WHAT IS VISIBLE: A NOVEL
Book ID/图书代码： 02330013B62523
English Summary/英文概要： WHAT IS VISIBLE is a fictional exploration of the real-life nineteenth-century figure, Laura Bridgman, who was the first deaf and blind person to learn language, fifty years before Helen Keller. Laura also couldn’t taste or smell; she lost all senses but touch from a bout with scarlet fever at age two. Laura is the book’s primary narrator, though other chapters focus on the founder of Perkins Institute, with whom she was in love; his wife, a renowned writer, abolitionist and suffragist; Laura’s beloved teacher, who married a missionary and died insane from syphilis; an orphaned Irish girl with whom Laura had a tumultuous affair; and even the young Helen Keller. The novel is driven by both character and history in its examination of ability and disability; ideas about female beauty and sexuality; and slavery and the abolitionist movement. At the center of it all is the breathtaking experiment that Laura Bridgman embodied and its links to the great philosophical, theological, educational and social changes taking place between 1840 and 1890, including one chapter set in Rome. It is astonishing, given that Laura was considered the second most famous woman in the world in the 1850’s (second only to Queen Victoria), that she has been virtually erased from history, and WHAT IS VISIBLE seeks to set the record straight.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 《视界》对生活在19世纪的真实人物劳拉•布里奇曼进行了一场小说式的探索。劳拉•布里奇曼是世界上第一个学会语言文字的聋哑人，她甚至比海伦•凯勒还早五十余年。自从2岁那年患上了猩红热后，劳拉便失去了几乎所有感官，她无法品尝也嗅不到气味，唯一剩下的便只有触觉。劳拉是本书的第一叙述者，而其他章节则主要关注了铂金斯学院的创始人，同时也是劳拉深爱的人；讲述了这位创始人的妻子---知名作家、废奴运动者、妇女政权论者，同时也是劳拉最深爱的导师，她嫁给了一名传教士，最终死于梅毒；其他内容还包括劳拉与一名来自爱尔兰的孤儿一同度过了一段欢快的时光；甚至还提及了年轻时的海伦•凯勒。书中的人物形象和历史事件一同推动着本书的进展，检视着各种可能性与不可能性；书中还谈及有关女性之美以及性的有关看法；谈及奴隶制和相关的废奴运动。然而全书的核心还是在于劳拉•布里奇曼所代表的一种令人叹为观止的经历，以及其精神经历背后所寓示的发生于1840-1890年间的一场场伟大的哲学、神学、教育学及社会变迁，其中甚至有一章还将背景设立在罗马。本书是一部惊人之作，考虑到劳拉曾是19世纪50年代世界上最著名的女性之一（仅次于维多利亚女王），而随着时间的推移，她似乎已逐渐被人们遗忘在历史中，《视界》这一书正是旨在重新为其正名。（DC）
Awards/获奖情况："WHAT IS VISIBLE is remarkable at many levels. It is written in an intelligent, intricate style, populated with many true historical figures, and teeming with convincing period details. Above all, the novel has a unique narrative structure, which illustrates the art of fiction at its best in presenting the interior. A splendid debut indeed." (Ha Jin, National Book Award Winner for Waiting)
"I know firsthand how brutally difficult it is to write a creatively rich, humanly revealing novel based on real people in a distant time. Kimberly Elkins does this brilliantly. WHAT IS VISIBLE is not only a compelling, deeply moving novel, it is a fully realized work of art. This is an auspicious debut of an important new writer." (Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain)
"An astonishing debut that vividly brings to life a forgotten chapter of American history. You’ll recognize many of the characters in WHAT IS VISIBLE, but its heroine, Laura Bridgman, is likely someone you’ve never heard of. After you read it, you’ll never forget her. Beautiful, heart-wrenching, and at times quite funny, this book is a marvel." (J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of Maine and The Engagements)
"I found myself slowly mesmerized by WHAT IS VISIBLE, and then increasingly haunted and bound to the story of Laura Bridgman, the second, deeper, darker invisibility of her life so permanently excavated and restored to memory by the talented hand of Kimberly Elkins and her extraordinary powers of imagination. To say that I was profoundly moved by this novel would be an understatement." (Bob Shacochis, author of The Woman Who Lost Her Soul)
About the Author/作者介绍： Kimberly Elkins’s fiction and nonfiction have been published in The Atlantic, Best New American Voices, The Iowa Review, The Village Voice, Chicago Tribune, Glamour, Maisonneuve, and Slice, among others. She was a finalist for the 2004 National Magazine Award in fiction, and this is her first novel.
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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