经济学人下载:《冰岛小姐》书评--美丽的线条(1)

Books & arts
文艺板块

Book review
书评

Icelandic fiction
冰岛小说

Lines of beauty
美丽的线条

Miss Iceland.
冰岛小姐

By Audur Ava Olafsdottir.
作者：奥杜尔·阿瓦·奥拉夫斯多蒂尔

One of iceland’s most celebrated authors, Audur Ava Olafsdottir writes quirky and beguiling fiction about people who leave familiar environments, venture into the unknown and end up learning more about themselves than about their new surroundings. In “Butterflies in November”, a woman turns her back on her worries and heads off with her best friend’s deaf-mute son, her three goldfish and her recent lottery winnings on a zany yet enlightening Icelandic road-trip. In the grittier “Hotel Silence”, a suicidal man books a one-way flight to a war-torn country, but instead of fulfilling his death-wish acquires a fresh lease of life.
奥杜尔·阿瓦·奥拉夫斯多蒂尔是冰岛最著名的作家之一，她写了很多离奇而迷人的小说，讲述了人们离开自己熟悉的环境，并冒险进入未知世界，最终，人们探索了新的环境，并对自己产生了更深刻的认知。在《Butterflies in November》一书中，一位妇女撇开自己的担心，带着自己最好的朋友的聋哑儿子、三条金鱼以及最近中奖的彩票奖金，踏上了一次滑稽可笑又发人深省的冰岛公路旅行。在标榜着勇气的《Hotel Silence》一书中，一位想要自杀的男子订了一张前往战乱国家的单程机票，但他并没有实现自己死亡的愿望，反而获得了新生。

In “Miss Iceland”, her latest novel to appear in English—smoothly translated by Brian FitzGibbon—the protagonist embarks on a journey of self-discovery when she moves from her sparsely populated home region to the capital. Her attempts to settle down in a big city and achieve her ambitions in a conservative world make for an absorbing, bittersweet tale.
《冰岛小姐》是她最新的英文小说，由布莱恩·菲茨吉本翻译，主人公从人烟稀少的家乡搬到首都，踏上了自我发现的旅程。她试图在一个大城市安顿下来，在一个保守的世界里实现自己的抱负，这是一个引人入胜、苦乐参半的故事。

Hekla arrives in Reykjavik in 1963 with grand plans to become a writer. Almost immediately she is offered a different kind of opportunity. A board member of the Reykjavik Beauty Society tells her it is looking for “unattached maidens, sublimely endowed with both clean-limbedness and comeliness” to participate in the Miss Iceland contest. Hekla declines, but quickly learns that men call the shots and value her looks more than her literary talent.
1963年，赫克拉带着成为一名作家的宏伟计划来到了雷克雅未克。她几乎立刻就得到了一个与众不同的机会。雷克雅未克美容协会的一位董事会成员，告诉她该协会正在寻找“拥有干净的肢体和美丽的外表的独身少女”，参加冰岛小姐的比赛。赫克拉谢绝了，但很快就发现男人们说了算，而且他们更加看重她的长相，而不是她的文学才华。