Double Star cover

Double Star

Rating 4.3
Word count
126K words
ISBN
9787532170852

Tags

Summary

Double Star is a representative novella by American science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein. It won the 1956 Hugo Award for Best Novel and was Heinlein's first Hugo win. The story is set in a future when humanity has expanded into the solar system: Lorenzo Smythe, a penniless actor scraping by in small theaters, one day receives an absurdly well-paid "acting" job and only after signing the contract realizes he is to play the most consequential politician in the solar system—John Joseph Bonforte, leader of the Expansionist Party. Bonforte advocates equal and peaceful coexistence among the civilizations of the solar system. On the eve of his attendance at the Martians' "adoption" ceremony, he is kidnapped and vanishes at the hands of political rivals. If he misses the ceremony, the newly established relationship between Earth and Mars will collapse entirely. Lorenzo is forced to take the stage in his place, bluffing his way through again and again with an actor's observation and craft: facing probing by political enemies, media questioning, the ancient and unfamiliar Martian rites, and lurking assassination threats, he must walk carefully between "playing" and "becoming." Told in a witty first person, the novel is tightly plotted, neatly structured, and full of funny dialogue—at once a Hollywood-style identity comedy and a fable about politics, performance, and the shaping of personality. It is widely regarded as one of Heinlein's most accessible and darkly humorous works.

Editor's review

这本书常被推荐为“最适合第一次读海因莱因的作品”,原因很简单:它几乎不靠硬科技设定取胜,靠的是故事和人。一个潦倒演员被推上政治舞台顶替大人物,这个设定本身就自带张力,而海因莱因把它写成了节奏极快的悬疑冒险——每一次即将露馅,都是一次“最后一分钟营救”。更难得的是,在热闹的表层之下,作者认真追问了一个问题:当一个人长期扮演另一个人,他会不会被这个角色改变?洛伦佐从敷衍应付到真心认同邦福特的信念,这条心理线写得细致可信,也让小说的政治隐喻有了落点。阿西莫夫、乔治·R·R·马丁、康妮·威利斯等人都公开承认受海因莱因影响,而《双星》正是理解这种影响绕不开的一本。2019年读客版由张建光重译,语言更贴近当代读者,并配以新绘封面,适合作为收藏或入门版本。

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • 第一次接触海因莱因、想找一本不至于被大部头吓退的读者
  • 喜欢政治惊悚、身份替身、戏剧性反转故事的科幻爱好者
  • 对“演员如何成为角色”这类人格与表演议题感兴趣的读者
  • 想快速了解科幻黄金时代“三巨头”之一风格的一般读者

Not a good fit for

  • 偏爱硬核科技设定、宇宙奇观和大量科学推演的硬科幻读者
  • 期待大规模星际战争或太空歌剧场面,而非人物戏与对话的读者
  • 对政治博弈与竞选式剧情缺乏兴趣的读者

Reading tips

  1. 可先读第一章洛伦佐与宇航员相遇的段落,感受全书诙谐的第一人称语调。
  2. 注意留意洛伦佐对“扮演”态度的变化,这条心理线比情节反转更值得回味。
  3. 读完后可对照海因莱因《星船伞兵》《异乡异客》,比较他处理政治议题的不同方式。
  4. 篇幅仅十余万字,适合一两个晚上读完,建议连续阅读以保持戏剧节奏感。

About the publisher

Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House takes modern and contemporary Chinese literature and folk literature as important publishing directions, while also covering social novels, classic works, and prose and miscellaneous writings, and has long introduced foreign literature and philosophical works. Its books include masterpieces such as Lao She's Teahouse and Camel Xiangzi, Lu Xun's Call to Arms and Wandering and Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk, and Xiao Hong's Tales of Hulan River, as well as translations such as Gilles Deleuze's Nietzsche and Philosophy, Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Pillars of the Earth trilogy. Its authors include Lao She, Lu Xun, Xiao Hong, Zhou Ying, Liu Yuyu, and Jiang Yi, reflecting a publishing character that balances original literature, academic translation, and general reading.

FAQ

《双星》获得过什么奖项?
《双星》于1956年获得雨果奖最佳长篇小说奖,是海因莱因首次获得雨果奖的作品。此后他多次获奖,被视为科幻“三巨头”之一。
这本书是硬科幻吗?
不是。它更接近政治惊悚与身份喜剧,科幻设定主要提供星际文明背景,核心看点是演员顶替政治家的悬疑与心理变化,阅读门槛较低。
国内有几个中文版本?
常见版本有四川科学技术出版社(陈珠珠译,“世界科幻大师丛书”)与上海文艺出版社2019年版(张建光译,读客出品)。本页信息对应上海文艺2019年版。
没读过海因莱因其他作品能直接读吗?
完全可以。《双星》情节独立、篇幅短,不依赖任何前作,常被推荐为海因莱因的入门读物。
为什么目录是空的?
该书中文版按章节编号分章,并未设置可核实的具体章节标题,因此目录信息留空,不做虚构。

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About the author

Robert A. Heinlein is one of the most influential writers in the history of science fiction, and readers in China usually place his work under foreign literature and science fiction. Information about his nationality and dates of birth and death is not recorded in our database, and publicly available material is limited, so no conjecture is offered here. Four of his works are currently included: Stranger in a Strange Land, The Man Who Sold the Moon, Starship Troopers, and Orphans of the Sky. Their subjects range from alien contact and lunar development to interstellar war and survival in space. His writing often builds on rigorous technical speculation, weaving questions of social systems, individual freedom, and collective responsibility into adventure narratives. The plots move briskly and the argumentative tone is distinctive, giving his work lasting influence among science fiction readers and offering a model for later space-themed writing.

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