Awaken

Name: Awaken
ISBN: 9787533961442

海飞Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House2020

3.5

Word count: 145K words
Series: Hai Fei's Spy Fiction World
ISBN: 9787533961442

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Summary

On the snowy night of December 25, 1941, Chen Kailai, photographer at the Spring Light Photo Studio in Hangzhou, boards a train to Shanghai. Just before, his mentor, an underground Communist operative, was killed by the Japanese, humming a tuneless snatch of lyrics on his deathbed; Chen Kailai discerns something unusual in it and finds the secret his mentor had hidden. He arrives in Shanghai with this roll of film, intending to follow the route his mentor told him to deliver it, but is drawn by accident into an assassination plotted by the Military Statistics Bureau. He then becomes photographer to Su Men, a high official of the Wang Jingwei puppet government, and meets Su Men's former lover, the Military Statistics agent Zhao Qian, as well as Du Huangqiao, Jin Bao, and others. Through one perilous operation after another, Chen Kailai gradually discovers that these people, outwardly belonging to different camps—the Chinese Communist Party, the Military Statistics Bureau, the Wang puppet government—are interwoven and in fact all point to the same phrase: the "Awakening Plan." The darkroom of the photo studio, the joined-print technique of West Lake landscape photos, lip-reading and codes, and the repeatedly appearing lines from Stray Birds all become props in this covert war. The true contest centers on a mentor and apprentice: those who know each other best are also the easiest to kill. After many sacrifices, Chen Kailai grows from an apprentice who only knows how to fiddle with aperture rings into a man who can swallow secrets and keep them down; after completing a phase of his mission, he continues to "sleep," waiting to be awakened again. Set on the twin stages of Hangzhou and Shanghai, the novel writes of layer upon layer of reversals of identity and faith in a time of chaos.

Editor's review

海飞写谍战，最擅长的不是把主角写成无所不能的战神，而是把镜头对准市井里的小人物：《麻雀》里剃头匠出身的陈深、《棋手》里的同声传译贺羽丰，到了《醒来》，是一位只想替人拍一辈子照片的照相师陈开来。他胆小、犹豫、想过安稳日子，被时代一把拽进暗流，才一步步长出自己的骨头。这种“接地气”的人物设定，让读者在看惊险的同时，也看到了普通人的恐惧与选择。本书另有两个看点。其一是“硬核”的行业细节：暗房里的显影、接头用的风景照、旗袍与高跟鞋、勉牌打火机、76号特务机关与石库门民居，把1940年代杭州、上海的物质生活写得可触可闻；城市在这里不只是背景，也是角色。其二是“反脸谱化”的反派与密集的反转，敌人智勇均衡，险境才真正逼人。真正的较量落在师徒之间，知根知底的两个人如何彼此出招，是全书的张力核心。小说首发于《人民文学》，曾被《长篇小说选刊》《小说月报》选载，入选2020年“优秀现实题材文学出版工程”和文学好书榜7月榜单。李敬泽称其写“命悬一线的乱世、孤绝幽暗的人性”，麦家则看重它在文学性与情节性之间的统一。篇幅不长，节奏很快，适合一个周末一口气读完。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢《麻雀》《惊蛰》一类国产谍战剧与谍战小说的读者
对1940年代杭州、上海城市风貌与市井细节感兴趣的读者
偏好快节奏、强反转叙事，希望一口气读完的读者
研究或写作类型小说，想了解谍战题材如何突破套路的人

Not a good fit for

期待纯文学实验、淡化情节的读者可能会觉得故事性过强
对暴力、暗杀、战争残酷场面较敏感的读者需谨慎
希望读到扎实历史考证或真实史料的研究者可能不满足于虚构叙事

Reading tips

先把开篇雪夜与师父之死读细，后面的许多呼应都埋在这里，回看会有新发现。
留意反复出现的物象——西湖风景照、旗袍高跟鞋、《飞鸟集》诗句，它们往往是身份与暗号的线索。
读时可随手记人物阵营与代号，本书身份层层反转，梳理清楚后阅读体验会顺畅许多。
读完可延伸阅读《麻雀》《惊蛰》等“海飞谍战世界”作品，体会人物“串场”的趣味。

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

《醒来》是不是三联“新知文库”里的一本？

不是。三联书店的“新知文库”是以译介西方人文社科与科普著作为主的丛书，书目中没有《醒来》。市面上的《醒来》另有许知远（湖北人民出版社，2009）和丁锐（北京联合出版公司，2017）的版本，本页指的是海飞2020年由浙江文艺出版社出版的长篇小说。

这本书讲的主要历史背景是什么？

故事起于1941年底的杭州，主体发生在孤岛时期的上海。中共地下组织、军统与汪伪政权等多方势力在此角逐，围绕一个名为“唤醒计划”的行动展开暗战。

没读过海飞的其他作品，可以直接读这本吗？

可以。《醒来》是独立完整的故事，主角陈开来与《麻雀》《惊蛰》并非同一人物。系列中的人物会互相“串场”，但那属于额外的阅读乐趣，不影响理解本书情节。

全书篇幅如何，大概要读多久？

约145千字、190余页，属于中篇体量的长篇小说。情节紧凑、对白与场景推进快，多数读者可在两三个晚上读完。

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About the author

海飞 Author

Hai Fei is an author about whom limited public information is available; three works are currently known: Fireworks of My Youth: Selected Works of Hai Fei, Searching for the Military Pigeon, and Warhorse in the Snow. Judging from these titles, Hai Fei's writing touches on two categories, classic works and war and military themes. Searching for the Military Pigeon and Warhorse in the Snow clearly suggest military and wartime narratives, while Fireworks of My Youth: Selected Works of Hai Fei carries the sense of a personal retrospective compiled by the author himself. Because basic details such as dates of birth and death and nationality are not clearly recorded, a more detailed account of his life and creative career is difficult to provide. Overall, Hai Fei's output is small and his subjects relatively concentrated, appearing in both the war and military vein and in the personal selected-works vein; readers may gain a sense of his writing through the three works mentioned above.