《The Liar's Dictionary》是英國作家Eley Williams創作的首部長篇小說，由William Heinemann出版社於2019年出版，中文版《圓謊者詞典》於2025年由南海出版公司推出。作者任教於倫敦大學皇家霍洛威學院，曾以短篇小說集獲得詹姆斯·泰特·布萊克獎。
小說採用雙時空敘事：維多利亞時代的詞典編纂者Peter Winceworth為挑戰權威，在詞條中植入虛構內容；當代出版社實習生Mallory則在數位化詞典時發現這些偽造條目。全書以26個字母對應的偽詞條劃分章節，通過語言遊戲和英式幽默，探討詞典編纂過程中的真實與虛構、語言定義權與個體反抗等主題，揭示文本權威體系背後的荒誕性。
基本介紹
- ISBN：9781785152047
- 作者：Eley Williams
- 出版社：William Heinemann
- 出版時間：2019年7月4日
- 頁數：254
- 定價：GBP 14.99
- 裝幀：Hardcover
內容簡介
Peter Winceworth, a disaffected Victorian lexicographer, inserts false entries into a dictionary – violating and subverting the dictionary’s authority – in an attempt to assert some sense of individual purpose and artistic freedom. In the present day, Mallory, a young overworked and underpaid intern employed by the dictionary’s publishing house, is tasked with uncovering these ...(展開全部) Peter Winceworth, a disaffected Victorian lexicographer, inserts false entries into a dictionary – violating and subverting the dictionary’s authority – in an attempt to assert some sense of individual purpose and artistic freedom. In the present day, Mallory, a young overworked and underpaid intern employed by the dictionary’s publishing house, is tasked with uncovering these entries before the work is digitised. As the novel progresses and their narratives combine, as Winceworth imagines who will find his fictional words in an unknown future and Mallory discovers more about the anonymous lexicographer’s life through the clues left in his fictitious entries, both discover how they might negotiate the complexities of an absurd, relentless, untrustworthy, hoax-strewn, undefinable life.
