內容簡介
The Moon and Sixpence, published in 1919, was one of the novels that galvanized W. Somerset Maugham's reputation as a literary master. It follows the life of one Charles Strickland, a bourgeois city gent whose dull exterior conceals the soul of a genius. Compulsive and impassioned, he abandons his home, wife, and children to devote himself slavishly to painting. In a tiny studio in Paris, he fills canvas after canvas, refusing to sell or even exhibit his work. Beset by poverty, sickness, and his own intransigent, unscrupulous nature, he drifts to Tahiti, where, even after being blinded by leprosy, he produces some of his most extraordinary works of art. Inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence is an unforgettable study of a man possessed by the need to create-regardless of the cost to himself and to others. Includes a new introduction by distinguished Maugham scholar and biographer Robert Calder
作者簡介
W. Somerset Maugham was born in 1874 and lived in Paris until he was ten. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, and at Heidelberg University. He afterwards walked the wards of St. Thomas's Hospital with a view to practice in medicine, but the success of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), won him over to letters. Something of his hospital experience is reflected, however, in the first of his masterpieces, Of Human Bondage (1915), and with The Moon and Sixpence (1919) his reputation as a novelist was assured.His position as one of the most successful playwrights on the London stage was being consolidated simultaneously. His first play, A Man of Honour (1903), was followed by a procession of successes just before and after the First World War. (At one point only Bernard Shaw had more plays running at the same time in London.) His theatre career ended with Sheppey (1933).His fame as a short-story writer began with The Trembling of a Leaf, sub-titled Little Stories of the South Sea Islands, in 1921, after which he published more than ten collections.W. Somerset Maugham's general books are fewer in number. They include travel books, such as On a Chinese Screen (1922) and Don Fernando (1935), essays, criticism, and the self-revealing The Summing Up (1938) and A Writer's Notebook (1949).W. Somerset Maugham became a Companion of Honour in 1954. He died in 1965.Robert Calder is professor of English at the University of Saskatchewan.
精彩書評
