单身 – A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

小说的背景是1962年的洛杉矶，男主角乔治是位大学文学院教授。故事发生在一天之中，乔治沉浸在失去恋人的痛苦中，而这一天也可能是他一生的最后一天。艾什伍德写出了那个年代人们压抑的情感，内心与外在的断裂，呈现出整个六零年代初期美国社会窒息保守的氛围，精彩刻画出不受社会接纳的人们内在的心思。

作品中到处可见作者艾什伍德的影子。写作这部小说时，艾什伍德刚刚同比他年轻三十岁的男朋友分手，失去恋人的伤痛激发了他的创作灵感，作品于1964年出版时风靡英美文坛，成为一代经典，被称为“最美的同性恋文学”，激励了英美整整一个世代的“同志”文学作家。这部小说也改变了艾什伍德的生活——恋人重新回到他的身边，两人维持了长达三十余年的亲密关系，直到艾什伍德因癌症去世为止。

When A Single Man was originally published, it shocked many with its frank, sympathetic, and moving portrayal of a gay man in midlife. George, the protagonist, is adjusting to life on his own after the sudden death of his partner, and determines to persist in the routines of his daily life. The course of A Single Man spans 24 hours in an ordinary day.

An Englishman and a professor living in suburban Southern California, he is an outsider in every way, and his internal reflections and interactions with others reveal a man who loves being alive despite everyday injustices and loneliness.

Wry, suddenly manic, constantly funny, surprisingly sad, this novel catches the texture of life itself.

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