讀完了毛姆的《人生的枷鎖》，又一鼓作氣讀了他的另一部作品《刀鋒》。這部小說比較短，250多頁，前後花了大概九天時間。

 

個人覺得《刀鋒》沒有他的其他兩部作品《月亮和六便士》《人生的枷鎖》來的精彩。寫下一點讀後感也是強迫自己動動筆，加深些印象，為日後翻讀留下一鱗半爪。

 

作者在這部小說裏以真實的第一人稱身份(毛姆)講述他所知道的幾個故事。在此羅列一下小說裏的幾個人物。

 

主人公Larry是參加過第一次世界大戰的年輕飛行員。戰爭的血雨腥風讓他親眼目睹身邊生龍活虎的戰友，頃刻間生命隕落。退役後，他心中留下的創傷和陰影無法抹平。他迷茫，沮喪: 如果生命可以如此短暫，人應該怎樣活著？人生的意義何在？為此，他放棄意中人，身邊的幸福，和一份唾手可得、報酬豐厚的工作，流落歐洲，欲踏破鐵鞋尋找答案。他當過煤礦工人，做過郵輪上的發牌生，他曆經人生各種體驗，讀書鑽研，求救傳教士，如此這般，依然困惑不解。最後他踏上東行印度國之路，在禪和佛教裏找到部分答案。他決定結束漂泊生涯回國，繼續他低物質欲望的苦行僧生涯，因為在他看來，錢不能帶來自由，精神世界的自由快樂才是人終極的追求。

 

Larry有個青梅竹馬的女朋友Isabel，兩人感情篤深。可到了談婚論嫁的時候，麵對Larry希望她跟隨他浪跡天涯、過簡樸生活的請求時，Isabel拒絕了，從此兩人分道揚鑣。Isabel嫁給了傾慕她已久的富家子弟Gray, 婚後恩愛幸福，Gray對Isabel百依百順，兩人享盡榮華。但是1929年的經濟危機讓Gray和他父親(兩人都是股票經紀人)的財產一夜之間化為烏有。Gray父親心髒病去世，Gray一蹶不振，失去工作、家業，病痛纏身。是Larry帶著他從印度學到的一種意念法讓他擺脫疾病，重新振作起來。

 

Sophie是Larry和Isabel從小的玩伴，後來嫁人生子過著幸福的生活。但是飛來的橫禍奪走了她心愛的丈夫和孩子，從此她酗酒、吸毒、賣淫。Larry試圖拯救她，跟她結婚，但因Isabel從中作梗，Sophie再次犯酒癮逃離Larry，未果。Sophie的最後結局很慘，她遭人割喉，拋屍大海。

 

小說中還有一個名叫Suzanne的女人, 她窮苦出身，迫於生活，遊走於歐洲巴黎畫界，給人當模特，做情人。多年後又邂逅一位富商，做了他定期的情人，在富商太太去世後修成正果。

 

小說中值得一提的一個人物是Isabel的舅舅Elliot. Elliot是個出入名利場的有錢人，極其在乎自己的地位聲望，常常不吝錢財，邀請各界名流開party, 他左右逢源，廣交朋友，為人既勢利又慷慨善良，可即便他這樣處處與人方便，對別人有求必應，當他自己病入膏肓時，卻門前冷落鞍馬稀，受過他無數好處的達官貴人早已將他遺忘，可謂世態炎涼。更可憐的是，一輩子周旋於社會上層的Elliot，死之前還相信天堂裏也有等級，他進了天堂也將是那裏的座上賓。

 

小說裏的這些人物從某種角度把社會眾生相擺在讀者麵前。作者對人物的描寫勾畫非常細膩，從人物的外表開始，直到人物內心，而人物又是置身於他所熟悉的歐洲、美國曆史文化傳統中，所以寫得得心應手，人物個個鮮活真實。然而，不知道作者是不是想增加小說的深度，這部小說又如他其他作品一樣，貫穿了他的很多關於人生哲理、宗教的思考和內容，讓人物遊離於宗教藝術之間無法自拔。作者還在小說後半部加了一個章節詳述他與主人公Larry的對話，宣稱這一章讀者可以省去不讀，但這一章卻又是他創作的最早出發點，那便是小說的主題，小說的書名《刀鋒》或許也源於此: 人的救贖之路很窄很難，如在刀鋒上行走那般，喻指世人不可能像主人公Larry一樣不羈世俗凡塵，不被名利錢財束縛，自由自在，也就是基督教裏形容救贖之旅是在"走窄路"，是同一個意思。

 