"[A] witty, compelling roman à clef...that mock[s] the way the world makes saints of the sinners who are often its best artists."??-The Boston Globe"It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest, to pretend indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham.... He was always so entirely there."??-Gore Vidal --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
前言/序言
好的,下麵是一份為您量身定製的圖書簡介,內容詳盡,絕不涉及您提到的那本書: 《塵封的航道:大航海時代的秘密與榮耀》 一部跨越時代、探索未知邊界的史詩級非虛構著作 序言:當世界地圖開始重塑 本書並非簡單的曆史編年史,它是一次對人類求知欲與徵服精神的深刻挖掘。在十五世紀末至十七世紀中葉這段波瀾壯闊的“大航海時代”,地球的麵貌以前所未有的速度被重新定義。我們習慣於在現代的衛星圖像和全球化的便利中審視世界,卻常常忽略瞭那段先驅者們麵對的真實恐懼、極緻的勇氣,以及他們如何在木製船隻上,僅憑星辰、羅盤與堅定的信念,繪製齣未來世界的輪廓。 《塵封的航道》聚焦於那些被教科書簡化處理的細節——那些在漫長航行中被遺忘的聲音,那些改變世界進程的偶然發現,以及那些支撐起偉大航程背後的政治、經濟與科學驅動力。本書將帶您深入那個充滿硫磺味、海鹽侵蝕和無盡未知的年代。 第一部分:西風的呼喚——探索的內在驅動力 第一章:香料與黃金的魅影 中世紀末期,歐洲對東方奢侈品的渴望達到瞭頂峰。絲綢、瓷器固然重要,但真正的權力象徵與財富源泉是香料——鬍椒、肉桂、丁香,它們不僅是調味品,更是保存食物、充當藥物的關鍵資源。奧斯曼帝國的崛起切斷瞭傳統的商路,這使得尋找一條繞過地中海的“新航路”成為迫在眉睫的國傢戰略。 本書詳盡分析瞭葡萄牙和西班牙如何將這種經濟需求轉化為國傢級的探險項目。我們考察瞭亨利王子在薩格裏什建立的航海學校,它並非純粹的學術機構,而是國傢壟斷下的軍事與技術孵化器。對“黃金海岸”的執著追尋,如何驅動著他們沿非洲西海岸的每一次謹慎前行。 第二章:技術的突破與迷信的壁壘 大航海的實現,是技術積纍的必然結果。本書不厭其煩地探討瞭關鍵的技術革新: 1. 星盤與象限儀的改良:如何從簡單的角度測量,發展到可以粗略計算緯度的實用工具。 2. 卡拉維爾帆船的革命:三角帆與方帆的結閤,使得船隻不僅能順風航行,更能在逆風時保持一定的航速和機動性,這對於探索麯摺的海岸綫至關重要。 3. 製圖學的進步:從托勒密的殘存理論到波特蘭海圖的實踐應用,繪製地圖本身成為一種戰略資産。 同時,我們也揭示瞭在這些進步背後,水手們普遍存在的迷信——海怪的傳說、“地球盡頭”的恐懼,以及如何利用宗教敘事來維持船員的紀律。 第二部分:橫渡未知——宏偉的遠徵與殘酷的現實 第三章:伊比利亞的雙雄對決 本書將重點描繪哥倫布、達伽馬和麥哲倫這三位關鍵人物的遠航策略。 哥倫布的“幾何謬誤”:深入分析他的計算是如何嚴重低估瞭地球的周長,以及他如何誤將加勒比海的島嶼當作東亞的前哨。我們考察瞭西班牙王室在財政睏難下如何權衡風險,做齣資助這一“瘋狂計劃”的決定。 達伽馬繞過好望角:這不僅僅是繞過一個地理障礙,更是對季風係統的精妙把握。我們還原瞭船隊如何在南大西洋“畫圈”以捕捉西南風,以及他們抵達印度後所遭遇的文化與貿易的巨大衝突。 第四章:麥哲倫的史詩與“地球的圓周” 麥哲倫環球航行是人類曆史上最偉大的地理實踐證明。本書的這一部分,重點闡述瞭穿越麥哲倫海峽的極端睏難——那不僅是物理上的寒冷和風暴,更是對人類意誌的徹底考驗。更令人動容的是,在麥哲倫本人殞命菲律賓後,幸存的船隊是如何依靠對香料的渴求與對活下來的執念,最終完成瞭人類對地球形狀的直觀認知。我們詳細分析瞭“維多利亞”號返迴塞維利亞時,船上所剩物資的驚人重量比,這幾乎就是對這次探索代價的量化。 第三部分:新世界的碰撞與舊秩序的瓦解 第五章:文明的交叉點:衝突與瘟疫 隨著探險的深入,隨之而來的是殖民的陰影。本書側重於描述歐洲探險傢與美洲、亞洲本土文明的首次接觸。這不是簡單的“發現”,而是兩個生態係統和兩種社會結構的殘酷碰撞。我們不再僅關注徵服者的軍事勝利,而是深入探討瞭歐洲人攜帶的病菌——天花、麻疹——對美洲原住民社會結構造成的毀滅性打擊,這種“看不見的武器”遠比火槍更有效。 第六章:貿易路綫的重構與白銀的洪流 隨著大西洋貿易的開闢,全球經濟體係開始形成。本書探討瞭“普世貨幣”白銀的流動路徑——主要來自波托西銀礦,通過馬尼拉大帆船航綫,如何跨越太平洋,最終流入中國明清的經濟體係中。這種跨洋的白銀循環,徹底改變瞭全球的價值分配,也為後來的全球貿易體係埋下瞭伏筆。 結語:遠航的遺産與我們今日的航嚮 《塵封的航道》總結瞭大航海時代留給現代世界的遺産:全球化的雛形、對科學方法的推崇,以及在不確定性中前行的勇氣。這段曆史充滿瞭英雄主義,但也飽含瞭對被徵服者的壓迫。通過細緻的檔案梳理和對幸存者日記的解讀,本書旨在提供一個多維度的視角,讓我們重新審視那段波濤洶湧的歲月,思考人類探索的極限與代價,以及我們正在駛嚮的未來海洋。 本書特色: 詳盡的航海日誌摘錄:首次將多國檔案中的原始記錄進行比對分析。 精美的復刻航海圖:配有詳細的圖例解讀,直觀展現地圖繪製的演變過程。 專業地理與氣候分析:結閤現代氣象學,重新評估當年船隊所麵臨的自然挑戰。 獻給所有對宏大敘事、地理發現及人類精神極限感興趣的讀者。