好男人吉敷竹史和前妻通子的纠结已经持续了很久，很难用语言形容他对这个女人有着怎样的感情。在岁末，吉敷竹史突然接到了通子的电话。他按电话指示赶到车站，看到了在“夕鹤九号”上的通子正在缓缓远去…… 第二天，“夕鹤九号”上赫然出现了一具女尸！是不是通子？吉敷竹史心急如焚。他决定亲自调查。然而，赶到现场的他却发现了一个更棘手的问题——通子成了杀人嫌疑人！ 与此同时，又有两具女尸出现在通子的房中！而这个房间却是一间密室，这是一桩不可能犯罪！更诡异的事情还在后面。在凶杀案发生的当晚，“夜明石”竟然发出阵阵哭声，而有人竟然在暴风雪中看到一副古代的武士铠甲在黑暗中如幽灵般走动…… 究竟还有多少诡异的事情在等待着吉敷竹史？他不能失败，这不仅仅是刑警的职责……

简·奥斯丁(1775～1817)，英国著名女作家。本书是作者代表作，也是最受欢迎的一部作品。班纳特太太的毕生大志就是把五个闺女体面地嫁掉，故而总是把近旁有钱的单身汉看成某个女儿应得的一笔财产。于是有了几对青年男女跌宕起伏的分分合合：豪门子弟达西与聪慧机敏的二女伊丽莎白之间的谗言误会，富家公子彬格莱与贤淑善良的长女吉英之间的欲说还休，浪荡公子韦翰与轻佻无理的小女丽迪雅的私奔秽闻……最终男女主人公放下了各自的傲慢与偏见，做出合乎自己道德的选择。作品充分表达了作者本人的婚姻观，强调经济利益和门第观念对婚恋的影响。小说情节富有喜剧性，语言机智幽默，被多次改编成影视剧。56幅原版插图生动再现经典场景。

《当时已惘然》是一段纯净却纷杂的往事。赵允嘉和许鉴成从小一起长大，两小无猜。允嘉爱上《小王子》，耗尽一世年华等待，直到王子到来。而鉴成面对这一切，则蹉跎半生光阴诠释，直到星光散去。十年青春岁月里许多感人、精彩的故事一一发生。但当两人各自长大，一个赴美留学，一个遥在英伦，这段情感便成为了永远令人惆怅的思念。

《巴登夏日》最终得以向世，不啻是个奇迹。这部1977年开始动笔，1980年最终完成的“亚小说”，以想象陀思妥耶夫斯基1867离开圣彼得堡的行为主线，杂糅进陀氏私人生活与文学精神、俄罗斯文学神韵，以及作者个人的生命经历。这部扮演“伟大的俄罗斯小说”终结者角色的小说，手稿经过友人带到国外，于1982年3月在纽约的俄罗斯移民周报《新报》上首次公开发表。1982年3月20日，作品风刚选载一周，茨普金因心脏病发作逝世。 这部最初以英文出版的小书．在伦敦街头被著名作家、文学评论家苏珊·桑塔格偶然发现。被剧烈震撼了的桑塔格看来，这部小说仅仅被出版是不够的，仅仅意识到它的杰出也是不够的——必须要确立它在文学史上的地位!此后，作品相继被翻译成几十种语言，在世界各地得以出版，批评界给了它足够和全面的评价，纷纷称其为”文学史上被遗忘的10大杰作之一”、 ”20世纪最后一部小说”。

这本书是作者的亲身实录。作品里的108个短篇象征了灵魂探索、自我发现的旅程。 作者伊丽莎白·吉尔伯特30岁以后发现自己既不想要小孩，也不想要丈夫。在令人疲惫的婚姻结束之后，她在意大利、印度、印尼三个不同国度之间寻找自己——到意大利品尝美食，尽享感官的满足，在世上最好的比萨与美酒的陪伴下，灵魂就此再生。在印度，与瑜伽士的接触，洗涤了她混乱的身心。巴厘岛上，她寻得了身心的平衡。在这一整年的追寻快乐与虔诚之间的平衡中，她终于发现：“拯救我的人，并非王子，而是我自己操控我，拯救我”。 这本书出版后成为红透全球的女性心灵励志作品，在2007年全美年度畅销排行榜名列第三。

