美国亚马逊（Amazon）编辑团队每月通过真实、深入的阅读，选出当月值得阅读的佳作。12月入围榜单的图书共十本，其中包括中国作家阎连科的长篇小说《日熄》英文版。书单每本书附有一段简介评述，本文为书评原文及译文，以便读者更迅速了解书本信息。
Once upon a river
When a man bursts into a riverside inn on the longest night of the year, covered in blood and carrying a dead child, the patrons of the Swan are beyond thrilled to find themselves in the middle of a swiftly unfolding tale—especially when the child is determined to actually be alive. Is the mute girl the long-missing daughter of a nearby wealthy family, or the bastard child of woman who threw herself in the Thames only a day or so earlier? Inquiring minds want to know. Weaving among the turmoil is a buoyant dance between science and superstition, as Darwin's ideas, psychiatry, and scientific observation waltz with skullduggery, a curiously wise pig, and a man—or ghost—who patrols the Thames. As Setterfield (The Thirteenth Tale) juggles a colorful mob of characters whose lives are upended by the mysterious young girl, the joy of storytelling permeates every moment in this lively and wise historical novel. --Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review
在一年当中最长的夜,一个男人满身是血抱着一个死去的孩子闯进一个河畔酒店,天鹅守护人震惊地发现自己在一个迅速展开的故事当中——尤其是当这个孩子决心真正活着的时候。这个哑巴女孩是附近一个富裕家庭失踪已久的女儿，还是仅仅一天前才投河自首的女人的私生子？好奇的人都想知道。在“达尔文的思想”，“精神病学”，“科学观察与狡猾的诡计”，“一头聪明而好奇的猪”，“泰晤士河畔巡逻的人或鬼”等篇目里，混乱之中交织着科学与迷信轻快的舞蹈。随着第13个故事在一群色彩缤纷的角色中展开，他们的生活被这个神秘的小女孩颠覆了。在这部生动而睿智的历史小说中，讲故事的乐趣渗透到每一秒钟。——艾德里安·梁，亚马逊书评
How long til black future month?
N.K. Jemisin has been sweeping science fiction and fantasy awards for years with her Broken Earth novels. Now Jemisin gathers almost two dozen short stories she crafted during her writing career, and, golly, you can see "award winner" on every page. I usually avoid reading short story collections, because inevitably the first two stories are excellent and the third through the eighth stories are mediocre, sucking away the propulsion to keep reading. But each one of Jemisin's tales is gloriously bright and complex, thrusting you forward to read the next, and the one after that…and then suddenly it's the next morning and you haven't gotten a wink of sleep. The collection's title reflects Jemisin's realization that the science fiction she read frequently excluded characters of color, making it seem like people like her had no place in writers' dreams of the future. Jemisin's stories reshape that vision through the lens of alternate history, dragons, fairies, near-future drama, and far-future events that spotlight the age-old blight of discrimination and upend readers' assumptions about who can be heroic. Through her imagination and fierceness, Jemisin declares that Black Future Month can be now. --Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review
多年来，杰米森凭借《破碎的地球》系列小说横扫科幻和奇幻类奖项。现在，杰米森集结出版了她在写作生涯中创作的二十多篇短篇小说，你在每一页上都能看到“获奖作品”。我通常会避免阅读短篇小说集，因为开篇两个故事往往是优秀的，而第3个到第8个故事则往往平庸，这消耗了我继续阅读的动力。但杰米森的每一个故事都光彩夺目、错综复杂，让你迫不及待地想要读下一个故事，再读下一个故事……直至天亮，你一夜未眠。从这本书的书名可以看出，杰米森意识到她的科幻小说经常把有色人种排除在外，让她似乎在未来的作家中没有一席之地。杰米森的故事通过交替的历史镜头重塑了这一视角，龙、仙女、接近未来的戏剧和遥远未来的事件凸显了歧视的古老阴影，颠覆了读者对于英雄的假设。杰米森通过她的想象和激烈的言辞宣称，黑色的未来之月可以就是此刻。——艾德里安·梁（Adrian Liang），亚马逊书评
Kindom of the blind
