The Enigma of Arrival 抵達之謎

The Enigma of Arrival, by V.S. Naipaul
Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (April 12, 1988), ISBN: 0394757602

中文譯本: 作者：奈波爾 譯者：李三沖 出版社：大塊文化出版股份有公司ISBN：9867975294

離開島嶼，似乎是一種選擇；抵達，似乎是一種命定。
「抵達之謎」也是意大利超現實主義畫家基利柯的畫作。畫裡有「一個碼頭；背景中，在圍牆與牆門（像剪紙圖案）之後，露出一截古船的桅桿；前景一條空空蕩蕩的街道上有兩個人，都身裹長袍，一個可能是剛抵達的人，另一個可能是港口當地的人。一個荒涼而又神祕的場景：它在傳達抵達的神祕。」

(book review: wrote in 2002)
I can’t quite remember why I pick up this book in the bookstore but it certainly ends up as a very worthy and unforgettable reading experience. This book was given as a birthday gift from a friend (though I named the gift :P). It is rather difficult to make the first few pages and I almost gave up. Given a second thought, I gave it a second try and I am glad I did.

This book is more like an autobiographer than a novel. In the whole process of reading, I am so eager to understand why the book is named “The Enigma of Arrival”, which probably is the only suspense in the book. Till I found out what is the source of the book title and what it stands for, I can’t agree more and I can’t think of any better title for this work. The author certainly has wonderful command of language--I can feel the delicacy of the language, the beauty of English and the subtleness of human emotions.

和之前幾篇一樣, 英文版的書介是以前寫的,看的也是英文版.現在放上來簡單聊幾句

不大記得當時怎麼會挑這本書, 大概因為書名看來很神秘, 引起好奇心吧. 看了之後幾年作者得到諾貝爾文學獎, 奇怪的是, 得獎之後我反而沒再看過他的書

這本書與其說是小說,不如說是作者的傳記—來自遙遠千里達主角移居英國, 內斂害羞的主角扮演起一個襯職的旁觀者, 文化差異的衝擊,新來移民的焦慮在以敘述為主調的筆下娓娓道來, 淡淡的低吟著思鄉之情的同時反應著對當初移民決定是否正確的懷疑

當時我一心想找到答案, 一個關於為什麼書名叫做”抵達之謎“的答案.而這也是全書唯一的懸疑之處,如果那可以被稱做懸疑的話. 現在我, 不再找尋答案. 不是因為已經獲悉書名之故, 而是更能體會人生之旅程,過程與結果往往一樣重要; 更能了解抵達未必是終點,而離開往往是結束,一種對舊生活的結束,離開卻也是開始,一種對新生活追尋的開始, 而旅程正展開著.