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看小說寫感想
小說基於真實故事，講述的是二戰時一批反抗納粹愛國者在意大利小城營救猶太人的故事。此書一度榮登Amazon最熱銷小說榜首，有超過3萬多的留言評論，拿到4.7 out of 5 stars, 可謂取得了巨大成功。但作者坦言，在寫這書之前，由於生活的壓力和弟弟的去世，他一度想輕生，就在這人生最低穀時，他無意中聽到朋友提起了一段意大利人反抗納粹的故事，他決定要把那段被遺忘的曆史寫下來。為了寫書他特地到了意大利的那個小城，並采訪到了當事人Pino。在書開頭的引言他寫道：
…Drive alone on a Montana highway at dusk, I started thinking about my insurance policies and realized that I was worth much more to my family dead than alive. I contemplated driving into a freeway abutment. It was snowy, and the lift was low. No one would have suspected suicide.
…My personal problems, and my life in general, seemed small and insignificant in comparison to what he'd endured at an unfathomably young age…
小說有兩根故事線，一個是講述Pino 如何在山林裏做領路人，把猶太人安全送到中立國瑞士的，還有一條線就是Pino和Anna的淒美愛情故事。 我這裏想說說第二條線，也是最讓我感動的一段故事，甚至在看完這本書後的一兩個星期，我都沒從情節中走出來。下麵幾節是我印象最深的選段，作者劇本式的寫法，情景如放電影一般在讀者眼前展現。
Pino第一次在街上無意中看到Anna時就被她迷住了，這個橋段讓我想到了電影陽光燦爛的日子裏的夏雨和寧靜搭訕的鏡頭。
…A tawny-blond woman with slate-blue eyes was coming down the sidewalk right at them. He guessed her to be in her early twenties. She was beautifully put together, with a gentle nose, high cheek bones, and lips that curled naturally into an easy smile. Svelte and of medium height….
“I am sorry, I was overcome by your beauty and had to meet you…would you like to see a movie with me tonight…”
She finally turned her head to look over at him with those pierceing eyes “How old are you?” “Almost eighteen.”She laughed “You are kind of young for me” …
最後電影沒看成，因為當天晚上正好有空襲警報，Pino後來去做了領路人，那段日子異常艱辛，但他每次想到Anna 時他就有了堅持下去的理由：
He had faith he'd see Anna again. She'd become this fantasy he clung to, a story he told himself whenever he was lonely or uncertain about his future…
Pino 到十八歲後，必須參軍，他父母不想讓他去當炮灰，托關係不讓他去，後來卻陰差陽錯當上了納粹軍官的司機，他和軍官去軍官情婦Dolly家時，沒想到撞見了Anna，這個重逢讓讀者非常意外：
He heard footsteps. The door opened inward, and his entire life changed. Flashing her slate-blue eyes at him and smiling, the maid said, “You are the general's new driver?”
Pino wanted to reply, but he was so stunned that he couldn't. His heart boomed in his chest. …Finally, he just nodded. “I hope you don't drive like you talk,” she laughed, playing with the braid of her tawny-blond hair with one hand and gesturing him inside with the other. Pino stepped past her, smelled her, and felt so dizzy he thought he might fall. “I'm Dolly's maid,” she said behind him. “You can call me—” “Anna,” Pino said…
Pino 最終贏得了女神的芳心，他們的戀情一直持續到了戰爭結束，正當Pino 準備向Anna求婚時，Anna卻被當成叛國賊抓了起來，準備槍決，Pino當時在場，卻救不了她，槍決這一段寫得非常慘，說實話我沒想到女主人公居然會被寫死了，
Anna started screaming, “No! I'm not a whore! I'm not a collaborator! I'm a maid. That's all I am. Someone, please believe me. I'm just a maid!”...
..“My God!” Anna wailed. “Someone tell them I'm just a maid!”
“Aim.” Pino's mouth opened. He looked at the fighter, who was studying him, suspicious now. …
The rifle shots rang out like cymbals and kettledrums. Anna-Marta took a bullet to her heart. She bucked up at the impact, looking surprised before seeming to gaze toward Pino, as if her spirit had sensed him there and called out for him in that last moment before she crumpled back against the wall, and died in the dust.
最後Pino費勁千心萬苦在死人堆裏找到了Anna, 捧著屍身痛不欲生！
There was a bullet hole below Anna's bra, and a flower of blood on her exposed belly similar to the one on Dolly. Whore had been written across her brow in the same red gloss the partisans had used to make her lips look so garish.
“I was there,” Pino said. “I saw you die, and I said nothing, Anna. I did . . .” The pain threw tears from his eyes and doubled him over. “What did I do?” he moaned. “What did I do?”
Pino 後來有過幾段婚姻都不歡而散，他始終不能原諒自己沒能救下Anna，如今年近90的他說了如下的話:
"But after everything, and even when the skies turn scarlet and threatening, I still believe that if we are lucky enough to be alive, we must give thanks for the miracle of every moment of every day, no matter how flawed. And we must have faith in God, and in the Universe, and in a better tomorrow, even if that faith is not always deserved."