Thrillers are mostly populated with damaged crusaders, loose cannons, or lone wolves fighting crime single-handedly. Like literary Jenga, Louise Penny removes most of these testosterone-drenched tropes without sacrificing the high stakes that propel a thriller forward. In Kingdom of the Blind Chief Inspector Gamache is on the ropes professionally as a shipment of opioids that escaped him in an earlier book makes its way to the streets of Montreal. Heads will roll, and Gamache’s is top of the list, with pressure being applied to his son-in-law and second-in-command Jean-Guy to work the guillotine. Meanwhile back in Three Pines, Gamache, Myrna, and a neighboring man are informed that they’ve been named executors to the estate of a woman who had given herself the delusionary title of Baroness. It’s quizzical until it turns deadly and a beneficiary is found dead in the woman’s decrepit house. Reading Penny’s deceptively loose plots, the reader gets distracted by the priest-like Gamache marshaling his flock, personal and professional, attuned to any strays he may need to take under his protective wing. It isn’t until Penny pulls the final string that the plot goes taut, the smoke and mirrors fall away, Gamache’s true gameplan is revealed, and the evil that was hiding in the blind spots is exposed in this dark, slow-burning, and masterful thriller. --Vannessa Cronin
惊悚小说里大多都是受伤的革命者、散乱的大炮，或者是单枪匹马打击犯罪的孤狼。就像作品《詹娜》(Jenga)一样，露易丝·佩妮(Louise Penny)在保留小说高潮情节的前提下，去掉了大部分充满雄性激素的比喻。在《黑道枭雄》中，首席巡视员甘玛希(Gamache)正处于职业生涯的危机时刻，因为在前一本书中，从他手中遗失的一批类似鸦片的毒品正在运往蒙特利尔的街头。必将有人为此断送性命，而甘玛希排在第一位。因此，类似“刽子手”的工作让-盖伊(Jean-Guy)压力极大，因为他正是甘玛希的女婿，也即本文的二号人物。与此同时，回到《三松》中，甘玛希、默娜（Myrna）和一个邻座的男人被告知他们已经被指定为一个女人的遗产执行人，这个女人给了自己一个虚幻的男爵夫人的头衔。一切都扑朔迷离，直到它开始致命——受益人被发现死在这个女人的旧房子里。在阅读这看似没有连贯的故事情节时，读者的注意力被牧师转移了，就像甘玛希(Gamache)管理他的羊群一样，无论从个人还是专业的角度，他对任何可能需要他庇护的流浪动物都很熟悉。直到作者拨动最后一根心弦，情节才变得紧张起来，烟雾和镜子消失了，甘玛希(Gamache)真正的游戏计划得以揭示，隐藏在视线盲区的邪恶被彻底暴露在这部阴暗的、慢热却又高超的惊悚小说中。——瓦妮莎·克罗宁
Milkman
No one in Milkman, winner of the 2018 Man Booker Prize, has a name. The place isn’t named either, although it appears to be 1970s Belfast, the city where Anna Burns grew up. There are very few paragraphs in this stream-of-consciousness novel that is essentially about borders—the borders we try to maintain between ourselves and others, borders between different families, between cities, between countries, belief systems, even with time itself. The story revolves around “middle sister,” who keeps to herself and only likes to read old books because she’s not particularly a fan of the 20th Century. When a local man with a dangerous reputation, a “paramililtary,” takes an unwelcome interest in her, she is unable to repel him and seems incapable of breaking the chain of gossip and innuendo that surrounds her as a result. The issues in Milkman seem very relevant to today--#MeToo, political Manichaeism, gossip and opinion presented as fact—but this is a modernist novel and should be viewed through that prism first. It won’t be every reader’s cup of tea. It’s a rare vintage from an island that has no name. –Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review
2018年布克奖(Man Booker Prize)得主《送奶人》一书中，所有人都是无名氏。故事发生的地点也没有被命名，尽管它看起来像是20世纪70年代安娜·伯恩斯成长的城市贝尔法斯特。在这部意识流小说中，几乎没有几段内容不是关于边界的：我们试图维持自己和他人之间的边界、不同家庭之间的边界、城市之间的边界、国家之间的边界、信仰体系之间的边界，甚至是时间本身的边界。故事围绕着“二姐”展开，她一个人独处，只喜欢读旧书，因为她并不喜欢20世纪。当一个被称为“准军事分子”的当地男子对她产生兴趣时，她完全无法抗拒，也无法消解周围人们对她的流言蜚语和含沙射影。小说中的问题似乎与当下关系密切——#MeToo、政治摩尼教、流言蜚语和以事实形式呈现的观点。事实上这就是一部现代主义小说，应该首先从这个角度来认识。然而并非每个读者都喜欢这种风格，它就像是一种产自无名小岛的罕见的葡萄酒，由于少见所以很难被接受。——克里斯·施鲁普, 亚马逊书评
This is cuba
There was a time, before Fidel died and Cuba was "opened" to tourism in 2014, that Cuba cast a mysterious spell over would-be travelers: A country frozen in time with decrepit colonial architecture looming over resplendent beaches and vintage cars, all forbidden to outsiders by forces on both sides. In 2009, David Ariosto, a young photographer landed a coveted two-year assignment in Havana, where he observed of a country struggling to shift out of a Cold War mindset while the outside world inevitably leaked in. With evocative prose and an insightful eye for capturing the details of everyday life—large and small—This Is Cuba captures the island country at a crossroads, as it faces an uncertain future. --Jon Foro, Amazon Book Review
