名著推薦：13本書讓你讀懂古巴

Cuba: A Reading List

13本書讓你讀懂古巴

In the wake of President Obama’s announcement on Wednesday that the United States would restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba, we asked editors at The Times to suggest books that offer the best looks at Cuba’s history and its relationship to the United States. Here are a few of their recommendations:

星期三，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)宣布美國(guó)與古巴全面恢復(fù)外交關(guān)系，于是我們邀請(qǐng)《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的編輯們推薦一些關(guān)于古巴歷史與美古關(guān)系的最佳書籍。下面是其中若干推薦。

“Before Night Falls” by Reinaldo Arenas

《黑夜降臨之前》(Before Night Falls)，雷納爾多·阿瑞納斯(Reinaldo Arenas)著

Mr. Arenas was persecuted in Cuba for his writings and for being gay, and eventually fled to the United States. He committed suicide in New York in 1990, at 47. “Before Night Falls,” his autobiography, was later made into a film starring Javier Bardem. In The New York Times Book Review, Roberto González Echevarría wrote: “Anyone who feels the temptation to be lenient in judging Castro’s government should first read this passionate and beautifully written book.”

阿瑞納斯因其作品和同性戀身份而在古巴遭到迫害，最終逃到美國(guó)。1990年，他在紐約自殺身亡，享年47歲。《黑夜降臨之前》是他的自傳，后來(lái)被改編為電影，由哈維爾·巴登(Javier Bardem)主演。在《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》書評(píng)版上，羅伯托·貢扎雷·艾克瓦利亞(Roberto González Echevarría)寫道：“任何傾向?qū)ㄋ固亓_政府作出寬容判斷的人都應(yīng)該先來(lái)讀一讀這本熱情而優(yōu)美的書。”

“Dreaming in Cuban” by Cristina García

《在古巴做夢(mèng)》(Dreaming in Cuban)，克里斯蒂娜·加西亞(Cristina García)著

Ms. García’s first novel tells the story of three generations of women in one family, and how staying in Cuba or fleeing the country affects their lives. Reviewing the book in The Times, Michiko Kakutani said that Ms. García had “produced a work that possesses both the intimacy of a Chekhov story and the hallucinatory magic of a novel by Gabriel García Márquez.”

這是加西亞的第一本小說(shuō)，講述了一個(gè)家庭中三代女人的故事，以及選擇留在古巴或逃離古巴為她們的人生所帶來(lái)的影響。角谷美智子在《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》上評(píng)論此書時(shí)說(shuō)，加西亞的作品“既有契訶夫短篇小說(shuō)中的親切感，又有加夫列爾·加西亞·馬爾克斯(Gabriel García Márquez)長(zhǎng)篇小說(shuō)中奇幻的魔力”。

“Paradiso” by José Lezama Lima

《天堂》(Paradiso)，何塞·萊澤馬·利馬(José Lezama Lima)

This novel by Mr. Lima, a major Cuban poet, is about a boy’s coming of age and his search for his dead father. In the Book Review, Edmund White wrote that Mr. Lima “not only has the power to create absorbing and memorable images, he has also placed these images into a vast network of philosophical and mythical significance.”

利馬是古巴的重要詩(shī)人，他的這部小說(shuō)寫了一個(gè)男孩的成長(zhǎng)以及尋覓亡父的歷程。埃德蒙·懷特(Edmund White)在書評(píng)中寫道，利馬“不僅有能力塑造引人入勝、令人難忘的形象，也能把這些形象放置在具有哲學(xué)與神話意義的巨大構(gòu)架中去”。

“Three Trapped Tigers” by Guillermo Cabrera Infante

《三只慘老虎》(Three Trapped Tigers)，吉列爾莫·卡布雷拉·因方特(Guillermo Cabrera Infante)著

In the Book Review, Charles Wilson wrote that Mr. Infante’s most celebrated novel “borrows from the playfulness and form of James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ and ‘Finnegans Wake’ as it describes the decadent life of young people who explore Havana’s cabaret society during the Batista era.”

