今天要介绍的是这本今天晚上才刚刚看完的小说—The Book of The Dead By Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
“死亡之书”The Book of the Dead 其实历史上倒是确有其事。原来这本古书是一本在古埃及时代专门讲述死亡法则的书。书中有很多恶毒的咒语，用来防止阳间的人给阴间的人捣乱用的。埃及传说中法老王有五个灵魂，其中一个灵魂叫魃灵Ba-Soul。这个魃灵是在法老尸体被化为干尸mummy以后，走动于阴曹地府和法老墓地之间，作为和地府联系交往的灵魂。这个灵魂每天在太阳落山之前一定要回到干尸身上。如果有人偷人墓穴，干扰了魃灵的回归的话，法老就会真的完全死去，永世不得超生。为了防止这种悲剧的出现，在法老墓地的门上，均刻有从“死亡之书”中借用来的咒语，据说这种咒语相当灵验，屡试不爽。
小说The Book of the Dead就是以这个背景为主线发展出来的。本书可以算是我多年读过的这类书中最好的一本, 我甚至觉得这本书可以和大仲马的“基督山伯爵”相媲美。本书结合古埃及的坟墓文化包括法老王的诅咒，加上现代社会的科技和知识，编织了一个完美的电影的种种基本条件：给男性读者予冒险，神秘，恐怖，性和未知；给女性读者以诗情画意，游山玩水，还有温柔但是崎型的爱。这个故事扑朔迷离，高潮迭起，既有被诬陷的FBI 探员在最戒备森严的美国联邦极端罪犯监狱中声东击西，借尸还魂，成功逃脱的精彩，也有三百社会名流被恶魔困于法老王的墓地，被用现代科技的音响，激光成像，刀光剑影地配合古老而令人恐惧的传说而控制大脑，令人自相残杀的疯狂场面。这位魔王为了扩大伤害范围，找了PBS进行全球实况转播。。。我不记得上次是什么时候看哪本小说让我如此流连忘返，废寝忘食。。。
这本书不光是情节紧张合理，更重要的是文字品味不错，字里行间，可以看出两位作者（Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child）的素质和修为，确实属于少见的珍品，我想这本书如果被拍成电影的话，一定不亚于印第安纳琼斯Indiana Jones, 引起轰动。
极力推荐。。。
这里是那个神秘的人物对他的恋爱对象的倾述。。。
Diogenes drew closer. “You have acquired the gift of experience—without the awful cost of age. You are young and vibrant. It may feel a burden to you now, but it doesn’t have to be. You can be free of it any time you choose. You can begin t live whenever you want. Now, if you choose.”
She looked away again. “Constance, look at me. No one understands you—except me. You are a pear beyond price. You have all the beauty and freshness of a woman of twenty-one, yet you have a mind refined by a lifetime… no, lifetimes…of intellectual hunger. But the intellect can take you only so far. You are like an unwatered seed. Lay your intellect aside and recognize your other hunger—your sensual hunger. The seed cries for water—and only then will it sprout, rise and blossom.”
Constance, refusing to look back, shook her head violently.
“You have been cloistered here—shut up like a num. You’ve read thousands of books, thought deep thoughts. But you haven’t lived. There is another world out there: a world of color and taste and touch. Constance, we will explore that world together. Can’t you feel the deep connection between us? Let me bring that world here, to you. Open yourself to me, Constance: I am the one who can save you. Because I am the only person who truly understands you. Just as I am the person who shares your pain.”
Belgians find tomb of ancient Egypt courtier Sun May 20, 11:27 AM ET
CAIRO (Reuters) - Belgian archaeologists have discovered the intact tomb of an Egyptian courtier who lived about 4,000 years ago, Egypt's culture ministry said on Sunday.
The team from Leuven Catholic University accidentally found the tomb, one of the best preserved of its time, while excavating a later burial site at the Deir al-Barsha necropolis near the Nile Valley town of Minya, south of Cairo.
The tomb belonged to Henu, an estate manager and high-ranking official during the first intermediate period, which lasted from 2181 to 2050 BC and was a time of political chaos in ancient Egypt.
The archaeologists found Henu's mummy wrapped in linen in a large wooden coffin and a sarcophagus decorated with hieroglyphic texts addressed to the gods Anubis and Osiris.
The tomb contained well-preserved painted wooden statuettes of workers making bricks, women making beer and pounding cereal, and a model of a boat with rowers, a ministry statement said.
"The statuettes (are of) the best quality of their time. They are characterized by realistic touches and unusual details such as the dirty hands and feet of the brick makers," the statement said, quoting Belgian team leader Harco Willems.
