摘要：《经济学人》精选8部近期小说佳作，带你领略文学世界的美洲豹、囚徒与失落诗篇。从管理顾问的友情到战地记者的危机，从末世谜题到AI伦理困境，这些故事兼具精巧篇幅与深刻内核。秋意渐浓，正是沉浸阅读的好时节——让这些惊艳新作点亮你的精神世界，见证生命如何在不寻常处蓬勃
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《经济学人》精选8部近期小说佳作，带你领略文学世界的美洲豹、囚徒与失落诗篇。从管理顾问的友情到战地记者的危机，从末世谜题到AI伦理困境，这些故事兼具精巧篇幅与深刻内核。秋意渐浓，正是沉浸阅读的好时节——让这些惊艳新作点亮你的精神世界，见证生命如何在不寻常处蓬勃生长。
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The Economist ｜Culture
经济学人｜文化
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经济学人荐读
The best recent novels to read this autumn
这个秋季最值得一读的小说
They tell stories of pumas, prisoners and lost poems
这些小说讲述了美洲豹、囚徒与失落诗篇的故事
At the end of 2024 a survey by YouGov found that one of Americans’ top resolutions for the coming year was to read more. By this point, however, most will have given up on that aspiration, along with their dreams of perfectly toned muscles or a completed list of DIY projects. But all is not lost as the end of the year draws closer. We have rounded up eight of our favourite novels published in recent months. Among our choices are a number of slim volumes: perfect for any determinedly bookish folk who still have an end-of-year reading target to hit.
2024年底YouGov的一项调查显示，美国人的新年计划中最常见的一项是阅读更多书籍。然而到此时，大多数人早已放弃这一宏愿，正如他们放弃练就完美肌肉或完成DIY项目清单的梦想。但随着年终临近，希望并未湮灭。我们精选了近期出版的八本精彩小说。其中多部作品篇幅精悍，正适合那些立志完成年度阅读目标的读书人。
Drayton and Mackenzie. By Alexander Starritt.
《德雷顿与麦肯齐》 亚历山大·斯塔里特 著
Two very different men, James and Roland, meet as young adults. Both seek success, first as management consultants, then as entrepreneurs in the field of green energy. As they navigate private pain and the turmoil of the global financial crash of 2007-09, they increasingly value their friendship. Both characters are expertly drawn in this funny, touching story.
詹姆斯与罗兰两位性格迥异的青年相遇。他们先后以管理顾问、绿色能源创业者的身份追求成功。在经历个人伤痛与2007-09年全球金融风暴的过程中，愈发珍视彼此情谊。这个幽默动人的故事以精湛笔触勾勒出两个鲜活人物。
Dusk.By Robbie Arnott.
《暮色》 罗比·阿诺特 著
A puma roams the Tasmanian highlands, killing sheep and their shepherds. Iris and Floyd, twins and social outcasts, join the hunt in hope of securing a bounty. This brings them into contact with another tracker, Patrick, who is cunning and dangerous. This is a propulsive novel of survival and betrayal, enriched by arresting depictions of nature.
一只美洲豹游荡在塔斯马尼亚高地，猎杀羊群与牧羊人。被社会排斥的双胞胎艾里斯与弗洛伊德为获取赏金加入追捕，由此与狡猾危险的追踪者帕特里克产生交集。这部节奏紧凑的小说融合生存与背叛主题，并以震撼的自然描写增色。
Flashlight.By Susan Choi.
《手电筒》 苏珊·崔 著
One night, while on holiday in Japan, ten-year-old Louisa and her father go for a walk along a beach. The next day she is found half-dead and her parent has disappeared. At home in America, Louisa and her mother attempt to make sense of the mystery that rocked their lives. A meditation on identity and displacement that is full of twists and turns.
十岁的路易莎与父亲在日本度假时夜游海滩，次日女孩奄奄一息被发现，父亲却神秘失踪。回到美国后，路易莎与母亲试图解开颠覆她们生活的谜团。这部关于身份认同与流离感的沉思录充满曲折情节。
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. By Kiran Desai.
