名著推荐：13本书让你读懂古巴
Cuba: A Reading List
13本书让你读懂古巴
In the wake of President Obama’s announcement on Wednesday that the United States would restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba, we asked editors at The Times to suggest books that offer the best looks at Cuba’s history and its relationship to the United States. Here are a few of their recommendations:
星期三，奥巴马总统宣布美国与古巴全面恢复外交关系，于是我们邀请《纽约时报》的编辑们推荐一些关于古巴历史与美古关系的最佳书籍。下面是其中若干推荐。
“Before Night Falls” by Reinaldo Arenas
《黑夜降临之前》(Before Night Falls)，雷纳尔多·阿瑞纳斯(Reinaldo Arenas)著
Mr. Arenas was persecuted in Cuba for his writings and for being gay, and eventually fled to the United States. He committed suicide in New York in 1990, at 47. “Before Night Falls,” his autobiography, was later made into a film starring Javier Bardem. In The New York Times Book Review, Roberto González Echevarría wrote: “Anyone who feels the temptation to be lenient in judging Castro’s government should first read this passionate and beautifully written book.”
阿瑞纳斯因其作品和同性恋身份而在古巴遭到迫害，最终逃到美国。1990年，他在纽约自杀身亡，享年47岁。《黑夜降临之前》是他的自传，后来被改编为电影，由哈维尔·巴登(Javier Bardem)主演。在《纽约时报》书评版上，罗伯托·贡扎雷·艾克瓦利亚(Roberto González Echevarría)写道：“任何倾向对卡斯特罗政府作出宽容判断的人都应该先来读一读这本热情而优美的书。”
“Dreaming in Cuban” by Cristina García
《在古巴做梦》(Dreaming in Cuban)，克里斯蒂娜·加西亚(Cristina García)著
Ms. García’s first novel tells the story of three generations of women in one family, and how staying in Cuba or fleeing the country affects their lives. Reviewing the book in The Times, Michiko Kakutani said that Ms. García had “produced a work that possesses both the intimacy of a Chekhov story and the hallucinatory magic of a novel by Gabriel García Márquez.”
这是加西亚的第一本小说，讲述了一个家庭中三代女人的故事，以及选择留在古巴或逃离古巴为她们的人生所带来的影响。角谷美智子在《纽约时报》上评论此书时说，加西亚的作品“既有契诃夫短篇小说中的亲切感，又有加夫列尔·加西亚·马尔克斯(Gabriel García Márquez)长篇小说中奇幻的魔力”。
“Paradiso” by José Lezama Lima
《天堂》(Paradiso)，何塞·莱泽马·利马(José Lezama Lima)
This novel by Mr. Lima, a major Cuban poet, is about a boy’s coming of age and his search for his dead father. In the Book Review, Edmund White wrote that Mr. Lima “not only has the power to create absorbing and memorable images, he has also placed these images into a vast network of philosophical and mythical significance.”
利马是古巴的重要诗人，他的这部小说写了一个男孩的成长以及寻觅亡父的历程。埃德蒙·怀特(Edmund White)在书评中写道，利马“不仅有能力塑造引人入胜、令人难忘的形象，也能把这些形象放置在具有哲学与神话意义的巨大构架中去”。
“Three Trapped Tigers” by Guillermo Cabrera Infante
《三只惨老虎》(Three Trapped Tigers)，吉列尔莫·卡布雷拉·因方特(Guillermo Cabrera Infante)著
In the Book Review, Charles Wilson wrote that Mr. Infante’s most celebrated novel “borrows from the playfulness and form of James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ and ‘Finnegans Wake’ as it describes the decadent life of young people who explore Havana’s cabaret society during the Batista era.”
在书评版中，查尔斯·威尔逊(Charles Wison)写道，因方特这部最著名的小说“描述了巴蒂斯塔将军(Batista)统治时代，出没于哈瓦那卡巴莱酒馆下层社会年轻人的颓废生活，借鉴了詹姆斯·乔伊斯(James Joyce)的《尤利西斯》(Ulysses)与《芬尼根的守灵夜》(Finnegans Wake)中的戏谑与构架”。
“Explosion in a Cathedral” by Alejo Carpentier
《大教堂里的爆炸》(Explosion in a Cathedral)，阿莱霍·卡彭铁尔(Alejo Carpentier)著
Set in Cuba and elsewhere, Mr. Carpentier’s novel revolves around the story of Victor Hugues, a colonial administrator during the French Revolution. In the Book Review, Abel Plenn said the book’s images “succeed each other with cinematic speed and often hypnotic daring.”
卡彭铁尔的这部小说发生在古巴和其他地方，围绕着法国大革命时期的殖民地总督维克多·休斯(Victor Hugues)的故事进行。在书评版中，阿贝尔·普莱恩(Abel Plenn)写道，这本书中的形象“有着电影般的速度和通常非常迷人的胆量，他们彼此交相辉映”。
“Waiting for Snow in Havana” by Carlos Eire
《在哈瓦那等待下雪》(Waiting for Snow in Havana)，卡洛斯·埃尔热(CarlosEire)
Mr. Eire’s memoir about his boyhood in Cuba and eventual exile won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 2003. The author told The Times that the book was about “what’s precious in childhood and how that can be corrupted and blown up and destroyed by political circumstances.”
