Great Sentences 017: Stephen King两个月前最新的书
今天跟你分享的句子是:
I’d get home from school around three. My father would roll in around rive, with a few drinks already under his belt and on his breath. – Stephen King “Fairy Tale”
摘自Stephen King 2022年9月6日最新出版的小说《传说》,是一部奇幻小说(fantasy novel)。目前在Goodreads上得分4.3.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60177373-fairy-tale
我先来简单翻译一下:
我每天下午三点左右放学回到家,我爸五点来钟晃晃悠悠地进门,已经几杯下肚了,满嘴酒气。
这句话好在哪里?
首先,roll in这个俚语用得好,意思就是“到来”,但有一种神不知鬼不觉突然出现的味道,形容喝了酒的人那种神出鬼没的样态很传神。
A few drinks already under his belt 这句大赞啊,说 under his belt 指肚子,而不说 in his belly. 高。
And on his breath 注意这两个小短句里面对应的两个介词:under his belt; on his breath.
看似很随手的一个简单句,其实是结构巧妙的设计。
这就是大作家的手法。
这是我本周在读的一本书,很抓人心。我每个月基本上都要读一本Stephen King的书,很放松,又很难放下,像年轻时读武侠小说或很多年前刚开始看美剧那种感觉。
推荐几个我平时经常阅读和参考的书评网站,是我选书的主要参考依据:
- The New York Times Book Review – https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/book-reviews
- The Atlantic Magazine Book Review – https://www.theatlantic.com/category/book-review/
- London Review of Books – https://www.lrb.co.uk/
- The Paris Review – https://www.theparisreview.org/
近年来我只参考这四个网站的书评频道,英语世界顶格的文学和书评基地,用大陆网络热词说就是——英语书评天花板。全世界英语文艺青年和文艺中年绑在一起也文艺不过这四个网站。