2020年经济学人 《冰岛小姐》书评--美丽的线条(2)（在线收听）

One who doesn’t is her childhood friend Jon John, who gives her a room of her own in which to write. A gay man who wants to make theatre costumes but instead endures hard graft and homophobia on fishing trawlers, he is one of several characters stuck in a rut. Another is Isey, a housewife who battles loneliness and domestic drudgery in her basement flat while her husband is away. Determined to be different, and desperate to leave behind the leering and groping diners she serves in her waitressing job, Hekla redoubles her efforts to finish her manuscript and get published. Praise from her boyfriend, a less gifted writer, spurs her on: “You’re the glacier that sparkles, I’m just a molehill.”However, as a woman, she finds some avenues closed, and she and Jon John decide to cut their losses and search for freedom and artistic success farther afield.

而她童年时代的朋友乔恩·约翰却并不是这样想的，他为她提供了一个自己的写作空间。主人公的这位朋友是一位想制作戏剧服装的同性恋者，但却反而要忍受在拖网渔船上艰苦的工作以及他人的恐同，他是几个墨守成规的人物之一。 另一位墨守成规的人是伊西，她是一位家庭主妇，丈夫不在家时，她在地下室的公寓里与孤独和家务劳动作斗争。赫克拉决心要变得与众不同，她不顾一切地放弃了服务员的工作以及工作中认识的那些打情骂俏的食客们，她加倍努力完成她的手稿并出版。她的男朋友是一个不太有天赋的作家，他赞扬并且激励着她：“你是闪耀的冰川，我只是一个小鼹鼠。”然而，她发现作为一个女人，一些途径已经关闭，她和乔恩·约翰决定止损，前往更远的地方寻求自由和艺术成功。

In previous books, Ms Audur Ava Olafsdottir occasionally relied too much on eccentric foibles and hare-brained antics.In “Miss Iceland” she judiciously downplays the oddities, particularly when exploring weighty issues such as sexual harassment and discrimination. In other welcome changes, she incorporates world events and numerous references to Iceland’s rich literature. And yet this captivating novel’s finest component is its endearing heroine who, at her journey’s end, has learned to follow her dreams but know her limits.

在以前的书中，奥杜尔阿瓦奥拉夫斯多蒂尔女士偶尔会对古怪的缺点和愚蠢的滑稽动作着墨过多。在《冰岛小姐》一书中，她明智地淡化了这些古怪的描写，尤其是在探讨诸如性骚扰和歧视等重大问题时。她在描写这本书时还做出了一些很棒的改变，她引用了世界事件以及大量冰岛的丰富的文学作品。然而，这部引人入胜的小说最精彩的部分是文中可爱的女主人公，在旅程的终点，她学会了追随自己的梦想，但也了解自己的极限。