这是埃尔热的回忆录，讲述他在古巴度过的童年，以及最终逃出这个国家的故事，2003年获得国家图书奖非虚构类奖项。作者在接受《纽约时报》采访时，说这本书是关于：“童年时代珍贵的东西，以及它是如何被政治环境所败坏，打击和摧毁。”
“Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life” by Jon Lee Anderson
《切·格瓦拉：革命生涯》(Che Guevara A Revolutionary Life)，琼恩·李·安德森(Jon Lee Anderson)著。
Mr. Anderson’s book, published in 1997, was the first major biography of the revolutionary. In the Book Review, Peter Canby wrote: “Mr. Anderson does a masterly job in evoking Che’s complex character, in separating the man from the myth and in describing the critical role Che played in one of the darkest periods of the cold war. Ultimately, however, the strength of his book is in its wealth of detail.”
安德森的这本书于1997年出版，是关于这位革命家的第一本重要传记。在书评版，彼得·坎比(Peter Canby)写道，“安德森写了一本杰作，写活了格瓦拉复杂的性格，把这个男人从神话中分离出来，描述了他在‘冷战’最黑暗的一段时期中所扮演的关键性角色。然而，这本书的力量最终还是来自大量丰富的细节。”
“Cobra” and “Maitreya” by Severo Sarduy
《眼镜蛇》(Cobra)与《弥勒》(Maitreya)，塞沃罗·萨都伊(Severo Sarduy)著
These two avant-garde novels, one about a transvestite completing her transformation and the other about a cook who becomes a reincarnation of Buddha, are available in one edition from Dalkey Archive Press, which calls Sarduy “perhaps the strangest and most inventive writer” of the Latin American “Boom.”
这两部先锋小说一部是关于一位异装者努力完成自己的变化，另一部是关于一个厨子如何成了佛的化身。达尔凯档案出版社(Dalkey Archive Press)将之合并为一本书出版，出版社说，萨都伊在拉丁美洲的“文学爆炸”当中，“或许是最奇怪、最独出心裁的作家”。
“Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba” by Tom Gjelten
《巴卡地与古巴漫长的斗争》(Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba)，汤姆·吉耶尔顿(Tom Gjelten)著
The history of Cuba told through the family behind the Bacardi Rum Company, founded when Cuba was still a Spanish colony. In a review in The Times, Barry Gewen wrote: “There’s a shelf of histories to consult” about Cuba, but “it’s hard to imagine that any is as enjoyable” as this one.
这本书通过巴卡地朗姆酒公司背后的家族来讲述古巴历史。这家公司成立之时，古巴还只是西班牙的殖民地。巴里·格温(Barry Gewen)在给《纽约时报》的书评中写道，关于古巴，“有满满一书架的历史书可以去查”，但是“很难想像有哪一本能像这本这样有趣”。
“Dancing With Cuba” by Alma Guillermoprieto
《与古巴共舞》(Dancing With Cuba)，阿尔玛·吉勒莫普利托(Alma Guillermoprieto)著
“Dancing With Cuba” recounts the time the author spent in Havana in 1970, when she was in her early 20s, teaching modern dance to young Cubans. Writing in the Book Review, Katha Pollitt said Ms. Guillermoprieto “uses dance as a lens through which to explore the aspirations and injustices and contradictions of a whole society.”
《与古巴共舞》追溯了1970年作者在哈瓦那度过的一段时光，当时她20出头，教年轻的古巴人跳现代舞。在书评版，卡莎·波利特(Katha Pollitt)写道，吉勒莫普利托“用舞蹈作为镜头，探索整个社会的抱负、不公与矛盾”。
“Telex From Cuba” by Rachel Kushner
《来自古巴的电报》(Telex From Cuba)，瑞秋·库什纳(Rachel Kushner)著
Ms. Kushner’s first novel is about a group of Americans prospering in Cuba before Castro’s revolution, and what happens to them when change comes. In the Book Review, Susann Cokal wrote: “Kushner’s sharp observations about human nature and colonialist bias provide a deep understanding of the revolution’s causes.”
这是库什纳的第一本小说，讲述一群美国人如何在卡斯特罗革命之前在古巴发家致富，以及他们在革命之后的遭遇。在书评版，苏珊·科卡尔(Susann Cokal)写道：“库什纳敏锐地观察到人性与殖民者的偏见，令读者更深刻地了解这场革命的进程”。
“The Man Who Loved Dogs” by Leonardo Padura
《爱狗的男人》(The Man Who Loved Dogs)，莱昂纳多·帕杜拉(Leonardo Padura)
Writing in The Times, Álvaro Enrigue said that Mr. Padura “known for detective thrillers, has made his entrance to the Latin American Modernist canon by writing a Russian novel.” His book has three strands, involving Trotsky; his killer, Ramón Mercador; and a frustrated Cuban writer. The writer meets a man who may be Mercador and through him learns about Stalin and other 20th-century horrors, things he is ignorant of because of the Cuban government’s policy of “programmed ignorance.”
阿瓦罗·恩里格(Álvaro Enrigue)在《纽约时报》上写道，帕杜拉“以侦探惊悚小说出名，却写了一本俄式小说，从而跻身拉丁美洲现代主义经典行列”。这本书中有三股力量，分别是托洛茨基(Trotsky)、托洛茨基的暗杀者拉蒙·莫卡多(Ramón Mercador)，以及一位失意的古巴作家。作家遇到一个有可能是莫卡多的人，通过他了解到斯大林的事，乃至其他20世纪的恐怖事件，此前由于古巴政府的“刻意培养无知”的政策，作家对这些事情一无所知。
“Trading With the Enemy: A Yankee Travels Through Castro’s Cuba” by Tom Miller
《与敌人做交易：美国佬的卡斯特罗古巴之旅》(Trading With the Enemy: A Yankee Travels Through Castro’s Cuba)，汤姆·米勒(Tom Miller)著
Mr. Miller’s account of eight months he spent in Cuba, including run-ins with some well-known people and many ordinary citizens.
米勒描写了自己在古巴读过的八个月时光，他和一些名人发生争执，也和许多普通人打交道。
