一个多月前读完了Beartown。

就像我曾经提过的，这是一个热爱冰球的小镇的故事（至少封面和简介都给人这样的印象）。我不看也不懂冰球，所以对这本书没什么兴趣。不过，我注意到作者是Fredrik Backman（他的代表作：A Man Called Ove），我有点想读了。

看了一眼Chapter 1。

Late one evening toward the end of March, a teenager picked up a double-barreled shotgun, walked into the forest, put the gun to someone else's forehead, and pulled the trigger.

This is the story of how we got there.

第一章就这么短短两段，但我已经知道，我肯定要读这本书。我对这样的悬念没有抵抗力，完全没有！

一边读一边慢慢发现，这本书其实跟冰球没有太大的关系。笼统地说，这是一个关于勇气和忠诚的故事。稍微具体一点地说，这是一个在意想不到的悲剧事件发生后，人性的邪恶和善良作斗争的故事。

为了避免剧透，我只能这么含糊地介绍了。故事有极大的冲击力，所以相信我，不剧透是绝对正确的做法。

问题是，不剧透，还有啥可分享的呢？

这就是Fredrik Backman厉害的地方了。整本书有太多让人感同身受的描写，而这些描写并不泄露剧情，特摘录如下（括号里的红字部分是我的补充）：

对体育的感悟：

She hates hockey but understands her father's love for it; the sport is just a different instrument from hers. Her mom sometimes whispers in her daughter's ear: "Never trust people who don't have something in their lives that they love beyond all reason." (My philosophy exactly!)

"Culture" is an odd word to use about hockey; everyone says it, but no one can explain what it means. All organizations like to boast that they're building a culture, but when it comes down to it, everyone really only cares about one sort: the culture of winning. We love winners, even though they're very rarely particularly likeable people. They're almost always obsessive and selfish and inconsiderate. That doesn't matter. We forgive them. We like them while they're winning. (Soooooo true!)

Hockey is just a silly little game. We devote year after year after year to it without ever really hoping to get anything in return. We burn and bleed and cry, fully aware that the most the sport can give us, in the very best scenario, is incomprehensibly meager and worthless: just a few isolated moments of transcendence. That's all. But what the hell else is life made of? (That's why I love watching sports! Those moments of transcendence!!!) 

对人性的感悟：

All adults have days when we feel completely drained. When we no longer know quite what we spend so much time fighting for, when reality and everyday worries overwhelm us and we wonder how much longer we're going to be able to carry on. The wonderful thing is that we can all live through far more days like that without breaking than we think. The terrible thing is that we never know exactly how many. (Again, soooooo true!)

For years, David's deepest shame was the fact that he could never get over the jealousy he felt whenever Sune and Peter would go into Peter's office without inviting him along. His love of the camaraderie of the sport was grounded in a fear of exclusion. (It's scary how well I relate to that specific kind of jealousy.)

A long marriage is complicated. So complicated, in fact, that most people in one sometimes ask themselves: "Am I still married because I'm in love, or just because I can't be bothered to let anyone else get to know me this well again?" (How's it possible that I agree with this 100 percent even though I've never been married?)

Sune has never told Peter he loves him. It can be just as hard for father figures to say that as it is for real fathers. But he knows how afraid Peter is of disappointing everyone. All men have different fears that drive them, and Peter's biggest one is that he isn't good enough. (Oy, as a man, I feel so exposed...)

那些我们都懂，但没法这么精辟描述的道理：

People sometimes say that sorrow is mental but longing is physical. One is a wound, the other an amputated limb, a withered petal compared to a snapped stem. Anything that grows closely enough to what it loves will eventually share the same roots. We can talk about loss, we can treat it and give it time, but biology still forces us to live according to certain rules: plants that are split down the middle don't heal, they die. (Great analogy.)

One of the first things you learn as a leader, whether you choose the position or have it forced upon you, is that leadership is as much about what you don't say as what you do say. (Well said.)

You can love something without loving everything about it. You don't have to feel embarrassed about not being proud. That applies to hockey, but it also applies to friends. (I'd say it applies to your family and life partner too.)

There will always be people who won't understand his decision. Who will call him weak or dishonest or disloyal. They are probably people who live secure lives, who are surrounded by people who share their own opinions and only talk to people who reinforce their own worldview. It's easy for them to judge him--it's always easier to lecture other people about morality when you've never had to answer for anything yourself. (Once again, soooooo true!)

Big secrets make small men of us, especially when we're the men others have to keep secrets from. (Ouch.)

还有整本书里最言简意赅的鸡汤：

If you are honest, people may deceive you. Be honest anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfishness. Be kind anyway.

All the good you do today will be forgotten by others tomorrow. Do good anyway.

给跪了。总能用这么简单的语言，说出最深得我心的话。

As I have previously said, it's not often that reading a book can give me physical reactions. Reading this one sure did. I had to stop and gasp for air quite a few times. Just goes to show how extraordinarily powerful this book is.

另，Fredrik Backman的最新小说将于今年6月出版发行，叫Us Against You，正是Beartown的续集！所以，现在绝对是补习Beartown的最佳时机。赶紧行动吧！