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cover of episode In 'Stone Yard Devotional,' a woman abandons modern life for a religious community

In 'Stone Yard Devotional,' a woman abandons modern life for a religious community

2025/3/3
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Charlotte Wood: 我创作这本小说时，刻意避免对主人公的选择进行评判，这对我来说是一个技术上的挑战。我仍然不确定自己对主人公行为的感受。主人公在两种信念之间摇摆：‘行动是绝望的解药’和‘无所作为减少伤害’。起初，她认为那些隐退的修女们有些可怜，没有为世界做贡献。但后来她意识到，她们的无所作为或许比她过去那些充满善意的行动造成的伤害更少。 我将老鼠瘟疫写入小说，部分原因是它在我写作期间真实发生在澳大利亚乡村。这不仅仅是一个故事元素，更是对气候变化导致的灾难的象征。老鼠瘟疫的意象是小说创作的灵感来源，它体现了自然失衡和气候变化的影响。 小说中，我塑造了与主人公形成鲜明对比的角色海伦·佩里，她是一位积极的社会活动家。这突出了行动与隐退两种生活方式的差异，也更能引发读者对主人公选择的思考。 Ari Shapiro: 作为读者，我被作者对主人公选择的客观态度所吸引，也对小说中描写的环境灾难和社会议题印象深刻。与主人公形成鲜明对比的海伦·佩里这一角色的出现，更突显了小说探讨的主题：在行动与隐退、参与与旁观之间，如何做出符合道德的选择。

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Chapters
Charlotte Wood discusses her novel 'Stone Yard Devotional', focusing on the narrator's choice to leave modern life for a religious community. The conversation explores the ethical complexities and disruptions faced by the narrator.
  • The unnamed narrator of 'Stone Yard Devotional' leaves her modern life in Sydney to join a religious community.
  • Charlotte Wood avoids judging her character's choices, presenting ethically gray areas.
  • The book was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.
  • The protagonist faces three major disruptions, including a plague of mice.

Shownotes Transcript

In Charlotte Wood's Stone Yard Devotional, an unnamed narrator renounces modern life in Sydney, retreating to a cloistered religious community in her hometown. But soon after, a series of three visitations causes the narrator to rethink the choice she's made. In today's episode, Wood speaks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about the novel, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2024. They discuss Wood's decision to withhold judgement of her character's actions, the biblical nature of the story's disruptions, and Australia's position at the forefront of the climate crisis.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices)NPR Privacy Policy)