天正三年（1575）春夏，武田胜赖率大军大举围攻长筱城。退守长筱的九八郎拼死抵抗，长筱之战开始。德川家康求救于织田信长。信长率精锐援助家康，与武田军战于长筱之设乐原。联军以火枪队为主力，几以横扫千军之势，使武田五路大军首尾不得相顾，倾刻间，武田大败，宿将几损失殆尽，武田氏一撅不振。信长地位巩固，为“天下人”；家康则进入三年雌伏。天正七年，信长筑安土城，封右大臣，闻家康长子信康及其母诸丑事，大怒。家康杀妻灭子。天正八年春，德川主动进攻武田。九年，拔高天神城。十年，全线攻之，灭武田氏。日本本州岛东、北部平定。 天正十年春夏，信长迎家康于安土，大贺。信长令大将明智光秀为接待使，多责之辱之。光秀且惧且怒，心生反意。是年六月二日，光秀突然发动兵变，将仅带贴身侍卫的织田信长团团围于本能寺，尽杀之，以“天下人”自居。正用兵于中国地区的羽柴秀吉立即与毛利氏议和，回师京城，经山崎一战，诛明智光秀。德川家康潜回三河，极力向东扩张，尽得甲信诸地。

《夏洛的网》(第九辑）讲述在朱克曼家的谷仓里，快乐地生活着一群动物，其中小猪威尔伯和蜘蛛夏洛建立了最真挚的友谊。然而，一个最丑恶的消息打破了谷仓的平静：威尔伯未来的命运竟是成为熏肉火腿。作为一只猪，悲痛绝望的威尔伯似乎只能接受任人宰割的命运了，然而，看似渺小的夏洛却说：“我救你。”于是，夏洛用自己的丝在猪栏上织出了被人类视为奇迹的网上文字，彻底逆转了威尔伯的命运，终于让他在集市的大赛中赢得了特别奖，和一个安享天年的未来。但，这时，蜘蛛夏洛的生命却走到了尽头。

摘录：我根据爷爷的恋爱历史、根据我父亲的爱情狂澜、根据我自己的苍白的爱情沙漠，总结出一条适合我们一家三代爱情的钢铁纪律：构成狂热爱情的第一要素是锥心的痛苦，被刺穿的心脏淅淅沥沥的滴答着松胶般的液体，因爱情痛苦而付出的鲜血从胃里流出来，流经小肠、大肠，变成板油般的大便排出体外；构成残酷的爱情的第二要素是无情的批判，互爱着的双方都恨不得剥掉对方的皮，生理的皮和心理的皮，精神的皮和物质的皮，剥出血管、肌肉、蠢蠢欲动的内脏，黑色的或者红色的心，然后双方都把心向对方掷去，两颗心在空中碰撞粉碎；构成冰凉的爱情的第三要素是持久的沉默，寒冷的感情把恋爱者冻成冰棍，先在寒风中冻，又在雪地里冻，又扔进冰河里冻，最后放在现代文明的冰柜里冻，挂在冷藏猪肉黄花鱼的冷藏室里冻。所以真正的恋爱者都面如白霜，体温二十五度，只会打牙巴鼓，根本不会说话，他们不是不想说话，而是已经不会说话，别人以为他们装哑巴。 所以，狂热的、残酷的、冰凉的爱情=胃出血+活剥皮+装哑巴。如此循环往复，以至不息

她是淘金者的女儿，幼年的经历即让她懂得权力的重要。她有足够的精明，纷乱的战争年代成为她发迹的最佳时机；她有足够的野心，步步为营直至缔造庞大的钻石王国。在权力的棋盘上，每一个人都是她手中的棋子，无论是她的情人还是她的儿子……

