DEAF SENTENCE: A NOVEL

Book ID/图书代码： 03540007B16101

English Summary/英文概要： Funny and moving by turns, Deaf Sentence is a witty, original and absorbing account of one man’s effort to come to terms with deafness, ageing and mortality, and the comedy and tragedy of human lives.

When the university merged his Department of Linguistics with English, Professor Desmond Bates took early retirement, but he is not enjoying it. He misses the purposeful routine of the academic year, and has lost his appetite for research. His wife Winifred’s late-flowering career goes from strength to strength, reducing his role to that of escort and househusband, while the rejuvenation of her appearance makes him uneasily conscious of the age gap between them. The monotony of his days is relieved only by wearisome journeys to London to check on the welfare of his eighty-nine-year-old father, an ex dance musician who stubbornly refuses to move from the house he is patently unable to live in with safety.

But these discontents are nothing compared to the affliction of hearing loss, which is a constant source of domestic friction and social embarrassment.In the popular imagination, he observes, deafness is comic, as blindness is tragic, but for the deaf person himself it is no joke. It is through his deafness that Desmond inadvertently gets involved with a young woman whose wayward and unpredictable behavior threatens to destabilize his life completely. Funny and moving by turns, "Deaf Sentence" is a brilliant account of one man’s effort to come to terms with deafness and death, aging and mortality, the comedy and tragedy of human lives.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 《Deaf Sentence》是當代文學評論大家，英國首席現代文學作家大衛．洛奇繼2004年出版的《作者‧作者》（Author, Author）後，睽違多年的小說。此書入圍2009年不列顛國協作家獎(The Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best Book)，將於5月公佈得獎作品。
大衛．洛吉（David Lodge）作品常從自身生活經驗出發，故常以教授為他小說中的主人翁，此書亦是。描寫一個提早對休的教授如何解開老化、死亡、慾望、孤獨、失去與希望等生命課題。此書兼具幽默與感人，機智而具原創性地描述生命的喜劇與悲劇。
當大學將語言學系併入英語系時，戴思蒙教授辦理提早退休。然而退休的生活不如他預期，有更多時間可以進行自己的研究，反而想念固定的教學與研究生活，失去對研究的熱愛，頓失生活目標，每天早上起來都要想今天做什麼好。面對事業經營越來越好，小他8歲的第二任妻子惠妮，讓他強烈感受到年齡差距與丈夫角色的弱化。單調生活唯一的變化是去倫敦探望他身為前舞蹈音樂家的獨居父親。
這些煩惱遠比不上聽力的衰退，他認為大多數人覺得耳聾是喜劇正如同失明是悲劇，然而對於失去聽力的人一點都不好笑。然而研究生艾莉絲不故戴斯蒙的反對，執意請他指導博士論文，艾莉絲古怪不可預測的行徑，著實擾亂了戴斯蒙的生活…(Vicky)

Awards/获奖情况：英國首席現代文學作家大衛．洛奇
入圍2009年不列顛國協作家獎(The Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best Book)
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版權已售：
US/ Viking; France/ Rivages; Japan/ Hakusui; Spain/ Anagrama; Germany/ Blessing; Portugal/ ASA; Poland/ Rebis; Romania/ Polirom; Slovakia/ Ikar

作者曾獲得之獎項：
英國豪森登獎、約克夏郵報書獎、惠布瑞特年度最佳好書獎、兩度布克獎入圍決選、週日快報年度好書獎、作家協會獎、大英國協作家獎、影視獎項：皇家電視協會最佳戲劇類獎、蒙地卡羅國際電視影展銀翼獎

About the Author/作者介绍： David Lodge’s novels include Changing Places, Small World, Nice Work, Therapy, Thinks... and Author, Author. He has also written stage plays and screenplays, and several books of literary criticism, including The Art of Fiction, Consciousness and the Novel and, most recently, The Year of Henry James.
大衛．洛吉（David Lodge）一九三五年出生於倫敦。伯明罕大學博士，曾任教於加大柏克萊校區、伯明罕大學等校，現為伯明罕大學現代英語文學榮譽教授，並專事寫作
身兼小說家、劇作家、文學批評家，大衛．洛奇是當代英語文學世界中，最受注目、著作最豐的學者之一，迄今已經出版十五部小說，十餘部文學評論、分析及學術論文集。他的成就在英國及歐洲大陸的學術圈、出版界普遍獲得肯定，更因此獲頒大英帝國三等爵士勳位（CBE），以及法國政府頒贈的藝術及文學騎士勳章（Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettrres）。
他的小說寫作緊扣社會脈動，從自身經驗出發，筆調風趣幽默，又有辛辣的諷刺意味。作品先後獲得Whitbread等十餘個重要文學獎的肯定，也曾入圍英國布克獎多次，另擔任布克獎小說類的評審。
《小說的五十堂課》就是他的文學評論代表作。作品除《小說的五十堂課》外，繁體版權皆開放。

Format:TRADE PAPERBACK

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

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