布鲁克林 (2009)

《布鲁克林》（英语：Brooklyn）是爱尔兰作家科尔姆·托宾于2009年的长篇小说。2012年，《观察家报》称它为“十本最佳历史小说”之一。

故事简介

1950年代，爱尔兰经济萧条，来自南方小镇的艾莉丝（Eilis Lacey），与许多同龄女孩一样，必须离家去外地挣钱。在姐姐的安排下她将只身前往美国，她别无选择。告别亲人和家乡，艾莉丝在纽约布鲁克林区的寄宿人家落脚。拥挤的城市、大批的移民、人生地不熟，加上女室友间微妙的猜疑妒忌，思乡之情与寂寞无助总在夜深人静时将她淹没。然而，日复一日白天工作、晚上进修，带来全新的生活节奏，她学会在陌生城市中上教堂聚会、跳舞，有了新的朋友，认识男孩子，进而发展更亲密的关系……就在离乡背景的痛楚渐渐远离时，艾莉丝接闻一椿噩耗，她必须回去爱尔兰。返乡的她，全身带有一种美国式的魅力，艾莉丝发觉在布鲁克林的生活改变了她，却也意外发现，有一部分的自己竟想留在家乡。然而，她终究必须在爱尔兰与布鲁克林之间，做出攸关她未来人生的重大抉择。

奖项

《布鲁克林》获得2009年科斯塔图书奖，也被入围2011年国际IMPAC都柏林文学奖及2009年布克奖。

改编电影

同名改编电影于2015年公映，导演是约翰·克劳利，主演是西尔莎·罗南、多姆纳尔·格利森和艾莫里·高肯。

Brooklyn is a 2009 novel by Irish author Colm Tóibín. It won the 2009 Costa Novel Award, was shortlisted for the 2011 International Dublin Literary Award and was longlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize. In 2012, The Observer named it as one of "The 10 best historical novels".

Plot summary

Eilis Lacey is a young woman who is unable to find work in 1950s Ireland. Her older sister Rose organises a meeting with a Catholic priest called Father Flood on a visit from New York City, who tells Eilis of the wonderful opportunities awaiting her in New York with excellent employment prospects. Because of this she immigrates to Brooklyn, New York and takes up a job in a department store while undertaking night classes in bookkeeping. Her initial experiences working in a boring job and living in a repressive boardinghouse, run by the strict Mrs Madge Kehoe, make her doubt her initial decision. Letters from Rose and her mother bring about severe homesickness but soon she begins to settle into a routine. Eilis meets and falls in love with a young Italian plumber named Tony Fiorello at local Friday night dances. Eilis qualifies easily from her night school course. Her relationship evolves further and Tony brings Eilis to meet his family. Their romance becomes more serious, and Tony confesses his love for Eilis, and his plans to build a home on Long Island.

One day while Eilis is working she learns from Father Flood that her sister Rose has died in her sleep from a pre-existing heart condition. She has to return to Ireland to mourn, and she secretly marries Tony before she leaves. In Ireland she falls back into the town society easily. She goes to the beach with her friend Nancy, Nancy's fiance George and his friend Jim Farrell. Eilis knew Jim before going to America and disliked him, but now finds him much improved and they start seeing each other. Jim is the only child of a publican and is considered a good catch. Eilis's mother is desperate for her to settle back in Ireland and marry Jim, as Eilis has not confided in her or her friends about her marriage. Eilis procrastinates about a return to her new life by extending her stay. She saves Tony's letters unopened as she considers the possibility of remaining in Ireland and building a life with Jim Farrell. Eventually a local busybody, Miss Kelly, tells Eilis she knows her secret because she heard through the grapevine that someone from New York had seen her at a wedding registry. This is the turning point for Eilis and she immediately books her return passage, telling her mother the truth about her marriage and posting a farewell note to Jim as she leaves town by taxi for the docks.

Reception

Robert Hanks for The Daily Telegraph referenced the immigration experience within the novel by saying, "American reactions to the Irish immigrant experience can easily tip over into hyperbole... Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn is a controlled, understated novel, devoid of outright passion or contrivance, but alive with authentic detail, moved along by the ripples of affection and doubt that shape any life: a novel that offers the reader serious pleasure."

Scribner for Bookreporter said, "In his quietly perceptive prose, Colm Tóibín effortlessly captures the duality that lies at the heart of Eilis Lacey’s story. Brooklyn unassumingly offers both a classic saga of an immigrant coming to terms with life in her new land and an equally appealing story of one young woman’s grasp of a hard-won maturity."

Tóibín was commended on his description of the changes in American society during the 1950s, such as the department store's acceptance of "coloured" customers, Long Island's suburban boom, and the arrival of television. Many applauded Tóibín's measured prose and the calm tone of the novel, though Eilis has been described as being "so passive that you sometimes felt like giving her a good shaking."

In 2019, the novel was ranked 51st on The Guardian's list of the 100 best books of the 21st century.