The Lowland

Name: The Lowland
ISBN: 9787533957759

裘帕·拉希莉Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House2019

No rating yet

Word count: 268K words
ISBN: 9787533957759

Report an error Find this book

Summary

The Lowland is the second novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri. The English edition was published in 2013; the Chinese edition, translated by Wu Bingqing, was released in 2019 by Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House (KEY-Can Culture). Set in a lowland in Calcutta, India, that is covered each rainy season by water and water hyacinth, the novel traces the fate of four generations of one family. The quiet older brother, Subhash, goes to America to study marine environmental science; the passionate, rebellious younger brother, Udayan, joins the Naxalbari movement, marries Gauri, and is later arrested beside the lowland and executed by firing squad for his involvement in the shooting of a policeman. Subhash rushes back to India, marries the pregnant Gauri to protect her, and takes her to Rhode Island, USA. After their daughter Bela is born, Udayan's shadow hangs over the family, and Gauri eventually leaves for California to live alone. Years later, the grown Bela confronts a secret her mother brings back about her biological father. Moving between India and America, past and present, the novel handles diaspora, duty, mismatched marriage, and a self that cannot find its place with restrained, precise prose. It also draws on the Bengali word kal, meaning both "yesterday" and "tomorrow," to suggest the entanglement of memory and fate. The book runs about 268,000 Chinese characters, 420 pages in hardcover.

Editor's review

拉希莉2000年凭处女作《解说疾病的人》成为普利策小说奖史上最年轻的得主，《低地》是她继《同名人》之后的第二部长篇小说，也是她迄今最具野心的作品：时间从20世纪60年代延伸到当代，空间横跨加尔各答与罗德岛，写了四代人。小说入围2013年布克奖短名单、美国国家图书奖决选名单与百利女性小说奖短名单，并入选《纽约时报》《时代周刊》、美国国家公共电台等多家媒体的年度好书。全书分八个章节，每章转换一个叙述视角，如同一颗切工精细的钻石，每个角度都照见人物内心的一处裂纹。拉希莉的写法极为克制，极少煽情，把革命、丧亲、婚姻与离弃都压在平静的句子里，张力却层层累积。对读门罗、威廉·特雷弗的读者而言，这是一部语言质地与心理深度兼备的小说；对关心移民与跨文化书写的读者，它也提供了超越“移民文学”标签的当代视角。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜爱拉希莉《同名人》《解说疾病的人》的读者
偏爱克制、心理化叙事的外国文学读者
对印度现代史、纳萨尔巴里运动有探究兴趣的人
关注移民家庭、跨文化成长与身份议题的读者
喜欢多视角家族长篇、能接受慢节奏铺陈的人

Not a good fit for

期待强情节、快节奏悬疑或爽感的读者
对政治历史背景与沉重情感基调缺乏耐心的读者
只想读轻松治愈系作品的人

Reading tips

可先读开篇关于低地与两兄弟的章节，熟悉拉希莉的叙事节奏与意象系统
注意人名与时间线的跳转：每章视角不同，读时不妨随手记下人物关系
把“低地”“水葫芦”“kal（昨天/明天）”等意象当作贯穿全书的线索来读
读完可对照《同名人》，比较拉希莉两部长篇在代际与身份主题上的异同

About the publisher

Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House is a Chinese publisher specializing in literary publishing. Judging from the 808 titles in the database, its publishing areas cover world classics, foreign literature, social novels, folk literature and classic works, as well as modern and contemporary literature and prose. Representative titles include foreign literary translations such as Anna Karenina, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, In Praise of Shadows and The Complete Tragedies and Comedies of Shakespeare, alongside classic works by Lao She and Lu Xun such as Camel Xiangzi, Teahouse and Wandering. Its authors and translators include Leo Tolstoy, Cao Ying, Lao She, Yukio Mishima, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Zhu Shenghao. The press emphasizes the translation and introduction of classic texts and the compilation of native literary works, giving equal weight to Chinese and foreign literature. Owing to limited public information, its specific series and editorial policies are not elaborated here.

FAQ

《低地》的作者是谁？她获得过什么奖？

作者是印裔美国作家裘帕·拉希莉（Jhumpa Lahiri，1967— ），她2000年凭短篇小说集《解说疾病的人》获普利策小说奖，是该奖史上最年轻的获奖者，另获欧·亨利短篇小说奖、美国笔会/海明威奖等。

这本书中文版是哪家出版社出的？译者是谁？

中文版由浙江文艺出版社（KEY-可以文化）于2019年出版，译者吴冰青，精装，约26.8万字、420页，ISBN 9787533957759。

《低地》获得过哪些奖项或提名？

小说入围2013年布克奖短名单、美国国家图书奖决选名单、2014年百利女性小说奖短名单，并获2014年DSC南亚文学奖，同时入选多家英美媒体的年度好书榜。

英文书名 The Lowland 中的“低地”指什么？

字面上指加尔各答兄弟俩成长处的那片洼地，雨季积水、长满水葫芦；在小说中它也是隐喻，喻指人心中那些萦绕不去、阴暗潮湿的角落。

这本书适合当作了解印度当代史的入门读物吗？

不宜当作历史读物。小说以20世纪60年代纳萨尔巴里运动为背景，但重心在家庭与个人心理，历史只是背景布；若想系统了解相关历史，需另找专门著述。

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

裘帕·拉希莉 Author

Jhumpa Lahiri is a writer who has drawn considerable attention in contemporary English-language literature, and her works are often classified under foreign literature and essays and miscellany. The collection here includes two of her books, The Namesake and In Other Words (Roman Diary). The Namesake follows two generations of an immigrant family and revolves around names, identity and cultural belonging, told in a delicate and restrained style. Roman Diary leans toward essays and miscellany, recording her study of Italian and her process of reunderstanding language and self in a foreign land. Though different in subject, both works show her sustained attention to language, migration and self-identity. Based on the available material, public information about her life is limited, and details such as nationality and dates of birth and death are not available, yet her works are known for a quiet and precise narrative style and have had a certain influence among contemporary readers.