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類別：小說，女性輕小說 (agent :
Yu-Shiuan)
Der
Geschmack von Apfelkernen ( The Taste of Apple seeds )
蘋果核的味道
-作
者：Katharina
Hagena
Format：256頁，Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch出版 (February, 2008)
關於愛、死亡與遺忘的小說很多，但這本小說從蘋果核的味道娓娓道出一個家族三代女性，他們生命中關於愛、死亡與遺忘的故事。
外婆貝兒塔（Bertha）過世後，因為繼承，孫女艾瑞斯（Iris）重新回到外婆家，站在那棟年久失修的房子前，那棟老房子蘊含著童年的暑假跟表姐妹玩變裝遊戲，穿梭在不同房間、前後院的記憶，院子曾經花團錦簇，曾經果實累累。但從貝兒塔外婆不慎從蘋果樹上摔下來後，院子的榮景逐漸凋零，剛開始外婆只是精神有些渙散，而後記性有點不好，最後她不再認得任何人，包括自己的三個女兒。
命運的腳步引領艾瑞斯回到充滿回憶的老房子，她打算先獨自待上一星期，看看是不是真的要保留這棟繼承的房子，她偶而到湖裡游泳；巧遇童年女友的哥哥，親吻了他；偶而乾脆認真的粉刷房子其中一面牆，偶而在不同房間漫遊，她用這種不經意的動作同時探索記憶和遺忘的深處：外公徵招參戰前，到底在做什麼工作？哪些男人愛過貝兒塔外婆的女兒們？誰咬蘋果時連中間的果核一起吃？表姊羅絲瑪麗（Rosmarie）意外從溫室的屋頂掉下以前，她跑到那裡幹什麼？她死前究竟還想跟艾瑞斯說什麼？艾瑞斯意識到或許「遺忘」原來有許多遊戲形式，微妙的是「記憶」只是其中一種。
夲書二月出版以來，儘管銷售不算異軍突起，卻由於文評家及讀者的好評，在排行榜穩定前進，德語區目前累積銷售已破五萬本，已經攀升到《明鏡》及《焦點》兩大排行榜前十五名，文評家盛讚其清晰沉靜的文字功力帶出巧妙的故事情節，同時讓閱讀小說成為感官之旅，讀者可以摸到、聞到、感到、嚐到故事裡仲夏的人事，許多讀者推薦此書為炎夏的消暑輕小說。
Summary
When Berta dies, Iris inherits her house. Years after she has last been there, she stands in the Grandmother´s house where she spent endless summer vacations with her cousin, dressing up like her ancestors. She walks through the old rooms and the beautiful garden that seems to have fallen out of time.
Iris stays in that house for a week after the funeral, where her grandmother lived until her death, suffering from Alzheimer´s disease. She doesn´t know whether she really wants to keep it and relives memories and searches for old stories: What did her grandfather do before the war? Who did Berta´s daughters fall in love with? How did Iris´ cousin get on top of the garden-house´s roof just before she fell down and died?
We get to know the whole family of women, Berta and her sister, their daughters and the grandchildren (Iris is one of them). The main characters are women, but men do play a role, e.g. Iris meets a young attorney whom she knows from earlier years and slowly they fall in love...
This is definitely a book for women - no high literature but heart-warming lighter fiction. The characters are described in a very warm and memorable way and you cannot stop reading.
作者
About the Author
Katharina
Hagena was born in 1967, studied English and German in Marburg,
London and Freiburg. She did research at the James-Joyce-foundation
(and published a book on Ulysses at marebuch verlag) and taught at
the Trinity College in Dublin and at the University of Hamburg. She
currently lives in Hamburg.
**德國明鏡雜誌及焦點雜誌
排行榜
前15名
**亞馬遜網路書店讀者予以四顆半星的評價
**德國媒體書評:
http://www.kiwi-verlag.de/36-0-buch.htm?isbn=9783462039702#rezension