2020年经济学人 英国小说书评--去布里克斯顿(2)（在线收听）

These "Astorians" comprise not only "fairly conventional male Jewish shopkeepers" with dreams of a racier existence, but some gay and black confederates. A series of escapades, charmingly told if loosely connected, depict Benny and his mates—among them "Maxie the Ganoff" or "thief", "Spanish Joe" and "Fancy Goods Harry"—as they sidestep the law to recapture the "rule-breaking" thrills of their slumland youth. "Benny the Fixer" and his chutzpadik gang nurture Robin Hood fantasies as they raid a crooked jewellers or cheer on the career of "Kid Joey", a half-Jamaican, half-Irish Brixton boxer. They believe a "moral framework" blesses their scams. Not so "Little Jack" Lewis—a big cheese among "South London's more felonious residents", weapons-grade thug and sinister proof that playing at crime may lead swiftly down into darkness.

这些“阿斯托利亚人”不仅包括梦想变得更有活力的“相当传统的犹太男店主”，还包括一些同性恋者和黑人同盟。一系列结构松散但叙述迷人的冒险故事中描述了本尼和他的朋友“马克西·加诺夫”/“小偷”、“西班牙的乔”和“花哨商品哈里”：他们违背法律，重获贫民窟青年的“违规”惊险刺激。“掮客本尼”和他鲁莽的帮派抢劫了一家经营不正当的珠宝店，幻想成为罗宾汉，还为一半牙买加血统、一半爱尔兰血统的布里克斯顿拳击手“小孩乔伊”加油打气。他们相信“道德框架”让他们的骗局能够进行下去。“小杰克”路易斯是“伦敦南部凶恶人群”、武器级恶棍和进行犯罪游戏的邪恶证据中间的重要人物，他可能会迅速坠入黑暗。

Colourful and episodic, "Pomeranski" scatters its stories liberally. A detour to Kingston, Jamaica, gives readers a tantalising glimpse, but no more, of the island's long-settled Jewish community. It might have benefited from a tighter focus on fewer figures, such as near-tragic Sam "the Stick" Golub, crippled in childhood and driven by a "constant quest for revenge". Ultimately, the book endorses Bertha's scorn for the "nonsense" of treating "petty thieving and threatening people as a sort of political stance". Mr Jacobs, though, keeps the mood genial and the yarns flowing. The wheezes of his Astorians add an exuberant shot of yiddishkeit to "the everlasting drama that was Brixton".

多彩而偶发的“波梅兰斯基”把它的故事自由地散布开来。绕道去牙买加金斯敦的路途吊了读者的胃口，但没有让他们看到在这座岛屿定居已久的犹太社区。这可能从对少数人的密切关注中获益，比如悲惨的山姆“棒子”戈卢布在童年时就成了跛子，是“不断追求复仇”的目标使他向前。最终，这本书对伯莎鄙视的“小偷小摸和以政治立场之名来威胁别人”的“一派胡言”表示赞同。尽管如此，雅各布斯先生还是以平和的心态完成了这个故事。他的阿斯托利亚人故事把犹太人的热闹添加到了“布里克斯顿永恒的戏剧”中。