2020年经济学人 现代生活方式--特罗洛普系列书评(1)

Books & arts

来源于《图书与艺术》版块

Trollope’s world

特罗洛普的世界

The way to live now

现在的生活方式

Discover the king of Victorian box sets

发现维多利亚套装系列之王

Anthony trollope’s novels are almost custom-made for prolonged confinement¹. There are a lot of them—47 in all, divided up between single-hits (“The Way We Live Now”) and “box sets”, such as the six parliamentary books and six clerical ones. And they are utterly² addictive³: pacier than Dickens and with a wider variety of characters than Austen. Timothy West’s superb audio versions of the best-known means you can listen to them while cooking or walking (if you are allowed out).

安东尼·特罗洛普的小说几乎都是为长期监禁量身定做的。有很多这样的书——总共47本，分为单本畅销书(《我们现在的生活方式》)和盒装书(如六本议会书籍和六本牧师书籍)。而且这些书完全会让人上瘾：比狄更斯的节奏还快，人物比奥斯汀还多。蒂莫西·韦斯特最著名的版本的超棒音频版本，意味着你可以在做饭或走路的时候听(如果你被允许外出的话)。

Trollope is sometimes considered a niche⁴ author for greying Anglophiles. He wrote about quintessentially British institutions such as the Houses of Parliament and the Church of England. He lived in the high Victorian era when women and servants knew their places and men wore gigantic beards. Don’t be put off: his appeal transcends⁵ his time and class. The lead singer of the Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant, wrote the song “Can You Forgive Her?” after reading Trollope’s novel of the same name.

特罗洛普有时被认为是一位专为亲英老年人士写的小众作家。他描写了典型的英国制度，如议会大厦和英国国教。他生活在维多利亚时代的鼎盛时期，那时女人和仆人都知道自己的位置，男人都留着大胡子。不要推迟：他的魅力超越了其时代和阶层。“宠物店男孩”乐队的主唱尼尔·泰纳读过特罗洛普的同名小说后，写了《你能原谅她吗》这首歌。

His greatest theme is an eternal one: the lust⁶ for power and prestige, and the way it colours and warps⁷ human affairs. This theme dominates his ecclesiastical and parliamentary novels alike; it involves his female characters just as much as his men. Arguably, the most accomplished⁸ politician in his books is a woman, Lady Glencora Palliser, who brilliantly proves that, whatever the technical rules of the franchise⁹, the dinner table was as much a centre of power as the Cabinet table.

他最伟大的主题是永恒的：对权力和威望的渴望，以及对人类事务的渲染和扭曲。这一主题支配着他的教会小说和议会小说；涉及的女性角色和男性角色一样多。可以说，在他的书中最有成就的政治家是一位女性，格伦科拉?帕利瑟夫人出色地证明了，无论这个系列的技术规则是什么，餐桌与内阁餐桌一样，都是权力的中心。

1 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

2 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

3 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

4 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

5 transcends   

超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的第三人称单数 )； 优于或胜过…

参考例句：

• The chemical dilution technique transcends most of the difficulties. 化学稀释法能克服大部分困难。
• The genius of Shakespeare transcends that of all other English poets. 莎士比亚的才华胜过所有的其他英国诗人。

6 lust   

n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望

参考例句：

• He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
• Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念，就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。

7 warps   

n.弯曲( warp的名词复数 )；歪斜；经线；经纱v.弄弯，变歪( warp的第三人称单数 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾，

参考例句：

• This wood warps easily in damp conditions. 这种木料受潮容易变形。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Matt Lauer: Renewable biofuels. Park Ranger Rick Marshall Close. Time warps. 马特·劳尔：“可再生生物燃料。”瑞克：“不说了，时间都扭曲了。” 来自互联网

8 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

9 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。