The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Expressions

1. At least the big stores can sell ten thousand units of publishers dreck so that Island gets to sell one hundred units of literary fiction!

dreck: sth that you think is of very bad quality 垃圾；蹩脚货

The movie is utter dreck.

2. After twenty-five years in computers, his mother had come away with a respectable pension and this one opinion, A.J. thinks uncharitably.

uncharitable: unkind or unfair in the way you judge people 冷酷的；刻薄的

uncharitable thoughts

3. That infernal device is not only going to single-handedly destroy my business but, worse than that, send centuries of a vibrant culture into what will surely be an unceremonious and rapid decline.

inferno： [ɪnˈfɜ:nəʊ] 阴间；大火

Within minutes, the house had become a raging inferno.

infernal: 地狱的，阴间的； extremely annoying 极讨厌的；可恶的

4. You can't put your head in the sand and act like e-readers don't exist.

put one's head in the sand and act like XX not exist: 与中文里的“掩耳盗铃”有异曲同工之妙。

5. Do you know the real problem with that contraption?

contraption: a machine or piece of equipment that looks strange 奇特的装置

She showed us a strange contraption that looked like a statellite dish.

6. He was solicitous of me, started making plans for out own baby's arrival.

solicitous: being very concerned for sb and wanting to make sure that they are comfortable, well or happy 操心的；关怀的；关切的

Thoughts

今天写了一天的论文，现在头昏脑胀的。读了几页《岛上书店》，书中的主人公之一Maya正在走向成为一个作家的路上，而A.J.Firkry则是一位被时光和世俗所埋没的骨灰级文学爱好和评论者。读着读着我忽然很想知道如果现实里真的有人日复一日、年复一年的沉浸在阅读和写作里会不会有一天觉得烦躁难耐，至少对我而言，当某一刻觉得大脑枯竭毫无灵感的时候是挺躁虑不安的。这也是为什么我以前曾经虽也有当作家的憧憬但最终放弃了，因为觉得自己难以忍受那种日复一日去榨取灵感后某一天觉得才思枯竭的焦虑感。不过我还是很佩服那些职业作家的，能够成为一个职业作家的人除了有满腹的才华外还一定有那种忍受孤单寂寞、并在孤单寂寞里不断和自己较劲的勇气和毅力的。

这一章里全书开头被盗的那本Tamerlane终于出现了，所有故事慢慢练成了一个圈，渐渐呈现出它们之间的因果关系。这本书的结构安排很巧妙，一点点的铺垫，渐渐随着时间展开下去但却又不断回应之前所设下的悬念，读到故事末尾才能渐渐看清这副从始至终的图画。或许我们的人生也是如此，看似不相关的人和事其实都互相牵连，就像一根根交互穿梭的丝线一样，最终形成一幅有完整图案的织锦。只是很多时候，我们只是站在自己的角度只能看到这副织锦上的一隅所以不曾知道我们未曾经验目睹或耳闻但却与我们至为相关的人和事。