How Much of These Hills Is Gold
内容简介
An electric debut novel set against the twilight of the American gold rush, two siblings are on the run in an unforgiving landscape--trying not just to survive but to find a home.
Ba dies in the night; Ma is already gone. Newly orphaned children of immigrants, Lucy and Sam are suddenly alone in a land that refutes their existence. Fleeing the threats of their western mining town, they set off to bury their father in the only way that will set them free from their past. Along the way, they encounter giant buffalo bones, tiger paw prints, and the specters of a ravaged landscape as well as family secrets, sibling rivalry, and glimpses of a different kind of future.
Both epic and intimate, blending Chinese symbolism and re-imagined history with fiercely original language and storytelling, How Much of These Hills Is Gold is a haunting adventure story, an unforgettable sibling story, and the announcement of a stunning new voice in literature. On a broad level, it explores race in an expanding country and the question of where immigrants are allowed to belong. But page by page, it's about the memories that bind and divide families, and the yearning for home.
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作者简介
Born in Beijing but mostly an artifact of the United States, C Pam Zhang has lived in thirteen cities across four countries and is still looking for home. She’s been awarded support from Tin House, Bread Loaf, Aspen Words and elsewhere, and currently lives in San Francisco.
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目录
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读书文摘
随着她逐渐长大，爸的生命日益萎缩。他吃得很少，吃进去的东西似乎也只滋养了他的坏脾气。那坏脾气像一只忠心耿耿的恶犬，总在他左右。
他们肚子贴着泥地，往校舍爬去。成为别人口中的样子未免太容易了：畜生，下贱的小偷。露西绕着校舍偷偷爬到一个地方，她知道那里刚好被黑板挡着，别人看不到。教室里泛起响声。朗诵课文的旋律近乎神圣：利老师低沉的声音带起，学生们异口同声地呼应。差一点，差一点露西就要开口加入他们了。
盐撒在爸的身上后，看起来就像灰烬。苍蝇们纷纷逃离这场屠杀，蛆虫们却无处可逃。它们垂死挣扎，仿佛一个个白色的小舌头，痛苦地蜷曲起来。 经过四天的腌制，爸终于完成了某种变形。内莉也终于能好好休息、吃草了。萨姆用铲于翻弄着爸的器官，让盐分布得更均匀。还时不时把一个关节或缠在一起的肉剁开。从远处看，萨姆就像在拿着一个大勺子。 “埋葬只是另一种料理。” 妈曾这么说。
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