The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry

Expressions

1. Fledgling online presence.

fledgling: (n.)羽毛初长的雏鸟 (BrE fledgeling)

引申为 a person, an organization or a system that is new and without experience

fledgling democracies

a fledgling republic

fledge: (v.) 长羽毛

2. Amelia yawns -- she's nursing a light hangover -- and wonders if one persnickety little bookstore will be worth such a long trip.

persnickety: [pəˈsnɪkəti] worrying too much about details that are not important, used to show disapproval 爱挑剔的; 极度要求精确的

a persnickety job

a persnickety teacher

He is a very rigorous man, very persnickety.

SYN finicky

She's very finicky about what she eats.

3. She can hear Boyd breathing, fluttery and irregular.

fluttery: 焦虑不安的

flutter: （v.）(n.)（使）飘动；挥动；（心脏）砰砰乱跳, 慌乱不安

Flags fluttered in the breeze.

The sound of his voice in the hall made her heart flutter.

Her sudden arrival caused quite a flutter.

4. She is not vain about her looks and she certainly doesn't value the opinion of Boyd Flanagan, who hadn't really been talking to her anyway.

vain about: vain这里不是“徒然"的意思，而是自负的,虚荣的 SYN conceited

She's too vain to wear glasses.

vanity: (n.)

5. It has no windows, no pictures on the wall, no family photos on the desk, no knickknacks, no escape.

knickknack/ knick-knack:  ['nɪknæk] (n.)（屋子里的）小装饰物；小摆设 SYN ornament

They had various knick-knacks on the top of the bookcase.

6. The writer worked as a science reporter for various midwestern newspapers, and the prose is precise, funny, not at all maudlin.

maudlin: 1. talking in a silly, emotional, often full of pity for yourself, especially when drunk （尤指醉酒时）言语伤感的，自怜的

Ralph was becoming maudlin after his third glass of claret.

2. a maudlin song, story, film etc tries too hard to make people feel emotions such as love or sadness and seems silly

a song that is tender without being maudlin

7. I am repulsed by ghostwritten novels by reality television stars and celebrity picture books.

repulse: (v.) 1. to make sb feel disgust or strong dislike 使厌恶

I was repulsed by the horrible smell.

2. to fight sb who is attacking you and drive them away 击退

to repulse an attack/ invasion/ offensive

3. to refuse to accept sb's help, attempts to be friendly etc 拒绝接受，回绝

Each time I tried to help I was repulsed.

SYN repel: (v.)1. 击退

The army was ready to repel an attack.

2. if sth repels you, it is so unpleasant that you do not want to be near it, or it makes you feel ill

The smell repelled him.

8. For your part, you needn't tell me about the "next big series" until it is ensconced on the New York Times Best Seller list.

ensconce:  [ɪnˈskɒns] to settle yourself in a place where you feel comfortable and safe 使安坐；安置

ensconce oneself; be ensconced in/at/ on etc

Nick was comfortably ensconced in front of the TV set.

Anges had ensconced herself in the best bedroom.

9. As a child, she stuttered and it occasionally returns when she is upset.

stutter:  [ˈstʌtə(r)] 1. 口吃；结结巴巴地说话 (n./v.)

"W-w-what?" he stuttered.

He had a terrible stutter.

2. (车辆或发动机)突突地吃力行驶 (v.)

The car stuttered along in first gear（挂一挡）.

10. She trips over the books in the hallway as she leaves.

trip sth over/ sth tip over: if you tip sth over, or if it tips over, it falls or turns over （使）跌倒，倾覆

The candle tipped over and the hay caught fire.

The current was starting to tip the canoe over and I began to panic. 

11. What had that dopey rep been going on about?

dopey:  [ˈdəʊpi] 1.被麻醉的；昏昏沉沉的

I felt dopey and drowsy after the operation.

2. 笨的；迟钝的-- slightly stupid

a dopey grin

Thoughts

最近琐事缠身很长一段时间没办法静下来好好去读一本书了。昨天在地铁上拾起了这本The Stories Life of A.J. Fikry读了几页，觉得非常有趣。很早就听说这本书了，《岛上书店》，对于喜欢读书的人来说这个译名就像一个spell让人不自觉地想要去翻开它。以前曾经买过中文版的，但当时读了第一章就有点失望就没有读下去了。不知道是中文原版在翻译地过程中丢失了原作的美感，还是现在的我与曾经的我拥有完全不一样的心境了，总之现在手边的这本The Stories Life of A.J. Fikry让我觉得是一个耐人寻味、引人入胜的故事，不负它best seller的盛名。

小说是以主人公妻子的车祸去世、男主的日日买醉、暴躁乖戾开篇的。人生的一大讽刺是，你觉得世界末日般的灾难、难以承受的痛苦，对于旁人来说，就像一本小说里的故事，或者一个投影屏上的黑点，在别人的人生里激不起任何的波澜。第二章里婴儿Maya在书店里的出现似乎寓意着主人公人生一个新的开始。人生的不幸在于，人生中的灾难通常是不期而至的，而人生的幸运则在于，希望也是不期而至的。跌入过人生深渊里的人或许才能体验到那种漫长的看不到希望的沮丧和绝望感吧。或许很多人会觉得男主人公是一个无法直面人生的懦夫，然而我觉得那才是真正的人生。每个人都会遇到无法解开的难题，都有不想去直面现实的时候。如果有人告诉我，他从出生到现在都始终直面人生的风浪、时刻保持清醒，那我只能说，你是幸运的，幸运地还没有遇到一些真正难以承受的痛苦。

很多时候，我们会对现在的生活感到沮丧，感到缺乏继续努力下去的意义，这并不丢人。这个世间有千千万万在黑夜里辗转难眠、焦躁不安的灵魂，我们只是其中的一员而已。如果有一天，当你遭遇了真正的不幸，当你沉浸于悲伤无法自拔而这个世界却若无其事地转动着，当你看不见未来在哪里并且觉得无力再继续站起来的时候，我希望你能至少保有一份希望，无论多么微弱。也许有一天你会发现，一个故事的结局可以是另一个故事的开始，一份苦难也可以以一份幸运而收场。