Fraternity

John GalsworthyShanghai Translation Publishing House1985

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Word count: 241K words
Chapters: 40

Summary

Fraternity is a novel by the English writer John Galsworthy, published in 1909. It belongs to the phase of his work from 1901 to 1909 marked by social criticism, continuing the same preoccupation with class and hypocrisy found in his earlier The Island Pharisees and The Man of Property. The novel is set among the upper middle class of Kensington, London: the writer Hilary Dallison and his painter wife Bianca have long had a marriage in name only. Needing a model for her painting, Bianca has Hilary find Ivy, a lonely young woman who has come to London from the countryside; afterward the family, out of goodwill, tries to arrange lodging and work for Ivy, placing her with Mrs. Hughs, the seamstress employed in their household. But goodwill breeds new trouble: Ivy's arrival stirs up the Hughs household, and jealousy, misunderstanding, and the barriers of class pile up layer upon layer; Hilary's pity for Ivy also gradually becomes something he can scarcely control. The aged scholar Mr. Stone, in the household, spends his last years writing a work called The Book of the Universal Brotherhood, convinced that mankind is one family, yet this ideal of universal love retreats step by step before cold reality. The novel takes "the shadow" as its central image, portraying how the classes mirror one another yet cannot draw near, and analyzes the vanity of upper-class goodwill and the limits of humanitarianism. Gorky is said to have spoken highly of the work, praising it as written with a master's hand; Galsworthy himself was regarded by conservatives, because of works like this, as a writer who "betrayed his own class," and in 1932 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Editor's review

如果你只把高尔斯华绥记成《福尔赛世家》的作者，那么《友爱》会刷新你的印象。它比《有产业的人》更冷静，也更尖锐：全书没有大起大落的情节，真正推动故事的是一次“好心”——替一位乡下姑娘找住处、找活计、买一身衣服。高尔斯华绥的高明之处在于，他让每一个善意都合乎情理，又让这每一份善意都恰到好处地造成伤害，直到读者不得不承认：在阶级隔膜面前，个人的怜悯几乎注定要被误读、被利用，或干脆变成自我安慰。书中那位用整个晚年写《四海同胞》的老学者斯通，是本作最让人难忘的配角：他的博爱既可笑又动人，恰恰是全书的题眼。“影子”的意象贯穿始终，中产者的客厅与猎犬街的狭小居室彼此映照，谁都不是谁的救主。曹庸的译文沉稳克制，保留了高尔斯华绥那种略带讥讽、又留有余温的叙述语调。放在今天读，它依然是理解英国爱德华时代社会心态、也反思我们自己的“同情心”的一本好书。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢英国现实主义小说、想从《福尔赛世家》之外认识高尔斯华绥的读者
对阶级、贫富差距与社会善意议题感兴趣的读者
喜欢狄更斯一脉的社会小说、能够接受慢节奏心理描写的读者
英美文学专业学生与研究者，可作为爱德华时代社会小说的细读文本

Not a good fit for

偏好强情节、快节奏、悬念驱动的类型小说读者
希望读到个人成长或励志故事的青少年读者
对20世纪初英国社会背景完全陌生、又不愿额外查考资料的读者

Reading tips

建议先读第一章“影子”，留意作者如何用一场购物与一位报贩，把阶层差异写进日常细节。
阅读时可把“影子”当成一条线索：每当书中人物试图“帮助”下层时，想想他们的动机与代价。
读完不妨接着读《有产业的人》与《岛国的法利赛人》，能看清高尔斯华绥社会批判脉络的连贯性。
中译本篇幅约二十四万字，可每天两三章推进，遇上大段心理描写放慢速度，效果更好。

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

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.

Chapter One: The Shadow
Chapter Two: A Family Discussion
Chapter Three: Hilary's Study
Chapter Four: The Little Model
Chapter Five: The Comedy Opens
Chapter Six: First Visit to Hound Street
Chapter Seven: Cecilia's Disturbed Thoughts
Chapter Eight: Mr. Stone's Willfulness
Chapter Nine: Hilary Follows
Chapter Ten: The Dowry
Chapter Eleven: Pear Blossom
Chapter Twelve: The Ship Under Sail
Chapter Thirteen: A Voice in the Night
Chapter Fourteen: An Outing
Chapter Fifteen: A Second Visit to Hound Street
Chapter Sixteen: Under the Elms
Chapter Seventeen: The Two Brothers
Chapter Eighteen: The Perfect Dog
Chapter Nineteen: Bianca
Chapter Twenty: Husband and Wife
Chapter Twenty-One: The Sabbath
Chapter Twenty-Two: Hilary Makes an End
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Book of the Universal Brotherhood
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Land of Shadows
Chapter Twenty-Five: Mr. Stone Waits
Chapter Twenty-Six: A Third Visit to Hound Street
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Stephen's Private Life
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Hilary Hears the Cuckoo
Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Little Model Returns
Chapter Thirty: The Swan Song
Chapter Thirty-One: Behind Bianca's Veil
Chapter Thirty-Two: Hilary Takes Charge
Chapter Thirty-Three: Sam's Misfortune
Chapter Thirty-Four: A Young Girl's Mind
Chapter Thirty-Five: Stephen Writes a Cheque
Chapter Thirty-Six: The Aloe Blooms
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Hughs Comes Home
Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Duel
Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Comedy Ends
Chapter Forty: The House of Harmony

FAQ

《友爱》的作者是谁？得过什么奖？

作者是英国小说家、剧作家约翰·高尔斯华绥（1867—1933），《福尔赛世家》的作者，1932年获得诺贝尔文学奖。《友爱》是他1909年出版的长篇小说。

这本书和《福尔赛世家》有关系吗？

没有情节上的关联。《友爱》是一部独立的社会小说，与《有产业的人》《岛国的法利赛人》同属高尔斯华绥早期的社会批判系列，主题都围绕阶级与私有观念，但人物与故事各自独立。

中文版由谁翻译、哪家出版社出版？

通行中文版为曹庸翻译、上海译文出版社1985年6月出版的《友爱》，平装，337页，约24.1万字。他后来还为该社译过高尔斯华绥《尾声》三部曲中的《过河》。

书名“友爱”指的是什么？

既指书中老学者斯通毕生撰写《四海同胞》时所鼓吹的人类博爱理想，也指“fraternity”所暗示的兄弟情谊。小说恰恰通过这一理想的落空，质问阶级社会中“友爱”究竟能否实现。

读之前需要了解爱德华时代的背景吗？

不必精通，但了解一点20世纪初伦敦的贫富分化与阶层礼仪会更好读。书中上层客厅与猎犬街贫民住所的对照，正是高尔斯华绥批判的落点。

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About the author

John Galsworthy Author · English · 1867–1933

John Galsworthy (1867–1933) was a British novelist and playwright and the winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is best known for The Forsyte Saga. His works often revolve around legal themes and show a strong concern for social ethics, frequently examining British society and family relationships. His plays tend toward naturalism, with representative works including The Silver Box, Strife and Justice. This site holds six of his works, including Fraternity, Over the River, The Waiting Daughter, My Heart Sprouted, The Crimson Flower and The Eighth Summer, mostly classified as foreign literature. Beyond the above information, public sources are limited, so this introduction focuses on his subject matter, writing style and literary influence rather than biographical detail.