从菲德尔去世到2014年旅游业“开放”之前的一段时间内，古巴对旅行者有一个不成文的暗示：战争双方的军队都禁止外人进入这个被时间冻结的国家。在这个地方，陈旧的殖民建筑笼罩在金碧辉煌的海滩和老式汽车上。2009年，一位年轻的摄影师大卫·阿里奥斯托（David Ariosto）在哈瓦那（Havana）获得了令人羡慕的两年实地拍摄任务，他观察到一个国家正在努力摆脱冷战思维模式，与此同时外面的世界不可避免地渗透了进来。这本书以引人入胜的散文笔法和对日常生活细节或宏观或微观的敏锐洞察，捕捉到了正处于十字路口的岛国所面临着的不确定的未来。--乔恩·福罗，亚马逊书评
The Dakota Winters
Anyone who has ever lived in New York knows that New York is ever changing. But there are periods that stand out in the imagination, and the late 70s/early 80s of Tom Barbash’s The Dakota Winters is one of them. It was a tough city, with rampant poverty, drugs, crime, and grime, but it was also a vibrant, creative, non-corporate place of creative ambition. So there’s a lot of warm nostalgia in this novel, and that’s not even mentioning the famous celebrities who find their way into the story.The Dakota in The Dakota Winters is the famous upper West Side building where John Lennon lived (he is in the novel). The Winters are a family that resides in the Dakota. Buddy Winter, the patriarch of the family, is a well-known talk show host who suffered a nervous breakdown several years ago (he’s fictional, don’t look him up). His son, Anton, who contracted malaria while on a post-college tour in the Peace Corps, has returned to secure his own small apartment in the Dakota and figure out where to go from there. The drama in this story begins when Buddy asks his son to help him get back on his professional feet. Set in and around New York, up in Lake Placid during those Olympics, and venturing as far as Bermuda, The Dakota Winters is warm and entertaining, very sharp in its observations, and feels a little itself like a novel from another era. –Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review
曾经在纽约生活过的人都知道纽约一直在变化。但有些时期让人记忆格外深刻，汤姆巴巴什（Tom Barbash）《达科他州的温特一家》一书中的70年代末/ 80年代早期就是其中之一。这是一个贫穷、毒品、犯罪和污垢猖獗的城市，但也是一个充满活力、富有创造力的地方。因此，这部小说中有很多温暖的怀旧情绪，而且其中有许多名人以独特方式融入。小说中的达科他州是约翰·列侬居住的著名的西区上层建筑（约翰·列侬也在小说中），温特一家也居住在这里。家族族长巴迪·温特（Buddy Winter）是一位著名的脱口秀节目主持人，几年前变得神经衰弱。他的儿子安东（Anton）在大学旅行时感染了疟疾，回到了达科他州的小公寓并找到了出路。这部小说温暖而有趣，观察敏锐，仿佛来自另一个时代。故事的戏剧性即开始于巴迪要求他儿子帮他重新恢复职业生涯。小说发生的地点包括纽约及其周边地区，奥运会期间的普莱西德湖（Lake Placid）以及百慕达。-克里斯·施鲁普，亚马逊书评
The museum of modern love
In any other hands, this novel centered aroundperformance（ artist Marina Abramovic’s famous 2010 MoMA exhibit titled The Artist Is Present）might not have worked. But Heather Rose’s poetic language, at once both accessible and heart-searing, is also a work of art. Movie composer Arky Levin is depressed and isolated from the family he’s known for 24 years after being written out of his wife’s legal wishes when she falls into a coma. He should be working on music for a new animated movie, but instead he finds himself sitting on the sidelines watching Marina’s silent performance every day, and over time, he is completely changed by the experience. This is a captivating story on the improbability of life, the power of art to transform our pain, a meditation on the fluidity of time, and the ruse of human separation. --Marlene Kelly
在他人看来，这部小说并非以2010年表演艺术家玛丽娜·阿布拉莫维奇（Marina Abramovic）以“艺术家在场”为名（The Artist Is Present）的MoMA展览为主题。但是希瑟罗斯（Heather Rose）的诗意语言确确实实是一件艺术品，曾一度令人心驰神往。电影作曲家阿尔基·莱文（Arky Levin）的妻子和他结婚24年，而在陷入昏迷前却没有将他写入法律意愿，这让莱文感到沮丧和孤立。他本应为一部新的动画电影制作音乐，但由于他每天都观看表演艺术家玛丽娜的无声表演，时间一长他的体验完全改变了。这个迷人的故事讲述了生命的不可能性、艺术改变痛苦的力量、对时间流动性的冥想，以及人类分离的诡计。- 玛琳凯莉
North of dawn
