有时候“被迫”读书能有意外的收获。因为领了个“任务”,我只好硬着头皮读艾维·康普顿-伯内特(Ivy Compton-Burnett,一八八四——一九六九,此后简称“康-伯”)。据说维吉尼亚·吴尔夫感到康-伯女士的小说有点难于消受。大概不少人有同感。我起先觉得不大读得下去——她的小说很少交代情节或描写人物和场景,只有没头没尾的关于家庭琐事的对话。渐渐地,我发现了琐事闲言背后的利益角逐,道德危机,甚至是很有戏剧性的冲突,却又深感她所展示的世界暗淡,狭 Sometimes “being forced to” study can have unexpected gains. I had to bite the bullet and read Ivy Compton-Burnett (1884-1969, henceforth “Kang-Bo”) because of the task. It is said that Virginia Woolf felt Kang - Bo’s novel a little bit difficult to endure. Probably a lot of people agree. At first, I did not think I could read much-her novel seldom accounts for the plot or portrays people and scenes, and there is no head-to-head dialogue about family chores. Gradually, I found the trifles of gossip behind the interests of competition, moral crisis, and even a very dramatic conflict, but deeply her show the world dim, narrow