Akenfield

基本信息

Series:Penguin Modern Classics

Format:Paperback / softback 288 pages

Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd

Imprint:Penguin Classics

ISBN:9780141187921

Published:28 Jul 2005

Weight:220g

Dimensions:195 x 129 x 17 (mm)

頁面參數僅供參考，具體以實物為準

書籍簡介

1967年夏天，散文家羅納德·布萊斯（Ronald Blythe）騎着自行車閒逛在英國薩福克郡的Charsfield，那兒是伊普斯威奇以北十英里的一個小村莊。每遇見一個當地人，不管是鐵匠、蹄鐵匠、牛奶工還是護士，布萊斯都會停下來和他們聊聊天。他們告訴布萊斯如何用茅草蓋屋頂，怎樣扎稻草人，以及為什麼牛皮是製作馬具的最好材料。“鄉村永遠是這個樣子，”在果園幹活的工頭艾倫·米頓解釋説，“你什麼時候來這兒，都是這一羣人，也都是差不多的想法。他們並不想要打破自己生活的慣性。”

以這些採訪為基礎，布萊斯完成了《埃肯菲爾德》（Akenfield）一書，這本口述史雖然虛構了地名和人名，卻將村莊裏的故事和當地人的話永久地保存了下來。1969年出版時，《埃肯菲爾德》被當作是獻給英國封建時代的最後輓歌。而半個世紀過去，書中描述的場景卻早已物是人非。聯合收割機將農田破壞，車輪和鞍具被時代淘汰，如今的鄉村經濟發展只能仰仗外來人口，21世紀的埃肯菲爾德不得不丟掉過去的老黃曆了——如果它曾被困在其中故步自封的話。

阿肯菲爾德通過對農業、教育、福利、階級、宗教和死亡的深刻洞察，形成了一種獨特的生活方式的文獻，而這種生活方式在很多方面已經消失了。

This colourful, perceptive portrayal of English country life reverberates with the voices of the village inhabitants, from the reminiscences of survivors of the Great War evoking days gone by, to the concerns of a younger generation of farm-workers and the fascinating and personal recollections of, among others, the local schoolteacher, doctor, blacksmith, saddler, district nurse and magistrate. Providing insights into farming, education, welfare, class, religion and death, Akenfield forms a unique document of a way of life that has, in many ways, disappeared.

作者簡介

Ronald Blythe has written poetry, short stories, history and literary criticism, much of it reflecting his East Anglian background. He is the author of A Treasonable Growth, The Age of Illusion and The View in Winter and the editor of The Penguin Book of Diaries. His work has been translated and has received a number of literary awards.