在書評(píng)版中，查爾斯·威爾遜(Charles Wison)寫道，因方特這部最著名的小說(shuō)“描述了巴蒂斯塔將軍(Batista)統(tǒng)治時(shí)代，出沒(méi)于哈瓦那卡巴萊酒館下層社會(huì)年輕人的頹廢生活，借鑒了詹姆斯·喬伊斯(James Joyce)的《尤利西斯》(Ulysses)與《芬尼根的守靈夜》(Finnegans Wake)中的戲謔與構(gòu)架”。

“Explosion in a Cathedral” by Alejo Carpentier

《大教堂里的爆炸》(Explosion in a Cathedral)，阿萊霍·卡彭鐵爾(Alejo Carpentier)著

Set in Cuba and elsewhere, Mr. Carpentier’s novel revolves around the story of Victor Hugues, a colonial administrator during the French Revolution. In the Book Review, Abel Plenn said the book’s images “succeed each other with cinematic speed and often hypnotic daring.”

卡彭鐵爾的這部小說(shuō)發(fā)生在古巴和其他地方，圍繞著法國(guó)大革命時(shí)期的殖民地總督維克多·休斯(Victor Hugues)的故事進(jìn)行。在書評(píng)版中，阿貝爾·普萊恩(Abel Plenn)寫道，這本書中的形象“有著電影般的速度和通常非常迷人的膽量，他們彼此交相輝映”。

“Waiting for Snow in Havana” by Carlos Eire

《在哈瓦那等待下雪》(Waiting for Snow in Havana)，卡洛斯·埃爾熱(CarlosEire)

Mr. Eire’s memoir about his boyhood in Cuba and eventual exile won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 2003. The author told The Times that the book was about “what’s precious in childhood and how that can be corrupted and blown up and destroyed by political circumstances.”

這是埃爾熱的回憶錄，講述他在古巴度過(guò)的童年，以及最終逃出這個(gè)國(guó)家的故事，2003年獲得國(guó)家圖書獎(jiǎng)非虛構(gòu)類獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)。作者在接受《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》采訪時(shí)，說(shuō)這本書是關(guān)于：“童年時(shí)代珍貴的東西，以及它是如何被政治環(huán)境所敗壞，打擊和摧毀。”

“Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life” by Jon Lee Anderson

《切·格瓦拉：革命生涯》(Che Guevara A Revolutionary Life)，瓊恩·李·安德森(Jon Lee Anderson)著。

Mr. Anderson’s book, published in 1997, was the first major biography of the revolutionary. In the Book Review, Peter Canby wrote: “Mr. Anderson does a masterly job in evoking Che’s complex character, in separating the man from the myth and in describing the critical role Che played in one of the darkest periods of the cold war. Ultimately, however, the strength of his book is in its wealth of detail.”

安德森的這本書于1997年出版，是關(guān)于這位革命家的第一本重要傳記。在書評(píng)版，彼得·坎比(Peter Canby)寫道，“安德森寫了一本杰作，寫活了格瓦拉復(fù)雜的性格，把這個(gè)男人從神話中分離出來(lái)，描述了他在‘冷戰(zhàn)’最黑暗的一段時(shí)期中所扮演的關(guān)鍵性角色。然而，這本書的力量最終還是來(lái)自大量豐富的細(xì)節(jié)。”

“Cobra” and “Maitreya” by Severo Sarduy

《眼鏡蛇》(Cobra)與《彌勒》(Maitreya)，塞沃羅·薩都伊(Severo Sarduy)著

These two avant-garde novels, one about a transvestite completing her transformation and the other about a cook who becomes a reincarnation of Buddha, are available in one edition from Dalkey Archive Press, which calls Sarduy “perhaps the strangest and most inventive writer” of the Latin American “Boom.”

這兩部先鋒小說(shuō)一部是關(guān)于一位異裝者努力完成自己的變化，另一部是關(guān)于一個(gè)廚子如何成了佛的化身。達(dá)爾凱檔案出版社(Dalkey Archive Press)將之合并為一本書出版，出版社說(shuō)，薩都伊在拉丁美洲的“文學(xué)爆炸”當(dāng)中，“或許是最奇怪、最獨(dú)出心裁的作家”。

“Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba” by Tom Gjelten

《巴卡地與古巴漫長(zhǎng)的斗爭(zhēng)》(Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba)，湯姆·吉耶爾頓(Tom Gjelten)著

The history of Cuba told through the family behind the Bacardi Rum Company, founded when Cuba was still a Spanish colony. In a review in The Times, Barry Gewen wrote: “There’s a shelf of histories to consult” about Cuba, but “it’s hard to imagine that any is as enjoyable” as this one.

