BALDUR’S SONG
Book ID/图书代码： 00110910B38795
English Summary/英文概要： “Almost every day I was sent to town to get something from the store, and I remember one occasion that changed my life. I was going to get some number nine yarn for my mother. I always walked past the graves where the people who had been on the roof were buried. On this particular day I had decided to whistle for the underground people so that they would not be so lonely. I was whistling the Ode to Joy when a girl’s voice said to me “They can’t hear you, you know. They’re dead.”
Winnipeg’s boom-town days at the turn of the nineteenth century come to life through the eyes of Baldur, a boy from Gimli, the Icelandic immigrant settlement on the southernmost shore of Lake Winnipeg. Both city and boy grow from innocence to savvy creatures of business as they mature, fall in love, and survive the politics of a competitive, cut-throat society.
Arnason’s Leacock-nominated humour permeates this simply told story but takes a subtle turn under the drama of passionate young hearts struggling to find their places in the New World.
At the same time he discovers his musical talent whistling to the dead in the village graveyard, Baldur encounters his first and life-long love, Lara, a girl of mystery and fey spirit. Her father, Gudmundur Palsson, is an intimidating community leader who gives Baldur his first big break as a musician, but later becomes a competitor when Baldur teams up with ambitious real-estate mogul JohnnyAshdown.
Notable characters like Ashdown, Palsson, and Lara bring early Winnipeg to life. Older neighbourhoods like the West End, Wolseley, West Broadway, and the Exchange District are immediately recognizable, and readers navigate the dirt streets and boardwalks with Baldur in Arnason’s vivid narrative.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： "就在我正吹著貝多芬的歡樂頌時，我聽見一個女孩的聲音對著我說：他們聽不見啦，你知道，因為這些人都死了..." 柏德：「我幾乎每天都會被派到鎮上商店買些東西，我記得是這期間發生的一件事情改變了我的人生。我那天正準備幫我母親帶一些九號紡線，而路途中我總是會經過墳墓場，底下埋的這些人曾經都是權傾一時的大人物。那ㄧ天，我忽然決定要吹口哨給他們聽，讓他們感覺不這麼孤單。而就在我正吹著貝多芬的歡樂頌時，我聽見一個女孩的聲音對著我說：他們聽不見啦，你知道，因為這些人都死了。」
來自冰島的移民之子柏德突發奇想地對著死人吹口哨，讓他遇見了他此生的初戀與摯愛─拉拉。也是因為這個奇想，他意外發現了自己在音樂方面的才華，並鋪展出他隨後的人生際遇。
柏德的人生同時也見證了加拿大溫尼伯市在19世紀交替之際的繁華商景。隨著這城市風華的轉變，柏德從一個純真少年，歷經愛情與社會現實的磨練，蛻變成為大時代下為了生存與機會的精明男人。(Kate Cheng)
Awards/获奖情况：“加拿大斯蒂芬利科克獎幽默文學獎”
*an annual literary award presented to the best work of humorous literature in English by a Canadian writer
“溫尼伯市Carol Shields獎”
“Mary Scorer Book 奬”
About the Author/作者介绍： 大衛‧安納森，寫小說也寫短篇故事，自1975年即在Turnstone出版社擔任編輯。他的著作 King Jerry 入圍加拿大斯蒂芬利科克獎幽默文學獎決選。另ㄧ本著作The Imagined City則贏得溫尼伯市Carol Shields獎和Mary Scorer Book奬。大衛自1972年即任教於加拿大Manitoba大學，於98-06年間擔任冰島研究代理系主任，97-06年間為該校英文系系主任。
Format:电子手稿
Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE
Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE
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