我個人對哲學宗教了解不多，各國的曆史文化了解的更少，所以讀的過程，如上一本《人生的枷鎖》一樣，有些背景知識人物不能意會，不能click， 更不能產生聯想。當然，任何一部小說融入哲理宗教的內容是無可厚非的，但是這部小說裏大段的這些描述，那種想尋找答案又給不了答案的糾結和探討，讓讀者也跟著彷徨迷茫，因為到底有沒有上帝，人的信仰應該如何，人死後靈魂是不是永存等等這些話題是沒有答案的，而正如小說的結局，每個人物最後各得所需，正如生活在這世界的人各有各的活法一樣，為名也好，為利也罷，精神上的快樂，物質上的享受，世界因他們的存在而紛呈多彩多姿。作者似乎在刻意渲染神秘超自然的超凡脫俗，有意識地滲入宗教人生哲學色彩，這在我看來反而削弱了作品本身，留下了點滴雕琢的痕跡。

 

 

quotes:

 

"The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to salvation is hard."

“The path to Salvation is as narrow and as difficult to walk as a razor's edge.”

"I couldn't go back now. I’m on the threshold. I see vast lands of the spirit  stretching out before me , beckoning, and I’m eager to travel them.”

"Well, love isn’t a good sailor  and it languishes on a sea voyage. You’ll be surprised when you have the Atlantic between you and Larry to find how slight the pang that before you sailed seemed intolerable.” 

“The man I am writing about is not famous. It may be that he never will be. It may be that when his life at last comes to an end he will leave no more trace of his sojourn on earth than a stone thrown into a river leaves on the surface of the water.”

“I wish I could make you see how much fuller the life I offer you is than anything you have a conception of. I wish I could make you see how exciting the life of the spirit is and how rich in experience. It's illimitable. It's such a happy life. There's only one thing like it, when you're up in a plane by yourself, high, high, and only infinity surrounds you. You're intoxicated by the boundless space.”

“Its a toss-up when you decide to leave the beaten track. Many are called, few are chosen.”

I suppose it was the end of the world for her when her husband and her baby were killed. I suppose she didn't care what became of her and flung herself into the horrible degradation of drink and promiscuous copulation to get even with life that had treated her so cruelly. She'd lived in heaven and when she lost it she couldn't put up with the common earth of common men, but in despair plunged headlong into hell. I can imagine that if she couldn't drink the nectar of the gods any more she thought she might as well drink bathroom gin.”

“I only wanted to suggest to you that self-confidence is a passion so overwhelming that beside it even lust and hunger are trifling. It whirls its victim to destruction in the highest affirmation of his personality. The object doesn't matter; it may be worth while or it may be worthless. No wine is so intoxicating, no love so shattering, no vice so compelling. When he sacrifices himself man for a moment is greater than God, for how can God, infinite and omnipotent, sacrifice himself? At best he can only sacrifice his only begotten son.”

“You attach more importance to money than I do.'

'I can well believe it . . . You see, you've always had it and I haven't. It's given me what I value almost more than anything else in life - independence. You can't think what a comfort it's been to me to think that if I wanted to I could tell anyone in the world to go to hell.”

“. . . Endless duration makes good no better, nor white any whiter. If the rose at noon has lost the beauty it had at dawn, the beauty it had then was real. Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it to the premise of our philosophy. We can none of us step into the same river twice, but the river flows on and the other river we step into is cool and refreshing too.”

“There are psychologists who think that consciousness accompanies brain processes and is determined by them but doesn't itself exert any influence on them. Something like the reflection of a tree in water; it couldn't exist without the tree, but it doesn't in any way affect he tree. I think it's all stuff and nonsense to say that there can be love without passion; when people say love can endure after passion is dead they're talking of something else, affection, kindliness, community of taste and interest, and habit . . . Of course there can be desire without love. Desire isn't passion. Desire is the natural consequence of the sexual instinct . . . That's why women are foolish to make a song and dance if their husbands have an occasional flutter when the time and place are propitious . . . what is sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose . . . Unless love is passion, it's not love, but something else; and passion thrives not on satisfaction but impediment . . . When passion seizes the heart it invents reasons that seem not only plausible but conclusive to prove that the world is well lost for love. It convinces you that honor is well sacrificed and that shame is a cheap price to pay. Passion is destructive . . . and if it doesn't destroy it dies. It may be then that one is faced with the desolation of knowing that one has wasted the years of one's life, that one's brought disgrace upon oneself, endured the frightful pang of jealousy, swallowed every bitter mortification, that one's expended all one's tenderness, poured out all the riches of one's soul on a poor drab, a fool, a peg on which one hung one's dreams, who wasn't worth a stick of chewing gum.”

“You Europeans know nothing about America. Because we amass large fortunes you think we care for nothing but money. We are nothing for it; the moment we have it we spend it, sometimes well, sometimes ill, but we spend it. Money is nothing to us; it's merely the symbol of success. We are the greatest idealists in the world; I happen to think that we've set our ideal on the wrong objects; I happen to think that the greatest ideal man can set before himself is self-perfection".”