Couples
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers interested in the social and cultural shifts in 1960s America
- Literature lovers who enjoy in-depth exploration of marriage, human relationships, and human complexity
- Readers seeking to discover Updike's representative works beyond the Rabbit series
- Readers receptive to philosophical and theological discussion in literature
Not a good fit for
- Readers looking for light, entertaining romance stories
- Readers sensitive to explicit sexual content in literature
Reading tips
- Familiarize yourself with the social and cultural context of 1960s America to better understand the characters' motivations
- Read in comparison with Updike's Rabbit tetralogy to appreciate the evolving characteristics of his writing across different periods
- The book contains much dialogue and interior monologue; it rewards slow, careful reading to savor the subtle emotions beneath the language
About the publisher
Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 淫乱，一种富足生活的外延
- 献给玛丽
- 第一章 欢迎到塔博科斯来
- 第二章 阿普尔-史密斯夫妇及其他游戏
- 第三章 薄冰
- 第四章 突破
- 第五章 又是春天了
FAQ
How does this book differ from Updike's more famous Rabbit tetralogy?
Will the religious discussions in the novel hinder ordinary readers' understanding?
Does this novel, written in the last century, still have relevance for contemporary readers?
Comments
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About the author
John Updike (1932–2009) was an American novelist, poet, essayist and critic. A Harvard graduate, he wrote for The New Yorker for many years. He was known for his finely observed portrayals of middle-class life and the inner world in small-town America, in a style that combined realism with lyricism. His Rabbit tetralogy won him the Pulitzer Prize twice, and he also received the National Book Award. He wrote more than sixty books in his lifetime. Seven of his works are included here, among them novels such as Pigeon Feathers, Couples and The Centaur, as well as art essays such as Just Looking, showing that his writing spans both fiction and non-fiction and touches on foreign literature, art and literary appreciation.
Su Fuzhong is a Chinese translator and editor long active in the introduction of foreign literature. Publicly available information about his personal life is limited. Judging from the twenty-two works listed in the database, his work centers on the Chinese translation and compilation of classics, covering representative works by English-language writers such as Shakespeare, Orwell, Fitzgerald, Maugham, Jack London, and E. M. Forster. These range from a large collected edition, the illustrated collector's edition of the complete works of Shakespeare, to individual volumes such as Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Moon and Sixpence, and The Great Gatsby, showing his ability to handle texts of different types and lengths. His translations are generally faithful and readable, attentive to preserving the tone and narrative rhythm of the originals, and are suited to general readers approaching world classics. These translations are often classified as classics and foreign literature and have a certain circulation among Chinese readers.