在《恩主》中，桑塔格对梦境、幻觉情有独钟，让读者看到了作为主人公及叙述者的“我”的梦里人生。在这部篇幅不长的叙述作品中，“我”一共做了十三个梦，这还不包括这些梦的不同版本，而“我”差不多就在做梦和释梦中度过了六十一年的人生。因为父亲忙生意，姐姐嫁人，母亲去世，“我”从小就备尝孤独的滋味，并养成了耽于沉思的习惯。在省城读到大三，因发表一篇小题大作的哲学论文而退学，并进入一对中年夫妇——安德斯夫妇——的社交圈。沙龙搞得热热闹闹，“我”虽置身其间，但仍痴迷于自己的思考，并感觉自己踏上了一次精神之旅。然后，开始做梦，先是“两个房间之梦”。梦里的“我”表现出本人的某些性格特征——狡黠的谦卑，动辄产生羞耻感、哀求、害怕的样子，想与梦里压迫“我”、支派“我”的人讲和、套磁儿，等等。接着，“我”开始释梦，并请人帮着释梦。同样的梦中人出现在不同的梦里，如沙龙女主人安德斯太太，在梦里，她一会儿拒绝“我”的要求，一会儿又给“我”投怀送抱。“我”做的这些梦名堂很大，内容各异，包括“我”梦醒之后命名的“非常派对之梦”、“宗教梦”、“老资助人之梦”、“钢琴课之梦”、“镜子之梦”、“红枕头之梦”、“破窗之梦”、“泥鞋子之梦”、“军火库之梦”、“文学梦”、“木偶之梦”，如此等等，不一而足。 最为有趣的是，“我”在梦和日常生活之间搭起桥梁，也因此品尝到了内在生活的滋味。内在生活改变了“我”对他人的态度，梦指导并改变我的日常生活。过着这种亦梦亦真、合二为一的梦生活，“我”充满活力。在梦的导引下，“我”勾引安德斯太太，乘她丈夫出差在外的机会与她私奔。“我”和她在一座阿拉伯城尽情玩乐，而后慷慨地把她卖给一个阿拉伯商人。依稀是两年后吧，她伤痕累累、可怜兮兮地回来。“梦”指示“我”杀死她，可“我”没有成功，因为她坚不可摧。“我”把父亲留下的房子赠给她，等等。梦境和幻想在《恩主》中，似乎不仅起到了展开情节的作用，它们倒更像是小说中的主角儿，梦一个接一个地做，而且，“梦中复有梦中梦”，居然还有了自己的生命和逻辑。梦境和幻觉呈现出处于自我感知、自我探索之中的“我”的困惑和孤独，“我”内在的心灵世界由此也得到真实的再现。

本书是德国青年女作家尤迪特·海尔曼迄今为止唯一的作品，该书包括九个短篇，多描写柏林普通青年人的日常生活，其中，艺术青年的生活更是她喜爱的主题，因为她原本也是他们当中的一个。他们疏离于扰攘的主流社会，没有确定的生活目的和生活轨迹，也无法以常规来衡量他们的喜与悲，但他们并不是令人无法理解与接受的怪物。海尔曼以女性的细腻，大量描写细碎的生活琐事，然而那不是为了铺垫或渲染，一个不经意的动作或姿态，似乎便可以使读者产生“蓦然回首”的感动，对这些艺术青年的情绪产生共鸣。 图书目录 红珊瑚手镯 飓风 索尼娅 某种东西的了结 巴厘岛女人 洪特尔-汤普森-音乐 夏屋，以后 暗箱 在奥德河的这一边

故事讲述的是一个离奇的让人无法相信的故事，一个生意并不如意的古董商人，偶然间被牵扯进了一件发生在黄河清淤工程中的诡异事件当中，凡是经历这个事件的人一个接着一个毫无预兆的死去，他自己也逐渐感觉到了死亡的一步步临近。然而死因却依然扑朔迷离，在他锲而不舍的努力下，一个个谜团被抽丝剥茧，终于露出了隐藏在黄河的淤泥下面恐怖秘密……黄河村落晦涩的儿歌，河底石台中的透明人影，千年前的铁链，到底想捆住什么东西，死去的神秘老人，到底在河底看到什么？ 一切谜团的答案，尽在黄河鬼棺之中……

After 103 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and with four million copies of The Kite Runner shipped, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today. Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love. Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul--they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival. A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.

