Love (2016 Edition)

Toni MorrisonNanhai Publication Company2016

Rating 4.1
Word count
150K words
Chapters
1
Series
New Classics Library · Toni Morrison Works
ISBN
9787544282444

Tags

Literature Foreign Literature FateBetrayalEulogySeaside TownAmerican AuthorAfrican American LiteratureWomen's WritingNobel Prize

Summary

Love is the eighth novel by American writer Toni Morrison, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature. Originally titled Love, it was published in 2003. The story is set in the seaside town of Silk, and its central figure is the revered resort hotel owner Bill Cosey. He is a father, a husband, a lover, a guardian, and a friend; he has been dead for years, yet still controls the desires and fates of every woman around him. His daughter-in-law May, granddaughter Christine, young late-life wife Heed, cook L, and Junior, hired to "ghostwrite" his eulogy... they are hostile, suspicious, and exhausting to one another around the same man, and also mirror one another. Through fragmented narrative and shifting points of view, the novel gradually pieces together a family feud spanning nearly half a century. The chapters, titled "Portrait," "Friend," "Stranger," "Benefactor," "Lover," "Husband," "Guardian," "Father," and "Ghost," sketch the man and the love and hate in the women's hearts from different sides. Morrison once said: "People say I always write about love... in fact, I write about betrayal. Love is the sky, betrayal is the lightning that splits the sky open so people can see." In this work, love is no longer a tender romantic promise but a complex force entangled with possession, control, jealousy, memory, and forgiveness; it asks how Black women, under the double oppression of race and gender, can love rather than hate one another, and be surrounded by love rather than imprisoned by it. The Chinese translation is by Gu Yue, whose text preserves the original's dense, poetic rhythm.

Editor's review

托妮·莫里森是中国读者最熟悉的一批诺奖作家之一，《宠儿》《所罗门之歌》常年出现在各类必读书单上，而《爱》是她获诺奖之后出版的第二部长篇，被《新闻周刊》称为“莫里森巅峰时期的成熟之作”。这本书的特别之处在于，它把“爱”这个最容易被写成糖水的主题彻底拆开：爱如何变成控制，渴望如何变成仇恨，一个女人如何被另一个女人视为敌人。全书的章节不用序号，而以“朋友”“情人”“父亲”“幽灵”这类身份命名，读者就像在翻一本相册，每翻一页都从另一个人的眼睛里重看同一个男人。顾悦的译文保留了莫里森独有的绵长句法和音乐性，九章短而密，读起来像一场缓慢收紧的合奏。需要提醒的是，本书并不提供温暖治愈的阅读体验：它的结构是破碎的，叙述者是游移的，真相要读到最后一章才浮出水面。恰恰是这种难度，让它成为理解莫里森全部创作母题的一把钥匙：爱、背叛、记忆与自由。如果你只读过《宠儿》，这本会让你看见她更冷静、更锋利的一面。

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. 先读第一至三章理清人物关系，可自绘一张柯西家族的人物关系图。
  2. 留意每章标题所指的身份，思考同一事件在不同叙述者口中如何变形。
  3. 若感到叙事跳跃，不必强求线性还原，读完全书后再回看前面章节的伏笔。
  4. 可配合莫里森关于“爱是天空，背叛是闪电”的自述一起理解全书主题。

About the publisher

Nanhai Publication Company China · Founded in 1988

Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.

Contents

  1. New Classic Library · Toni Morrison Works

FAQ

《爱（2016版）》和2013年的版本有什么不同？ 两者内容主体相同，均出自顾悦的译本、由南海出版公司出版；2016版为第2版，属于“新经典文库·托妮·莫里森作品”系列，共249页，约15万字，ISBN为9787544282444。
这本书需要先读莫里森的其他作品吗？ 不需要。《爱》是独立的长篇小说，人物与情节不依赖其他作品；但如果读过《宠儿》《爵士乐》，会更容易把握她反复书写的主题，如记忆、家族与黑人女性的处境。
小说的叙述结构为什么这么跳跃？ 莫里森有意不用线性叙事，而以九个人物身份命名的章节、多重第一人称与回忆交错来推进，让读者像拼图一样逐步接近真相，这也是本书最被称道的艺术特色。
这本书适合作为外国文学课程的选读材料吗？ 适合。篇幅不长而文本层次丰富，涉及叙事视角、意识流、种族与性别议题，常被用于讨论非裔美国文学与女性写作；不过建议配合导读或作品背景资料一起阅读。

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

Toni Morrison Author

Toni Morrison is a world-renowned American novelist whose works are often classified under literature, foreign literature, and world classics. Her fiction focuses largely on race, identity, and historical memory in American society, with a profound and poetic touch that builds tension between individual fates and collective experience. Her prose is concise, and her narratives often break with linear time, presenting characters' inner worlds through multiple perspectives and forming a highly distinctive style. Her representative work Love has circulated in several Chinese editions, and a collected set has also been published. Because the database contains no confirmed information on her birth and death dates or nationality, public information is limited, and no speculation is made here. Overall, Morrison's works combine literary artistry with intellectual depth and have had a broad and lasting influence on contemporary world literature.