The Helios Disaster
アテナ神話を現代スウェーデンに移し替えた短い長編。父コンラッドの頭から十二歳の少女アンナが生まれ、父は精神病院へ、アンナは里親の家へ送られる。信仰共同体、言語、孤独、父への希求が重なり、現実から切り離されていく少女の内面を、神話的な設定と研ぎ澄まされた心理描写で描く。
作品情報
神話として生まれた少女の孤独が、現代の家族と精神医療の風景の中で痛切に響く。
父の頭から完全な姿で生まれたアンナは、北スウェーデンの村で人間の生活に組み込まれていく。里親の家、ペンテコステ派の教会、精神病院という場を通じて、彼女は父への強い憧れと、自分が何者なのかという問いを深めていく。神話の再話でありながら、精神疾患、家族からの分離、言葉にならない孤独を扱う、凝縮された心理小説。
レビュー要約
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孤独と喪失を神話的な枠組みに重ね、少女の混乱した内面を濃密に描く点が評価されている。結末の明快さよりも、地上に置かれた若い女神の肖像として読む作品だという受け止めが目立つ。
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硬質で抑制された文体が、精神の危機や家族のもろさを直接的な感傷に寄せずに浮かび上がらせる点が支持されている。神話性と心理的リアリズムが混ざり合うため、短い作品ながら読後に重い余韻を残す。
書籍情報
- 出版社
- World Editions
- 発売日
- 2020-04-07
- ページ数
- 128ページ
- 言語
- 英語
- サイズ
- 12.7 x 1.27 x 20.32 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781642860689
- ISBN-10
- 1642860689
- 価格
- 3141 JPY
- カテゴリ
- 洋書/Mystery & Thrillers/Thrillers/Psychological & Suspense
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN TRANSLATED LITERATURE "Knausgård is an impressive writer" ― Publishers Weekly "Knausgård’s writing is crystalline and careful" ― Kirkus Reviews "Boström Knausgård’s careful exploration of mental illness is restrained and entirely unsentimental. (...) Her prose is unobtrusive in its simplicity and minimalism. The result is both powerful and lyrical." ― Words Without Borders This modern spin on the myth of Athena plunges us deep inside the mind of an unlikely twelve-year-old goddess confined to a small Swedish town. Separated from her father just moments after bursting from his skull in full armor, Anna is packed off into foster care where she learns to ski, speaks in tongues, and negotiates the needs of a quirky cast of relatives. Unable to overcome her father’s absence, however, she finally succumbs to depression and is institutionalized. Anna’s rallying war cry rings out across the pages of this concise and piercing novel as a passionate appeal for belonging taken to its emotional extreme.
LINDA BOSTRÖM KNAUSGÅRD is a Swedish author and poet, as well as a producer of documentaries for national radio. Her first novel, The Helios Disaster , was longlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature in the United States. Welcome to America , her second novel, was nominated for the prestigious Swedish August Prize and the Svenska Dagbladet Literary Prize in her home country, and was also longlisted for the Best Translated Book Award and the National Translation Award in the United States. October Child became a bestseller in Sweden and throughout Scandinavia, where it was published to great critical acclaim. RACHEL WILLSON-BROYLES is a freelance translator based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She received her BA in Scandinavian Studies from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2002 and her PhD in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2013. Other authors whose works she has translated include Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Jonas Jonasson, Malin Persson Giolito, and Linda Boström Knausgård.
レビュー
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Packs lyricism, plus an intense sense of place, plus characters who feel alive, together with insights on mental health, along with a young woman coming of age and a pinch of Greek mythology into a short, highly engaging story. It is readable in 2 afternoons at the beach or 2 evenings sitting by a fire during. You will feel richer for the time spent and the journey taken.
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A very short well written book that I found the characters well fleshed out but not enough that I really cared enough. Most likely because there is little pages to really learn very much about them.
関連する文学賞
- ナショナル・ブック賞（翻訳文学） 第3回（2020年） ・Longlisted