2020年经济学人 《冰岛小姐》书评--美丽的线条(1)

Books & arts

文艺板块

Book review

书评

Icelandic fiction

冰岛小说

Lines of beauty

美丽的线条

Miss Iceland.

冰岛小姐

By Audur Ava Olafsdottir.

作者：奥杜尔·阿瓦·奥拉夫斯多蒂尔

One of iceland’s most celebrated¹ authors, Audur Ava Olafsdottir writes quirky and beguiling² fiction about people who leave familiar environments, venture into the unknown and end up learning more about themselves than about their new surroundings. In “Butterflies in November”, a woman turns her back on her worries and heads off with her best friend’s deaf-mute son, her three goldfish and her recent lottery³ winnings on a zany yet enlightening Icelandic road-trip. In the grittier “Hotel Silence”, a suicidal man books a one-way flight to a war-torn country, but instead of fulfilling his death-wish acquires a fresh lease of life.

奥杜尔·阿瓦·奥拉夫斯多蒂尔是冰岛最著名的作家之一，她写了很多离奇而迷人的小说，讲述了人们离开自己熟悉的环境，并冒险进入未知世界，最终，人们探索了新的环境，并对自己产生了更深刻的认知。在《Butterflies in November》一书中，一位妇女撇开自己的担心，带着自己最好的朋友的聋哑儿子、三条金鱼以及最近中奖的彩票奖金，踏上了一次滑稽可笑又发人深省的冰岛公路旅行。在标榜着勇气的《Hotel Silence》一书中，一位想要自杀的男子订了一张前往战乱国家的单程机票，但他并没有实现自己死亡的愿望，反而获得了新生。

In “Miss Iceland”, her latest novel to appear in English—smoothly translated by Brian FitzGibbon—the protagonist⁴ embarks⁵ on a journey of self-discovery when she moves from her sparsely⁶ populated home region to the capital. Her attempts to settle down in a big city and achieve her ambitions in a conservative world make for an absorbing, bittersweet tale.

《冰岛小姐》是她最新的英文小说，由布莱恩·菲茨吉本翻译，主人公从人烟稀少的家乡搬到首都，踏上了自我发现的旅程。她试图在一个大城市安顿下来，在一个保守的世界里实现自己的抱负，这是一个引人入胜、苦乐参半的故事。

Hekla arrives in Reykjavik in 1963 with grand plans to become a writer. Almost immediately she is offered a different kind of opportunity. A board member of the Reykjavik Beauty Society tells her it is looking for “unattached maidens⁷, sublimely⁸ endowed with both clean-limbedness and comeliness” to participate in the Miss Iceland contest. Hekla declines, but quickly learns that men call the shots and value her looks more than her literary talent.

1963年，赫克拉带着成为一名作家的宏伟计划来到了雷克雅未克。她几乎立刻就得到了一个与众不同的机会。雷克雅未克美容协会的一位董事会成员，告诉她该协会正在寻找“拥有干净的肢体和美丽的外表的独身少女”，参加冰岛小姐的比赛。赫克拉谢绝了，但很快就发现男人们说了算，而且他们更加看重她的长相，而不是她的文学才华。

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 beguiling   

adj.欺骗的，诱人的v.欺骗( beguile的现在分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等）

参考例句：

• Her beauty was beguiling. 她美得迷人。
• His date was curvaceously beguiling. 他约会是用来欺骗女性的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

4 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

5 embarks   

乘船( embark的第三人称单数 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• Patricia is a free-spirited girl who embarks on an erotic odyssey. 翠茜亚是个任性少女、毅然踏上一次性爱之旅。
• Passenger train driver: Punctually embarks. 客车司机：准时出发。

6 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 maidens   

处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• Transplantation is not always successful in the matter of flowers or maidens. 花儿移栽往往并不成功，少女们换了环境也是如此。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

8 sublimely   

高尚地，卓越地

参考例句：

• In devotion woman is sublimely superior to man. 怜悯是女子胜过男子的德性之一。
• She was sublimely unaware of how foolish she looked. 她根本不知道她的样子多愚蠢。