2014 (111)
2015 (97)
2016 (139)
2019 (83)
2020 (69)
半年前拿到了書,讀了個開頭還沒進入狀況卻被其他事情擱淺了,我都忘了它。 前兩天又重拾此書,這次倒是一下就被吸引住,一口氣就讀完了。 "Orphan Train" 有點Young Adult Fiction的味道,主角是前後相差80年的兩個女孩子,文筆樸實,故事情節也很簡單--17歲的叛逆少女Molly因緣際會結識了91歲的富孀Vivian,看似南轅北轍的兩個人居然發展出一份特殊的友誼,隻因她們都是孤兒,嚐過像皮球一樣被人踢來踢去,顛沛流離的生活。。。
1854年到1929年間,從美國東部出發的“孤兒列車”載著一批批無家可歸的孩子們前往中西部,在沿途的車站上,他們像小貓小狗一樣任人挑選,隻期望能有好心的家庭收留他們。 盡管孤兒列車是以慈善為初衷,但缺乏基本的監督善後製度,不少小孩在寄養家庭被迫做苦工,甚至受虐待,悲慘的待遇跟南方的奴隸相差無幾。 長達70多年的孤兒列車把二十多萬東部的孤兒安插入地廣人稀的中西部地區,最後因為大蕭條才終止。
1929年,9歲的Vivian也提心吊膽地坐在孤兒列車上。 兩年前滿懷著希望,全家從貧窮的愛爾蘭搭船來美國,誰知道紐約的日子仍舊是苦哈哈,接著一場大火又奪去了她所有的親人。 生活的坎坷叫她過早就在憂患中成熟。 但,接下來她的命運又會是如何?
Kline的文筆平和簡潔,沒有華麗的辭藻,隻是溫柔、自然地陳述。 以2011年的Molly和1929年的Vivian交叉敘述,作者把切換處理得很巧妙自如,一點兒也不覺得突兀。 Vivian的角色多所著墨,顯然是全書的逗哏;而Molly的角色塑造就比較單薄而模式化,好像隻是為了牽引和對比Vivian而編排的捧哏。
很感恩讀到這本書,藉此了解到美國被忽略的這段曆史。 有點可惜的是,故事的發展落入俗套,基本上毫無懸念,Vivian和Molly的遭遇都是電影濫用的橋段;書裏其他人物也相當的臉譜化。
好在作者沒有百分百照搬好萊塢的公式,叫Happy Ending完全陷入童話世界的甜膩。 那些破碎到完全拚不起來的傷痛,Kline就那麽直白地顯露在你麵前,那麽刺眼,經過全書的‘溫馨therapy’還是無法痊愈。 被拋棄過那麽多次,希望一再破滅,要再鼓起多少勇氣才敢去憧憬未來,去愛人,被愛? 最令我心痛的是Molly和Vivian各自的媽媽,她們之間相差近一個世紀,但同樣被現實的困頓逼到絕望,她們的軟弱和自私叫女兒陷入無邊的恐懼和失落無依。 我現在也是兩個孩子的媽媽,看到Vivian和Molly被母親遺棄的悲痛,實在忍不住流淚。 隻是這次我卻沒有站在道德製高點對她們指手畫腳‘哀其不幸,怒其不爭’,泡在蜜罐子裏的我又有什麽資格去論斷她們呢? 透過書頁,我好希望能夠幫助她們站起來。
讀完這本書,我決定給缺少機會的青少年出份心力。 說幹就幹,今天就找到一個義工組織,填好登記,準備給難民少女做mentor。
節選一些quotes。
“It was pouring earlier, great sheets of rain, and now the clouds outside the window are crystal tipped like mountain peaks in the sky, rays emanating downward like an illustration in a children's bible.”
“I've come to think that's what heaven is—a place in the memory of others where our best selves live on.”
“I feel myself retreating to someplace deep inside. It is a pitiful kind of childhood, to know that no one loves you or is taking care of you, to always be on the outside looking in.”
“I feel a decade older than my years. I know too much; I have seen people at their worst, at their most desperate and selfish, and this knowledge makes me wary. So I'm learning to pretend, to smile and nod, to display empathy I do not feel. I am learning to pass, to look like everyone else, even though I feel broken inside.”
“I have been so alone on this journey, cut off from my past. However hard I try, I will always feel alien and strange. And now I've stumbled on a fellow outsider, one who speaks my language without saying a word.”
"The people who matter in our lives stay with us, haunting our ordinary moments. They're with us in the grocery store, as we turn the corner, chat with a friend. They rise up through the pavement; we absorb them through our soles."
“I learned long ago that loss is not only probably but inevitable. I know what it means to lose everything, to let go of one life and find another. And now I feel, with a strange, deep certainty, that it must be my lot in life to be taught that lesson over and over again.”
“Time constricts and flattens, you know. It's not evenly weighted. Certain moments linger in the mind and others disappear. ”