内容简介
PatrickWhite'sbrilliant1961novel,setinanAustraliansuburb,intertwinesfourdeeplydifferentlives.AnAborigineartist,aHolocaustsurvivor,abeatificwasherwoman,andachildlikeheiressareeachblessed—andstricken—withvisionaryexperiencesthatmayormaynotallowthemtotranscendthemachinationsoftheirfellowmen.Tenderandlacerating,pureandprofane,subtleandsweeping,RidersintheChariotisoneoftheNobelPrizewinner'sboldestbooks.
作者简介
PatrickWhite(1912-1990)wasborninLondonandtraveledtoSydneywithhisAustralianparentssixmonthslater.Whitewasasolitary,precocious,asthmaticchildandatthirteenwassenttoanEnglishboardingschool,amiserableexperience.AteighteenhereturnedtoAustraliaandworkedasajackarooonanisolatedsheepstation.Twoyearslater,hewentuptoCambridge,settlingafterwardsinLondon,wherehepublishedhisfirsttwobooks.WhitejoinedtheRAFin1940andservedasanintelligenceofficerintheMiddleEast.Atwar’send,heandhispartner,ManolyLascaris,boughtanoldhouseinaSydneysuburb,wheretheylivedwiththeirfourSchnauzers.Forthenexteighteenyears,thetwomenfarmedtheirsixacreswhileWhiteworkedonsomeofhisfinestnovels,includingTheTreeofMan(1955),Voss(1957),andRidersintheChariot(1961).WhenhewasawardedtheNobelPrizein1973,hedidnotattendtheceremonybut,withhistakingsandsomeofhisownmoney,createdanawardtohelpolderwriterswhohadn’treceivedtheirdue:thefirstrecipientwasChristinaStead.Lateinlife,whenaskedforalistofhisloves,Whiteresponded:“Silence,thecompanyoffriends,unexpectedhonesty,reading,goingtothepictures,dreams,unclutteredlandscapes,citystreets,faces,goodfood,cookingsmallmeals,whisky,sex,pugs,thethoughtofanAustralianrepublic,myashesfloatingoffatlast.”DavidMaloufisanovelistandpoet.HisnovelTheGreatWorldwasawardedtheCommonwealthPrizeandRememberingBabylonwasshort-listedfortheBookerPrize.HehasreceivedtheIMPACDublinLiteraryAwardandtheLosAngelesTimesBookAward.HelivesinSydney,Australia.