《索尼娅与桑尼的孤独》 基兰·德赛 著
An engrossing story of two young Indians trying to make it in America. Sonia is an aspiring novelist in Vermont; Sunny is a journalist in New York. They meet and fall in love, but the question is whether they are able to stay together, find happiness and feel “life growing bigger”. This book is grand in sweep—it traverses continents and features a large cast of characters—yet satisfyingly intimate.
两个印度青年在美国奋斗的动人故事。佛蒙特州的 aspiring novelist 索尼娅与纽约记者桑尼相遇相爱，但能否相守、觅得幸福并感受"生命蓬勃生长"仍是未知。这部作品横跨大洲、人物众多，却依然保持令人满意的细腻感。
Seascraper. By Benjamin Wood.
《海洋刮削者》 本杰明·伍德 著
This atmospheric novel chronicles two days in the life of Thomas Flett, a young Englishman who works as a “shanker”, scouring a desolate stretch of beach for shrimp. When Edgar Acheson, an American film director, arrives to woo his mother, Thomas sees an opportunity to leave his hardscrabble existence behind and pursue his dream of being a folk singer. But is the visitor all he claims to be?
这部氛围小说记录英国青年托马斯·弗莱特两天的生活。作为在荒凉海滩捕虾的"刮削工"，当美国电影导演埃德加·阿切森为追求其母亲而来，托马斯视其为摆脱贫困、追寻民谣歌手梦想的契机。但这位访客真如他所声称的那样吗？
Sympathy Tower Tokyo. By Qudan Rie. Translated by Jesse Kirkwood.
《东京共情塔》 九段理江 著 杰西·柯克伍德 译
The winner of Japan’s prestigious Akutagawa prize, this novel is set in an imagined future and revolves around Sara Machina, an architect tasked with designing a skyscraper in which convicted criminals can live in comfort. Sara, a victim of sexual assault, is uncomfortable with the commission and seeks guidance from a chatbot. A bold interrogation of crime, punishment and redemption.
荣获日本芥川奖的这部小说设定于虚构未来。建筑师莎拉·玛奇娜受命设计让囚犯舒适生活的摩天楼，曾是性侵受害者的她对此委托深感不安，遂向聊天机器人寻求指引。对罪行、惩罚与救赎的大胆叩问。
Vulture. By Phoebe Greenwood.
《秃鹫》 菲比·格林伍德 著
This scathing send-up of war reporting follows Sara, a young English freelance reporter, as she covers conflict in Gazain 2012. Frustrated by “monkey journalism”, and determined to make a name for herself by writing a hard-edged front-page story, she ignores the warnings of her translator and fixer and goes recklessly in search of an exclusive. Soon she is dangerously out of her depth. A supremely accomplished debut full of wit and bite.
这部对战地报道的尖锐讽刺作品，追踪2012年加沙冲突中英国自由记者莎拉的足迹。厌倦"猴式新闻"的她决心凭硬核头版新闻成名，无视翻译与联络员的警告冒险寻找独家消息，很快陷入超出掌控的危险境地。这部充满智慧与锋芒的出道之作堪称完美。
What We Can Know. By Ian McEwan.
《可知之境》 伊恩·麦克尤恩 著
In 2014 a celebrated poet reads his latest work, dedicated to his wife, at her birthday party. Then the poem goes missing. In 2119 an academic trawls through archives in his quest to track down the lost poem. His discovery yields an account of passion, murder and guilt. Ian McEwancombines a post-apocalyptic dystopia, a love story and a thrilling mystery to great effect: this is an inventive, exquisitely written book.
2014年，著名诗人在妻子生日宴朗诵献给她的新作，随后诗稿失踪。2119年，学者为追寻失落的诗篇翻阅档案，其发现揭开关于激情、谋杀与愧疚的往事。麦克尤恩将末世反乌托邦、爱情故事与惊悚谜题完美融合，成就这部创意非凡、文笔精妙的杰作。
来源：左右图史