這本書通過(guò)巴卡地朗姆酒公司背后的家族來(lái)講述古巴歷史。這家公司成立之時(shí)，古巴還只是西班牙的殖民地。巴里·格溫(Barry Gewen)在給《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的書評(píng)中寫道，關(guān)于古巴，“有滿滿一書架的歷史書可以去查”，但是“很難想像有哪一本能像這本這樣有趣”。

“Dancing With Cuba” by Alma Guillermoprieto

《與古巴共舞》(Dancing With Cuba)，阿爾瑪·吉勒莫普利托(Alma Guillermoprieto)著

“Dancing With Cuba” recounts the time the author spent in Havana in 1970, when she was in her early 20s, teaching modern dance to young Cubans. Writing in the Book Review, Katha Pollitt said Ms. Guillermoprieto “uses dance as a lens through which to explore the aspirations and injustices and contradictions of a whole society.”

《與古巴共舞》追溯了1970年作者在哈瓦那度過(guò)的一段時(shí)光，當(dāng)時(shí)她20出頭，教年輕的古巴人跳現(xiàn)代舞。在書評(píng)版，卡莎·波利特(Katha Pollitt)寫道，吉勒莫普利托“用舞蹈作為鏡頭，探索整個(gè)社會(huì)的抱負(fù)、不公與矛盾”。

“Telex From Cuba” by Rachel Kushner

《來(lái)自古巴的電報(bào)》(Telex From Cuba)，瑞秋·庫(kù)什納(Rachel Kushner)著

Ms. Kushner’s first novel is about a group of Americans prospering in Cuba before Castro’s revolution, and what happens to them when change comes. In the Book Review, Susann Cokal wrote: “Kushner’s sharp observations about human nature and colonialist bias provide a deep understanding of the revolution’s causes.”

這是庫(kù)什納的第一本小說(shuō)，講述一群美國(guó)人如何在卡斯特羅革命之前在古巴發(fā)家致富，以及他們?cè)诟锩蟮脑庥?。在書評(píng)版，蘇珊·科卡爾(Susann Cokal)寫道：“庫(kù)什納敏銳地觀察到人性與殖民者的偏見(jiàn)，令讀者更深刻地了解這場(chǎng)革命的進(jìn)程”。

“The Man Who Loved Dogs” by Leonardo Padura

《愛(ài)狗的男人》(The Man Who Loved Dogs)，萊昂納多·帕杜拉(Leonardo Padura)

Writing in The Times, Álvaro Enrigue said that Mr. Padura “known for detective thrillers, has made his entrance to the Latin American Modernist canon by writing a Russian novel.” His book has three strands, involving Trotsky; his killer, Ramón Mercador; and a frustrated Cuban writer. The writer meets a man who may be Mercador and through him learns about Stalin and other 20th-century horrors, things he is ignorant of because of the Cuban government’s policy of “programmed ignorance.”

阿瓦羅·恩里格(Álvaro Enrigue)在《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》上寫道，帕杜拉“以偵探驚悚小說(shuō)出名，卻寫了一本俄式小說(shuō)，從而躋身拉丁美洲現(xiàn)代主義經(jīng)典行列”。這本書中有三股力量，分別是托洛茨基(Trotsky)、托洛茨基的暗殺者拉蒙·莫卡多(Ramón Mercador)，以及一位失意的古巴作家。作家遇到一個(gè)有可能是莫卡多的人，通過(guò)他了解到斯大林的事，乃至其他20世紀(jì)的恐怖事件，此前由于古巴政府的“刻意培養(yǎng)無(wú)知”的政策，作家對(duì)這些事情一無(wú)所知。

“Trading With the Enemy: A Yankee Travels Through Castro’s Cuba” by Tom Miller

《與敵人做交易：美國(guó)佬的卡斯特羅古巴之旅》(Trading With the Enemy: A Yankee Travels Through Castro’s Cuba)，湯姆·米勒(Tom Miller)著

Mr. Miller’s account of eight months he spent in Cuba, including run-ins with some well-known people and many ordinary citizens.

米勒描寫了自己在古巴讀過(guò)的八個(gè)月時(shí)光，他和一些名人發(fā)生爭(zhēng)執(zhí)，也和許多普通人打交道。