《半生缘》讲的是三十年代上海的一个悲惨的爱情故事。女主人公顾曼桢家境贫寒，自幼丧父，老小七人全靠姐姐曼璐做舞女养活。曼桢毕业后在一家公司工作，与来自南京的许世钧相爱，世钧深深同情曼桢的处境，决定与之结婚。曼璐终于也嫁人了，姐夫祝鸿才是个暴发户，当得知曼璐不能生育，便日生厌弃之心，曼璐为了栓住祝生出一条残计……十八年在天才作家张爱玲的笔下一晃就过去了，曼桢和世钧又在上海相遇，而岁月变迁绿树早已成荫…… 本书收录张爱玲的第一部长篇小说。初载一九五○年四月二十五日至一九五一年二月十一日《亦报》，题《十八春》，一九五一年十一月上海亦报社出版单行本；经张爱玲改写后，以《惘然记》为题连载于一九六七年二月至七月《皇冠》月刊，一九六九年七月皇冠出版社出版单行本，改名《半生缘》。

《羞耻》于1983年出版。小说明显地影射了巴基斯坦动荡不安的近代史。书中人物影射两位主要政治人物：布托及齐亚哈克。这是一部充满讽刺、揶揄与怪诞的小说。 作者以复杂的人物与虚实交错的情节，铺陈了一部似真似假的历史闹剧。故事环绕哈拉帕及海德两个家族的恩怨情仇展开：伊斯坎德·哈拉帕40岁时，放弃荒淫生活，成为“不完全的”巴基斯坦的平民总理。拉查·海德，军人，受伊斯坎德提携成为高级将领。伊斯坎德相信他不会制造麻烦，后来却在一场政变中被海德推翻。为报复伊斯坎德对他的羞辱，海德把伊斯坎德处死。 奥马尔·沙克尔是书中另一主要人物，是环绕着“权力中心”的边缘人物。他出生离奇，由3位姐妹共生，由这3个母亲共养，自小住在门禁森严的沙克尔大屋里。后来他逃离大屋，日后成为杰出医生，但也放荡不羁，不知羞耻。他起初是伊斯坎德的跟班，一起过着淫乱的生活，后来成为海德的女婿，政变失败后被处死。 小说围绕“非理性的宗教和政治暴力是导致社会的羞耻以及无耻的根源”这一主题展开，巧妙地结合了历史、艺术、语言、政治及宗教，描写一个现代国家的创建及其失败的过程。笔触轻快而又稳健，深入人与非人的领域，探索存在于每个人内心的疯狂、纯真与残酷；文体雄辩而又繁复，写出了一则充满野心、饱含讽刺的现代寓言，令人感到可笑的同时也感到恐怖。 作品曾获法国年度最佳外语书籍奖。

