2008年4月26日 星期六

Isabel Allende

阿言德(Isabel Allende)

Columbia Encyclopedia: Allende, Isabel,
1942–, Chilean novelist. Since the 1973 coup that deposed her uncle, President Salvador Allende Gossens, Isabel Allende, who is among the most notable contemporary Chilean writers, has lived abroad, for many of those years in California. Her fiction is distinguished by its fusion of traditional realism with political (including feminist) concerns. Her first and best-known novel, The House of Spirits (1982, tr. 1985), which reflects the influence of Gabriel García Márquez and the technique of magic realism, tells the story of a Chilean family over three generations. Allende's fiction also includes Of Love and Shadows (1984, tr. 1987); Eva Luna (1987, tr. 1988); The Infinite Plan (1991, tr. 1993), her first work set in the United States; Daughter of Fortune (1998, tr. 1999); Portrait in Sepia (2001); and Inés of My Soul (2006), the fictionalized life of a 16th-century conquistadora.

Bibliography

See her memoirs, Paula (1994, tr. 1995), Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses (1997, tr. 1998), and My Invented Country (2003); J. Rodden, ed., Conversations with Isabel Allende (1999, repr. 2004); studies by W. Zinsser (1989), P. Hart (1989), S. R. Rojas and E. Aguirre, ed. (1991), R. G. Feal and Y. E. Miller, ed. (2002), L. G. Levine (2002), H. Bloom, ed. (2003), and K. C. Cox (2003).

Wikipedia article "Isabel Allende".


電影:金色豪門(Isabel Allende小說好萊塢電影版) Film: The House of the Spirits (Hollywood's version of Isabel Allende's novel) ..Amazon.co.jp: The House of The Spirits: Isabel Allende: 洋書

《我心中的伊妮絲》

(Ines of My Soul)

科爾賀原本最愛智利女作家阿言德以母親身分寫失女痛楚的《寶拉》(Paula)。某回和阿言德巧遇談起新作獲悉本書梗概,立時預知必屬佳作。智利國母伊妮 絲‧蘇阿瑞茲(In晹s Su罝rez)十六世紀由西班牙航向新世界,縱橫秘魯及智利的傳奇故事。「歷史學家遺忘的政治人物,因本書重回南美洲女性名人堂。」


女作家阿言德手抱已故愛女寶拉照片,新書《一把昨日》寫她在寶拉逝後的生活。
(美聯社資料照片)

穿裙子的馬奎斯阿言德回憶《一把昨日》

專擅魔幻寫實技法,贏得「穿裙子的馬奎斯」美名的智利女作家阿言德(Isabel Allende),近年新作別開生面,屢屢讓人眼睛一亮:1999年推出集合情色故事、食譜和春藥祕方的另類文字饗宴《春膳》,近年投身炮製奇幻少年小說 《天鷹與神豹的回憶》,與經典「納尼亞傳奇」互別苗頭。阿言德身世傳奇,愛女寶拉罹患罕見疾病昏迷,她1995年的《我女寶拉》(Paula)即是寫給女 兒的長信,以淚以情傷以身為母親的痛。本月初阿言德又推新書《一把昨日》(The Sum of Our Days),猶如《我女寶拉》續篇,向長睡的女兒訴說母親及身邊親友的生命遭遇。

阿言德的叔叔曾當選智利總統,但因流血政變遭槍殺,阿言德1975年與丈夫攜女兒寶拉、兒子尼可流亡委內瑞拉。1988年阿言德赴美,嫁給律師威利‧高 登。多年來阿言德每天循例寫信給留在智利的母親,這些文字實錄成為《一把昨日》的原始素材。新書以1992年阿言德與家人在林中撒下寶拉的骨灰開場;回顧 傷慟過往,做母親的如今顯得通透:「你離去的這些年我學會了面對憂傷,讓它成為我的盟友。」

像女性前輩吳爾芙一樣,阿言德用筆來思考理解世界。「我其實只是女人、母親、情人和小狗的主人,你必須要出身特異的家庭才能當上作家。」她自承有如黏著劑,全力吸聚家人、丈夫威利原來的妻小和許多怪異朋友,忠實訴說他們的人生難題。

威利帶來的繼女吸毒、未婚懷孕、早產生下畸型女嬰,又離家出走遇害,阿言德把女嬰送給一對信佛的女同志收養。威利兩個兒子都對阿言德不友善,一個看過新書 初稿抗議,逼阿言德不得不改寫。她感嘆威利「和子女間問題重重,我要是他,只會沮喪至死。」阿言德的兒子尼可好不到哪去,第一任妻子五年內生下三個小孩, 結果和女人外遇跑掉。阿言德只得幫兒子另找一個新老婆,愛管閒事的小說家趁新人不在家,跑去把新娘的瓷器全丟掉,重新擺設家具。種種強勢行徑,連阿言德都 說自己是「惡婆婆」。

阿言德把魔幻寫實技法同樣實踐在日常生活,她篤信鬼魂就在身邊,尤其是寶拉的亡靈,「我希望她活著」。亡靈在屋內游蕩、搬動家具、發出聲響,或重生以人的 形體。阿言德相信寶拉的亡靈能指引家人、應允禱告,帶來好事,反映她堅不接受死亡是終點的想法。相信生者與亡靈必能互動,正是她1982年一鳴驚人的處女 作《精靈之屋》的主調。






阿言德十分迷信,新書一定選在一月八日上午開筆,而且必定在旁邊點上新蠟燭。「每年一月八日我總心神不寧」,1981年這天,人在委內瑞拉的阿言德接到電 話通知祖父將不久人世,於是提筆寫信給他。沒想到一路寫成日後大紅的《精靈之屋》(好萊塢還拍成電影《金色豪門》),「好運打響第一炮,從此我總在這幸運 日動筆」。

《一把昨日》不僅是阿言德將親友緊箍在身旁的回憶錄,「精彩的、低調的,緊張和悲劇,才是我最感興趣的部分」。阿言德認為「每個生命都能以小說呈現」,她 教丈夫寫小說時比喻:「寫作像變魔術;不光是從帽子裡變出兔子,還要優雅,讓人相信。」她藉新書實證:生活影響藝術,藝術讓生活富有意義。




The Berlin Literature Festival 2007

Although this is a relatively a new event, the Berlin Literature Festival has already grown into one of Europe's biggest. The seventh festival came to close last weekend after over 150 authors had presented their work during the 14 day event. Highlights this year included readings by IsabelAllende, one of Britain's most talked about young writers A L Kennedy and best-selling Iranian author Azar Nafissi. (Reporter Nina Hasse/ Breandáin O'Shea)

Children's and Youth Literature major focus of Berlin Literature Festival

The Berlin Literature Festival got underway last week. This event
aims to give book enthusiasts the chance to experience literary
diversity in times of globalisation. And indeed this year there is
certainly a great diversity of literature being presented. Among
the big names at the festival is Canadian author Michael Ondaatje,
Latin American author, Isabel Allende and Australia's most renowned
living poet, Robert Grey.

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