亨利和山田圭子.docVIP

亨利和山田圭子 　　《悲喜边缘的旅馆》（Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet）是美国著名华裔作家杰米?福特（Jamie Ford）于2009年创作的第一本小说，也是获得最多好评的小说。 　　华裔男孩亨利?李（Henry Lee）和其日裔女孩山田圭子（Keiko）是雷尼尔学校仅有的两名非白人学生，于是他们很快结识并成为知心好友。但Henry的父亲反对他们交往，导致两人失去了联系。这个故事衬托出战争对个体命运，尤其是生活在异国他乡的移民的影响。面对历史大背景，个体是多么的无助无奈和卑微。Keiko一家对美国人和中国人并没有敌意，但因日本跟美国和中国交战，Henry的爸爸不惜用断绝父子关系来阻止两人的交往。小说的背景是1986年步入中年的Henry回忆他与Keiko之间那段难以忘怀的情感经历。 　　这篇节选里讲述了圭子与她的父母邀请亨利与他们共进午餐。在谈话时，圭子妈妈注意到了亨利的大红色别针――上面写着“我是中国人”。因珍珠港事件，在美国的日本人受到排挤，亨利爸爸一直要求亨利随时随地佩戴这枚别针以避免被别人误认为是日本人。作者通过在此章的开头和结尾都描写这个别针来强调二战时期对于中国人这个身份的认知。 　　Within a week， the evacuation（疏散，撤离）of Bainbridge Island was already old news―within a month it was almost forgotten， on the surface， anyway―everyone was doing their best to go about business as usual. Even Henry felt the restless calm as he and Keiko made plans for lunch on Saturday. She had surprised him by calling his home. Henry’s father had answered the phone. As soon as she spoke in English， he handed the receiver to Henry. His father didn’t ask who it was， just asked if it was a girl―knowing full well the answer. 　　I guess he just wanted to hear it from my lips， thought Henry. “Yes， it’s a girl” was all he offered. The words came out in meaningless English， but he nodded and explained， “She’s my friend.” His father looked confused， yet seemingly resigned to the fact that his son was practically in his teens. Back in China， the Old Country， marriages happened as early as thirteen or fourteen. Sometimes they were arranged at birth， but only for the very poor or the very rich. 　　His father would probably be more concerned if he knew the purpose of the call―to meet Keiko’s family. No， Henry realized， concerned was too gentle a word， his father would be livid（怒不可遏的）. 　　Henry， on the other hand， was less worried until he realized that lunch might qualify as a date―a thought that made his stomach churn（翻?L）and his palms sweat. He reassured himself that it was nothing fancy， just lunch with the Okabes（Keiko的父母）. 　　At school， things seemed