整理校注情况（摘要） 1.使用人民文学出版社一九九一年影印明万历丁巳（1617）年《金瓶梅词话》为工作底本，缺页由日本大安株式会社一九六三年同版别部影印本配补。校勘本主要有：北京大学图书馆藏明崇祯间刊本《新刻绣像批评金瓶梅》；清康熙间刊刻张竹坡批评的《第一奇书》本。 2.校勘以尽量保存“词话本”原貌为宗旨，文字大略可通或今思不通而当日未必不通者，不作改动。凡改动原文处，皆参核别本出校。明显的讹夺衍误而又无他书可校者，则斟酌厘定，并于校记中说明。 3.词话本中有部分俗体字、异体字、假借字或以方音直接录入的别字，在不影响阅读、理解的前提下，一般不予改动，以利博识。有些容易引起歧义者遵循现在简化字的写法，统一作某字，不一一出校。另有少量刻误之字，则径行改正，不出校。 4.词话本情节素材多有采撷自《水浒传》及宋、元、明话本小说者，凡遇此种情况，皆比对原书，《水浒传》用明容与堂刻本，其他话本小说采用《京本通俗小说》、《清平山堂话本》等早期刊本。词话本明显舛错处，据他书改正，出校记说明。词话本与他书文字相异但文意可通处，不作改动，出校记说明。 5.以《盛世新声》、《词林摘艳》、《雍熙乐府》、《群音类选》等明代曲集校核词话本中散曲。凡词话本句意可通，合于曲律而文字异于诸曲集者，以词话本为准，不妄改。词话本乖于曲律，文字错谬处，则参酌诸书，择善而从，并出校记。 6.本书注释侧重于俗语、方言、隐语、歇后语及江湖切语的诠解，典章制度与一般故事从略。注释不务繁琐引证，但求简明扼要。 7.多年来《金瓶梅》点校及语词研究成果斐然，本书亦有所汲取，不敢掠美，仅将主要参考书布列于下，注文中不再一一标示： 姚灵犀《瓶外卮言》 魏子云《金瓶梅词话注释》 王利器主编《金瓶梅词典》 黄霖主编《金瓶梅大词典》 白维国《金瓶梅词典》 傅憎享《金瓶梅隐语揭秘》 人民文学出版社一九八五年版戴鸿森校点《金瓶梅词话》 浙江古籍出版社一九九一年版《李渔全集·新刻绣像批评金瓶梅》 岳麓书社一九九五年版白维国、卜键校注《金瓶梅词话校注》 8.词话本内容有少量淫亵描写，虽与刻画人物性格不无关系，考虑到其负面影响，仍作了必要的删节。全书共删去四千三百字。

故事是以董昕、程真夫妇及其养女程功一家三口为主要人物之间的感情而展开的。 董昕是位建筑师，程真是位新闻女记者，程功在加国留学，读建筑系，常到董昕与汤姆合伙经营的建筑公司里去帮忙、学习，程功年轻貌美，口齿伶俐，讨人喜欢。程真为挽回与董昕的这段婚姻，放弃了自己心爱的记者职业移民到加国，一家团聚。董昕误认程功对他有爱意，冒言向程真提出离婚，程真听后十分震惊，怎么养女会与董昕结婚呢？在此时向，孙毓川的出现使程真陷于梦境中，产生多种幻觉。最后，董、程这段婚姻终告失败。

新经典文库·长篇小说系列。 本书采用了在中国现代长篇小说中前所未有的“倒放”式文本。小说中讲述了一个闻所未闻的惨烈的故事，把苦难写得质感透明，把深厚与天真糅成了至纯和心酸，从而写出了中国农民的一部心灵宗教史、生命救赎史。 全文由五卷组成，依次逆向地回溯故事进程，即第一卷叙述主人公司马蓝的死亡过程，第二卷说司马蓝担任村长后的奋斗经历，第三卷说青年司马蓝如何当上村长，第四卷讲少年司马蓝成为同辈中的领袖，第五卷说司马蓝的童年生活及其出生，中间穿插几位前任村长和其他有关人物的故事。认真阅读这部小说的读者，都会被小说中的严峻的生死问题所震撼。

世界文学文库。 《呼啸山庄》讲述了呼啸山庄的恩萧家族和画眉山庄的林顿家族之间的故事。西斯克利夫是老恩萧收养的孤儿，虽遭到了老恩萧的儿子辛德雷的仇视，但他女儿凯茜喜欢他，只是由于地位的差异而无法表白，于是他愤然出走。当他回来时，凯茜已嫁给画眉山庄的主人埃德加 林顿，西斯克利夫骗娶了埃德加的妹妹，企图占领画眉山庄。经过很多事后，西斯克利夫终于达到了复仇的愿望，但并不感到高兴，于是在一个风雨之夜结束了自己的生命。 本书随书赠送电影DVD。

