首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Louis de Bernieres’ Corelli’s Mandolin is one of the most charming, accomplished novels I have read. So the prospect of reviewin
Louis de Bernieres’ Corelli’s Mandolin is one of the most charming, accomplished novels I have read. So the prospect of reviewin
admin
2010-05-14
62
问题
Louis de Bernieres’ Corelli’s Mandolin is one of the most charming, accomplished novels I have read. So the prospect of reviewing his new book had me all but salivating. Happily, the wondrous Birds Without Wings more than lives up to expectations.
Like Corelli’s Mandolin, which was set on a Greek island during its Italian occupation in World War Ⅱ, Birds Without Wings is also a story of two Mediterranean cultures living cheek by jowl. Eskibahce is a small hillside village on the southwestern coast of Turkey. At the beginning of the 20th century, Greeks and Turks--along with a smattering of Armenians and Jews--live amicably in the town. The community is so intermingled the Greeks speak only Turkish and the few Turks who can write use the Greek alphabet. The line between Greek Christianity and Turkish Islam is equally skewed. Muslim women think nothing of asking their Christian friends to light votive candles on their behalf, and the Christians have great respect for the local imam.
It is not unusual that Ibrahim, a Muslim boy, is in love with Philothei, the most beautiful Greek girl in town. Karatavuk, the son of the Muslim potter, and Mehmetcik, from a Christian family, are inseparable friends, never parted for a day until they are conscripted into service for the First World War. But anyone familiar with the history of the region can foresee that tragedy will befall this idyllic community: tragedy in the form of hatred, war, expulsion and genocide. The blossoming of Turkish nationalism will reignite the tribalism that has always marked this region of the world. Eskibahce’s way of life will be destroyed, and this coming cataclysm hangs over the novel like the sword of Damocles.
Readers familiar with de Bernieres’ work know he has a very unusual way of unfolding a narrative. Different characters tell parts of the story, and sometimes an omniscient narrator chimes in with third person authority.
In Birds Without Wings, for instance, we get some of the story with hindsight, from survivors who were children at the time. Other events are told as they occur. Throughout, there are sections about the rise of Mustafa Kemal, known as Ataturk, the great military leader who westernized Turkey, that read almost like history. It is the tragic intersection of the stories that give the novel its substance and weight.
De Bernieres’ brilliance is that he manages to recount bleak history cloaked in radiant garb. He is a gifted storyteller who offers up his tale at an unhurried pace, introducing violence or despair with the same inevitability as such happier impulses as loyalty and honor. Blood feuds, retaliation, religious intolerance--all are so ingrained in everyday life in Eskibahce that few among its likable inhabitants really take them seriously. But it is precisely because the novelist allows us to embrace these characters, warts and all, that we are shocked when these ordinary people are driven by a madness that will destroy everything and everyone they love.
Birds Without Wings is, among other things, a great anti-war novel. History, it tells: us, "is finally nothing but a sorry edifice constructed from hacked flesh in the name of great ideas." Strong sentiments, but a reminder that the same internecine hatred erupted in Europe countless times during the ensuing century.
Corelli’s Mandolin was such a masterwork that it seems almost unfair that de Bernieres could produce another book as good, perhaps better. Birds Without Wings is a tour de force, a novel as complex and compelling, as instructive and unsettling as history itself.
According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
选项
A、Mustafa Kemal is a character in Birds Without Wings.
B、Eskibahce used to be a peaceful place before the war.
C、De Bernieres’ two novels were set in different places.
D、The destruction of Eskibahce’s way of life is avoidable.
答案
D
解析
从第三和第六段均可看出Eskibahce’s way of life的毁灭是不可避免的。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/riqO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Passage2
Theterm"Americandream"wasfirstusedin【B1】______inanovelwrittenbyHoratioAlger:RaggedDick.Themessagewas:Nomatte
Inanagewherepeoplepromiscuouslypostpersonaldataonthewebandregularlyclick"Iagree"toreamsoflegalesetheyhave
Withagnashingofteeth,theemploymentministerChrisGraylingbackeddownascompaniesshiedawayfromhisunpaidworkscheme
京剧中的“生、旦、净、丑”其实不过是角色分类。“生”是男性正面角色,“旦”是女性正面角色,“净”是性格鲜明的男性配角,“丑”是幽默滑稽或反面角色。每种角色又有表明身份的脸谱、扮相等,只要演员一上场,你一望便知。在人的脸上涂上某种颜色以象征这个人的
Nothingismoreterrifyingthanamotherwhoscentsathreattoheroffspring.Soitisnotsurprisingthatresidentsofthepos
SpringinJapanthisyearheraldsarashofmorethan1,000localelectionsacrossthecountry:onApril8thsome13outofJapa
A、EasternEuropeB、NorthernEuropeC、WesternEuropeD、SouthernEuropeA
Backin1985,ViktorCherkashinwasaseniorKGBofficerattheSovietEmbassyinWashington.Intheshadowyworldofespionage,
Prefer(i)Preferisnormallyfollowedbyto,notthan:"1prefercoffeetotea","Shepreferredsewingtoknitting","Wepre
随机试题
牙龈鲜红或暗红,龈缘变厚,质地松软,但一般龈沟不加深的龈病是前牙唇侧牙龈肥大,龈袋形成,牙龈充血,但随年龄增长一定时间后肥大牙龈自行减退的龈病是
A、公孙B、鸠尾C、膻中D、期门E、丰隆既是募穴,又是八会穴的是
某均质砂土边坡,假定该砂土的内摩擦角在干、湿状态下都相同,问以下哪种情况下边坡的稳定安全系数最小?
建筑施工企业不按照消防设计文件和消防技术标准施工,降低消防施工质量的,责令改正或者停止施工,并处()罚款。
个人理财主要考虑的是资产的增值,因此,个人理财就是如何进行投资。( )
计算
下列对司法俗语说明错误的是:
IlostmysightwhenIwasfouryearsoldbyfallingoffaboxcarinafreightyardinAtlanticCityandlandingonmyhead.No
Readthearticlebelowaboutacompany.ChoosethecorrectwordtofilleachgapfromA,B,CorD.Foreachquestion(21-30),m
Directions:Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayentitledACoverLetter.Youshouldwriteatleast
最新回复
(
0
)