed lives of Revolutionary Road.
However, Yates began to find himself as a writer cut adrift in a sea fast turning towards postmodernism; yet, he would stay true to realism. His heroes and influences remained the classics of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Flaubert and short-story master, Chekov.
It was to his school and army days that Richard turned to for his next novel, A Good School, which was quickly followed by his second collection of short stories, Liars in Love. Young Hearts Crying emerged in 1984 followed two years later with Cold Spring Harbour, which would prove to be his final completed novel.
Like the fate of his hero, Flaubert, whose novel Madame Bovary influenced Revolutionary Road and The Easter Parade, Richard Yates' works are enjoying a posthumous renaissance, attracting newly devoted fans across the Atlantic and beyond.
评分
评分
评分
评分
读完这本作品,我的脑海里挥之不去的是一种近乎古典悲剧的美感,尽管它的背景设定在相对现代的语境中。那种宏大叙事下,个体命运的渺小与挣扎,被作者用一种近乎冷峻的笔调描绘出来。我特别欣赏作者在环境描写上所展现出的功力,那些关于郊区生活、关于中产阶级僵硬礼仪的片段,不仅仅是背景板,它们本身就是一种无形的、强大的塑造力量,挤压着人物的生存空间。文学的张力在那些看似平静的日常场景中酝酿爆发,如同一个高压锅,你明知道它迟早会释放蒸汽,但蒸汽释放的方式和力量,却远超你的想象。这种叙事上的克制与爆发力的对比,是此书最引人入胜的结构特点之一。它迫使我们直面一个令人不舒服的真相:有时候,最大的敌人并非外部的压迫,而是我们自己对“平庸”的默认接受。这种对存在主义困境的深刻挖掘,让这本书超越了单纯的小说范畴,更像是一份对现代人精神状态的深度报告。
评分这本书带给我的是一种强烈的、几乎是生理上的不适感,但这种不适恰恰是阅读优秀文学的标志之一。作者对“期望值”与“现实落差”之间的巨大鸿沟的捕捉,精准得令人心寒。故事中的角色,每个人似乎都在追逐着一个由社会、家庭或历史强加给他们的“完美剧本”,然而,当他们试图按剧本行动时,却发现剧本本身就是残缺不全的,或者说,是根本不适合自己的。我尤其留意了作者如何处理时间流逝的问题,那种对青春的追忆和对中年危机的焦虑,被编织进日常的琐碎对话和场景中,毫不生硬。例如,一次不经意的眼神交流,一次没有说出口的辩解,都像是时间投下的阴影,预示着即将到来的转折。它探讨的“革命性”并非政治上的推翻重建,而是个体在面对既定生活模式时,内心深处那场悄无声息、却足以颠覆整个世界的思想地震。
评分这部作品最让我震撼的,是它对“沟通失效”这一主题的深刻挖掘。角色们生活在同一个屋檐下,却像是生活在两个完全平行的宇宙中,他们尝试表达,但语言却像穿过迷雾的信号,失真、扭曲,最终被对方完全误读。作者巧妙地运用了场景的对比——在光鲜亮丽的外表下,隐藏着的是沟通的真空地带和情感的荒漠。我特别欣赏作者对潜文本的构建能力,那些没有说出口的话语,那些眼神的闪躲,往往比直接的陈述更有力量。它迫使读者必须成为一个积极的参与者,去填补对话之间的巨大空白,去揣摩人物隐藏的动机。这本书并非提供心灵鸡汤式的慰藉,它像一把手术刀,精准地切开了现代社会中亲密关系最脆弱的部位——相互的误解与各自的坚持。阅读过程,如同置身于一场无声的对峙,直到最后一页,那种压抑的情绪才得到某种形式的释放,但那释放带来的,更多是释然,而非简单的解脱。
评分我必须承认,初读此书时,我对故事的推进速度感到一丝不耐烦,但随着深入,我领悟到这种缓慢的、近乎散文化的节奏,正是作者刻意营造的氛围。它模仿了现实生活的质感——那些重要的转折往往不是在雷霆万钧中发生的,而是在无数个平淡无奇的下午,由一系列微不足道的决定累积而成。这本书的语言风格有一种冷峻的诗意,它不试图讨好读者,而是坚持用最准确的词汇去描摹人物复杂且矛盾的情感光谱。书中对于某些特定社会阶层的描绘,有着极强的纪实感,让人不禁联想到历史文献的严谨性,但这又被极富想象力的内心独白所打破,形成了一种奇特的张力。读罢,我感觉自己像是刚刚经历了一场漫长而疲惫的旅程,虽然身心俱疲,但眼界却被拓宽了,对人性的复杂性有了更深刻的理解,尤其是那种“错过了就再也回不去了”的宿命感,被展现得淋漓尽致。
评分这本小说以其深邃的人性洞察力,将我牢牢地吸引住,久久不能忘怀。它不仅仅是一个关于家庭、婚姻或社会变迁的故事,更像是一面映照我们内心深处不安与渴望的镜子。作者的笔触细腻入微,对人物内心世界的刻画达到了令人心惊的地步。那些细微的情绪波动、那些在日常琐碎中被压抑的梦想和挣扎,都被毫不留情地揭示出来。我仿佛能亲身感受到主角们在那个特定时代背景下所经历的种种困境——那种被周遭环境塑造、最终又不得不与其抗争的无力感。叙事节奏的张弛有度,时而如春日暖阳般温暖,时而又像深秋的寒风般凛冽,让人在阅读过程中始终保持着高度的紧张感和代入感。尤其是一些关键场景的对话,寥寥数语,却蕴含着千言万语,需要读者反复咀嚼才能体会其背后的深层含义。这本书的伟大之处在于,它不提供简单的答案或和解,而是将那些复杂、矛盾的人性议题摊开在我们面前,逼迫我们去思考:在既定的“轨道”上,我们是否真的选择了自己想要的人生?那种对“未曾选择的道路”的永恒缅怀和遗憾,才是真正刺痛人心的部分。
评分看的心惊胆战,我多怕我会变成Frank。
评分革命之路。
评分最近想要了解婚姻和“年华老去”这一主题,就读了《复活节游行》,如我所期待的细腻而冷静的文字,却没有中文版简介所说的那种绝望;渗透在字里行间的是一种无可救药的认命——或者说,许多种无可救药的认命——以为反抗、或者顺从、或者什么别的,会带来救赎,却不能轻易地去责备她们只是不够幸运。也在留白处勾画了一个女性在早期追求平等和自由时的挣扎。最后一本的短篇只看了三部,开始意识到写作风格和语言的重复时就停住了,也不太习惯过重的南方口音和用语中意图表达的那种风貌。
评分每个人物的命运似乎都是注定了的...太心疼Emily
评分最近想要了解婚姻和“年华老去”这一主题,就读了《复活节游行》,如我所期待的细腻而冷静的文字,却没有中文版简介所说的那种绝望;渗透在字里行间的是一种无可救药的认命——或者说,许多种无可救药的认命——以为反抗、或者顺从、或者什么别的,会带来救赎,却不能轻易地去责备她们只是不够幸运。也在留白处勾画了一个女性在早期追求平等和自由时的挣扎。最后一本的短篇只看了三部,开始意识到写作风格和语言的重复时就停住了,也不太习惯过重的南方口音和用语中意图表达的那种风貌。
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