Cape Breton Sigh

No Great Mischief

Over two hundred years ago, Caron, "Redhead," of the MacDonald family of the Scottish Highlands, led his wife and children across thousands of mountains and rivers from Scotland to the distant New World, where they thrived in a land of dense forests and long winters. Later, Caron's descendants gradually left the island of Cape Breton, scattering across the beaches of California, the mining regions of South America, and the deserts of Africa... But no matter how far they traveled, Cape Breton remained a lingering thought in their hearts. Those summer days singing to pilot whales, the silhouettes of young men chasing rainbows, those legends of loyalty and betrayal, transformed into a tender yet heavy sigh in the storms of time:
“When we are loved, we become better.”
The story of "A Sigh of Cape Breton" travels between the "present" and the "past". The protagonist Alexander MacDonald has long left his hometown and his memory of the past has become vague, but his interactions with his brother and sister often make him inadvertently recall his childhood life and stories of his ancestors. He finally understands the deep blood ties and the feelings of homeland that transcend all pain and suffering.
This is also a work about cultural origins, a miniature history of Scottish immigration. Through personal growth and family changes, Alistair MacLeod shows the turbulent cultural landscape of Canada over the past two centuries and explores the process of mutual repulsion and coexistence between different languages and cultures.

2020-12-01

上海译文出版社

Archipelago Books

264

9787532785384