The Wars《incredibly impressive》

我查了一下，没有找到这本书的中译本。可能这个作者对于大部分加拿大以外的人来说都是never heard of. 当然我本来也不知道。daniel从加拿大寄来的书，出于礼貌翻阅了一些，却发现是本很有特点的小说，如果一本书读了三分之一，我的预料还是和结局有所不同，我就会坚持把它读完。

这本书一开始上来让人感觉散乱，摸不着头脑。忽而如小说，忽而如记录片般的回忆叙述。而且从头至尾这本小说都在很多细节上保持了mysterious的特质。introduction里一位现代的作家提到the irreducibility of meaning that marks great literature我想如果拿很多细节去追问原作者，也未必会获得满意的答案。

小说一开始，作者引了一句Clausewitz的话 "In such dangerous things as war the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst." 这句话也就成为了小说最主要的基调，成为主人公robert最终反抗并且灭亡的主要原因。

这本书给我的触动很大。反正douban上也没有其他人看过，我就自娱自乐把我在fb上给他的留言转在这，就算是对读过这本书留个纪念吧。

it's kinda confusing at the beginning of the wars. before the prologue the writer cited a sentence from Clausewitz that" in such dangerous things as war the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst." i didnt quite understand it until robert's rebellion and being treated as a traitor. there are several parts in the novel where roberts showed caring love for animals and reluctance to slaugher them. and finally his benevolence preluded his unfitness as a killing machine in the war and ultimately his death.

i was greatly touched by this novel. after the novel i read the introduction. and i can't agree more that this novel is somewhat like a mystery defying simple interpretation. there are many parts in it require further reading and deeper thinking. as to the "questionable part" of it (robert was attacked and insulted in the bathroom cell) i was thinking maybe the writer wanted to show that a benevolent man in war is doomed and those ferocious killers who committed ruthless killings and attacks might be rewarded. (it was mentioned that those rapists were no other than robert's fellow soldiers)

i think it's not fair to call robert a good or bad person. he was an ordinary HUMAN who wasn't brainwashed by the bloody killings in wars and who still kept the soft and gentle part of a human being and who was finally ruined by his being-a-human-quality. because the wars require no mercy from human.

honestly i dont think i understand the title "the wars" fully. but nonetheless i like it. the structure of this novel is kinda messy but this unique way of storytelling makes it incredibly interesting and attractive. i think now i know why it is your favorite. :) it was not just a war novel not a novel about A WAR but THE WARS. by that i mean the constant warring between the humanity and the brutality which marks the bloody history of all the human civilization.

事实是，这个世界上有很多作家写着精彩的作品，却无法再这个市场化的阅读时代找到自己的位置。不过我还是希望有一天会有中国的翻译家注意到这本书，并且翻译它，对于心存武力扩张的人们，或许会有些用。