What would you do if your son was a terrorist, responsible for the deaths of many and ultimately his own? Would you mourn the loss? Would you support his wife and stepchildren, sponsoring their livelihood and their move from Somalia to Norway? What would you do if his wife’s strict adherence to Islam and her violent past made it nearly impossible for her to assimilate? Would you trust her? Would you defend your son’s family? Do you encourage notions of freedom with his children? In North of Dawn, Nuruddin Farah confronts these questions head-on. Told from alternating vantage points and across several years, Farah weaves an emotional tale that pits the past against the future, pushing the limits of loyalty and love, family and religion, to their breaking points. --Al Woodworth
如果你的儿子是恐怖分子，导致许多人乃至他自己的死亡，你会做什么？你会为这种挫败感而哀悼吗？你会支持他的妻子和继子女、赞助他们的生活、帮助他们从索马里迁往挪威吗？如果他的妻子笃信伊斯兰教，而她的暴力曾经使她几乎不可能被感化，你会怎么做？你会相信她吗？你会捍卫你儿子的家人吗？你会和他的孩子一起坚守自由的理念吗？在《黎明北部》，Nuruddin Farah直面了这些问题。经过数年时间，Farah编织了一个情感故事，将过去与未来相提并论，将忠诚和爱情、家庭和宗教的界限问题演绎到极致。--Al Woodworth
Watching you
Watching You is a twisty cat-and-mouse thriller of voyeurism, obsession, and murder. Multiple narratives guide the action, which begins with a brutal death and works backwards to unmask the killer. A charming little English town is the ideal setting for characters who become more complex and intriguing as the pages go by. It’s not just the adults keeping a watchful eye on the neighbors and trying to uncover each other’s secrets—a couple of the local teenagers also have their own theories as to who is doing what--and with whom. Everyone in this quaint neighborhood seems to have a secret they’re desperate to keep, but whose is worth killing for? Author Lisa Jewell keeps readers guessing all the way through to an ending you won’t see coming. --Seira Wilson, Amazon Book Review
《看着你》是一个疯狂的猫捉老鼠式的惊险小说，通篇充斥着偷窥、迷恋和谋杀。小说中多个叙事线索并行，从残酷的死亡开始，以倒叙的手法揭开凶手真相。迷人的英国小镇是一个能让人变得更复杂和有趣的理想场所。并不仅仅是成人才密切关注邻居，并试图揭露彼此的秘密，当地的一些青少年也有自己的关注点，他们关注哪些人在做什么和和谁一起做。在这个古老的街区，每个人似乎都有一个迫切希望保守的秘密，但是谁的秘密又值得为之大开杀戒？作者Lisa Jewell让读者从头至尾一直猜测，直至你想象不到的结局。
--塞拉·威尔逊，亚马逊书评
The day the sun died
If you want to know what it’s like to live in China, read Yan Lianke. The Day the Sun Died takes place during a 24-hour period in a rural village in the Balou Mountains. One day in June, people begin “dreamwalking,” going about their business even though the sun has set. The story is told from the perspective of a 14-year-old boy named Li, whose parents are in the funerary business, and as the dreamwalking continues, the family business begins to pick up. Yan Lianke is one of China’s most popular and important writers, using satire to produce jarring social commentary—his aim is to reveal what exists just beneath the surface. As the dreamwalking continues, the villagers’ actions grow more sinister. Greed bubbles up. Jealousy turns to malice. Tradition and connection are buried beneath mindless industry. There are many deaths, many murders. Li’s uncle owns a crematorium; government policy requires burning, not burial, and the uncle grows very rich. But once the bodies are gone, they are gone for good. The narrative can be repetitive and meandering at times, but something very powerful lies among these pages. There is a reason that Lianke’s books are often banned in China. And there’s a reason he is so beloved by readers there as well. –Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review
如果你想知道在中国生活的感受，请阅读阎连科的作品。《日熄》讲述了巴鲁山的一个乡村里24小时内发生的事情。在六月的一天，太阳已经落山，人们开始“梦游”工作。故事以一名14岁男孩的视角展开讲述的，李的父母从事殡葬生意，随着梦游的持续，家族生意开始复苏。阎连科是中国最受欢迎和最重要的作家之一，用讽刺来传达社会批评，他力图揭露表面之下隐匿的真相。随着梦游的持续，村民的许多行为变得更加险恶，贪欲不断膨胀，嫉妒包藏祸心，传统埋藏于无意识的产业下，充满了死亡和杀戮。主人翁的叔叔拥有一个火葬场，政府的政策要求火化而非土葬，叔叔因此变得非常富有。然而一旦人们的肉体被火化，他们就会永远消失。作家的叙事有时会重复和蜿蜒，但字里行间中有非常强大的力量。阎连科的书在中国遭到禁止不是没有理由；同样，他的书深受中国读者热爱也不是没有道理。
-Chris Schluep，亚马逊书评
编辑：慕瑜