《The Kite Runner(追风筝的人)》是一个阿富汗作家的处女作，霸占了美国两大权威畅销书排行榜《纽约时报》排行榜、《出版商周刊》排行榜长达80余周，声势超过红透全世界的丹·布朗的《达·芬奇密码》。 这本小说太令人震撼，很长一段时日，让我所读的一切都相形失色。文学与生活中的所有重要主题，都交织在这部惊世之作里：爱、恐惧、愧疚、赎罪……——著名作家伊莎贝拉·阿连德 　　 ★一个阿富汗作家的处女作 　　★一部以史诗般的历史景观和荡气回肠的人性故事，深深地打动全世界各地亿万读者心的文学经典 　　★美国《纽约时报》、《出版商周刊》等九大畅销书排行榜榜首图书 　　★英国《观察家报》2005年度最佳图书 　　★台湾诚品书店、金石堂书店、博客来书店销售冠军 　　★连续80余周雄踞《纽约时报》畅销书排行榜，声势超过红透全球的丹·布朗的《达·芬奇密码》 　　“许多年过去了，人们说陈年旧事可以被埋葬，然而我终于明白这是错的，因为往事会自行爬上来。回首前尘，我意识到在过去二十六年里，自己始终在窥视着那荒芜的小径。” 　　《华盛顿邮报》认为：“没有虚矫赘文，没有无病呻吟，只有精炼的篇章，细腻勾勒家庭与友谊，背叛与救赎。作者对祖国的爱显然与对造成它今日沧桑的恨一样深。故事娓娓道来，轻笔淡描，近似川端康成的《千羽鹤》。” 　　12岁的阿富汗富家少爷阿米尔与仆人哈桑情同手足。然而，在一场风筝比赛后，发生了一件悲惨不堪的事，阿米尔为自己的懦弱感到自责和痛苦，逼走了哈桑，不久，自己也跟随父亲逃往美国。 　　成年后的阿米尔始终无法原谅自己当年对哈桑的背叛。为了赎罪，阿米尔再度踏上暌违二十多年的故乡，希望能为不幸的好友尽最后一点心力，却发现一个惊天谎言，儿时的噩梦再度重演，阿米尔该如何抉择？ 　　小说如此残忍而又美丽，作者以温暖细腻的笔法勾勒人性的本质与救赎，读来令人荡气回肠。 Book Description Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan , the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him. The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of their lies. Written against a history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But with the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope: through the novel's faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption. Amazon.com In his debut novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accomplishes what very few contemporary novelists are able to do. He manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil--in this case, Afghanistan--while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over. And he does this on his first try. The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. ("...I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.") Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ("people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz"), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Gisele Toueg Amazon.ca The Kite Runner of Khaled Hosseini's deeply moving fiction debut is an illiterate Afghan boy with an uncanny instinct for predicting exactly where a downed kite will land. Growing up in the city of Kabul in the early 1970s, Hassan was narrator Amir's closest friend even though the loyal 11-year-old with "a face like a Chinese doll" was the son of Amir's father's servant and a member of Afghanistan's despised Hazara minority. But in 1975, on the day of Kabul's annual kite-fighting tournament, something unspeakable happened between the two boys. Narrated by Amir, a 40-year-old novelist living in California, The Kite Runner tells the gripping story of a boyhood friendship destroyed by jealousy, fear, and the kind of ruthless evil that transcends mere politics. Running parallel to this personal narrative of loss and redemption is the story of modern Afghanistan and of Amir's equally guilt-ridden relationship with the war-torn city of his birth. The first Afghan novel to be written in English, The Kite Runner begins in the final days of King Zahir Shah's 40-year reign and traces the country's fall from a secluded oasis to a tank-strewn battlefield controlled by the Russians and then the trigger-happy Taliban. When Amir returns to Kabul to rescue Hassan's orphaned child, the personal and the political get tangled together in a plot that is as suspenseful as it is taut with feeling. The son of an Afghan diplomat whose family received political asylum in the United States in 1980, Hosseini combines the unflinching realism of a war correspondent with the satisfying emotional pull of master storytellers such as Rohinton Mistry. Like the kite that is its central image, the story line of this mesmerizing first novel occasionally dips and seems almost to dive to the ground. But Hosseini ultimately keeps everything airborne until his heartrending conclusion in an American picnic park. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Lisa Alward, Amazon.ca From Publishers Weekly Hosseini's stunning debut novel starts as an eloquent Afghan version of the American immigrant experience in the late 20th century, but betrayal and redemption come to the forefront when the narrator, a writer, returns to his ravaged homeland to rescue the son of his childhood friend after the boy's parents are shot during the Taliban takeover in the mid '90s. Amir, the son of a well-to-do Kabul merchant, is the first-person narrator, who marries, moves to California and becomes a successful novelist. But he remains haunted by a childhood incident in which he betrayed the trust of his best friend, a Hazara boy named Hassan, who receives a brutal beating from some local bullies. After establishing himself in America, Amir learns that the Taliban have murdered Hassan and his wife, raising questions about the fate of his son, Sohrab. Spurred on by childhood guilt, Amir makes the difficult journey to Kabul, only to learn the boy has been enslaved by a former childhood bully who has become a prominent Taliban official. The price Amir must pay to recover the boy is just one of several brilliant, startling plot twists that make this book memorable both as a political chronicle and a deeply personal tale about how childhood choices affect our adult lives. The character studies alone would make this a noteworthy debut, from the portrait of the sensitive, insecure Amir to the multilayered development of his father, Baba, whose sacrifices and scandalous behavior are fully revealed only when Amir returns to Afghanistan and learns the true nature of his relationship to Hassan. Add an incisive, perceptive examination of recent Afghan history and its ramifications in both America and the Middle East, and the result is a complete work of literature that succeeds in exploring the culture of a previously obscure nation that has become a pivot point in the global politics of the new millennium. From School Library Journal Adult/High School-This beautifully written first novel presents a glimpse of life in Afghanistan before the Russian invasion and introduces richly drawn, memorable characters. Quiet, intellectual Amir craves the attention of his father, a wealthy Kabul businessman. Kind and self-confident Hassan is the son of Amir's father's servant. The motherless boys play together daily, and when Amir wins the annual kite contest, Hassan offers to track down the opponent's runaway kite as a prize. When he finds it, the neighborhood bullies trap and rape him, as Amir stands by too terrified to help. Their lives and their friendship are forever changed, and the memory of his cowardice haunts Amir as he grows into manhood. Hassan and his father return to the village of their ancestors, and later Amir and his father flee to Los Angeles to avoid political persecution. Amir attends college, marries, and fulfills his dream of becoming a writer. When Amir receives word of his former friend's death under the Taliban, he returns to Kabul to learn the fate of Hassan's son. This gripping story of personal redemption will capture readers' interest. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Penny Stevens, Andover College, Portland, ME From Booklist Hosseini's debut novel opens in Kabul in the mid-1970s. Amir is the son of a wealthy man, but his best friend is Hassan, the son of one of his father's servants. His father encourages the friendship and dotes on Hassan, who worships the ground Amir walks on. But Amir is envious of Hassan and his own father's apparent affection for the boy. Amir is not nearly as loyal to Hassan, and one day, when he comes across a group of local bullies raping Hassan, he does nothing. Shamed by his own inaction, Amir pushes Hassan away, even going so far as to accuse him of stealing. Eventually, Hassan and his father are forced to leave. Years later, Amir, now living in America, receives a visit from an old family friend who gives him an opportunity to make amends for his treatment of Hassan. Current events will garner interest for this novel; the quality of Hosseini's writing and the emotional impact of the story will guarantee its longevity. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Kristine Huntley From AudioFile Amir, a rich man's son, grows up in Kabul as playmate and master of Hassan, an ethnic Hazara, a despised Afghani minority. Amir, who tells the story, has ambivalent feelings about both his father and his ultra-loyal friend as the monarchy falls, the Soviets invade, and Afghanistan is thrown into turmoil. Westerners who engage this novel will learn much about Afghani society of the recent past if they can endure the author's narration. In his inexpert voice, the point of view seems insipid and saccharine. But at least the exotic words and names are pronounced correctly. Y.R. Book Dimension length: (cm)19.7 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)12.8 点击链接进入中文版： 追风筝的人