无尽的前沿

According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing. Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon — both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle — are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist...

不得不承认，英国佬恶搞的功力其实远非老美能及～～～

Neil Gaiman和Terry Pratchett在1990年出版的这本小说可以说是胡说八道之集大成者，号称叙述了“人类历史最后11年中发生的故事”，两位有着6000年友谊的仁兄（天使Aziraphale和魔鬼Crowley）在分别为双方老板执行世界末日行动（代号:审判日风暴。。。此处为子虚乌有）时弄出了一系列岔子，女巫传人Anathema和猎巫人后裔Newton谈起了恋爱（后者的曾曾曾...曾曾祖父在600年前把前者的曾曾曾...曾曾祖母放上了火刑架，结果女巫大妈事先在身上装了炸弹～～），撒旦之子Adam Young把地狱犬变成了宠物小狗（狗兄很满意这个改变），外星人飞来飞去，亚特兰蒂斯升上海面，西藏喇嘛到处挖地道......总之天下大乱，圣经、伪科学、乡野传奇悉数登场，为我们上演了一出世界末日的爆笑戏码。这本书的热销估计还是收到了当年世界“和谐”的影响，核大战的威胁离人们远去的时候还是常常受到怀念的（要是我现在写一本讲述股市崩盘的书，肯定卖不出去的吧，sigh...）

下面key一段书中的出场人物介绍，大家自己感受下：

God(God)

Metatron(The Voice of God)

Aziraphale(An Angel, and part-time rare book dealer)

Satan(A Fallen Angel; the Adversary)

Beelzebub(A Likewise Fallen Angel and Prince of Hell)

Hastur(A Fallen Angel and Duke of Hell)

Ligur(Likewise a Fallen Angel and Duke of Hell)

Crowley(An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards)

DEATH(Death)

War(War)

Famine(Famine)

Pollution(Pollution)

Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer(A Witchfinder)

Agnes Nutter(A Prophetess)

Newton Pulsifer(Wages Clerk and Witchfinder Private)

Anathema Device(Practical Occulist and Professional Descendant)

Shadwell(Witchfinder Sergeant)

Madame Tracy(Painted Jezebel[Mornings only, Thursdays by arrangement] and Medium)

Sister Mary Loquacious(A Satanic Nun of the Chattering Order of St. Beryl)

Mr. Young(A Father)

Mr. Tyler(A Chairman of a Residents' Association)

A Delivery Man

Them

    ADAM(An Antichrist)

    Pepper(A Girl)

    Wensleydale(A Boy)

    Brian(A Boy)

Full Chorus of Tibetans, Aliens, Americans, Atlanteans and other rare and strange Creatures of the Last Days

英国奇幻大师Neil Gaiman的<美国众神>是近年来最有深度的幻想小说之一，在神秘、悬疑、恐怖等重重外衣之下，是作者对于信仰的探究：信仰究竟为何物？信仰何时生何时死？新旧神祗之间的大战是主线，Shadow的发现之旅是副线，穿插其中的是时空旅行式的片段，描绘神祗到达美国的历史场景。美国是民族的大熔炉毋庸质疑，不过"不识庐山真面目"，如此深刻分析美国文化的佳作竟出自英国人之手，实在有些意外，也许大多数美国人也未曾料想到自己的国度是如此"多元"吧。

旧的神祗随先人而来，又被后人遗忘，新的神祗被今人膜拜，却必将走上旧神们的老路，不变的唯有人性，善恶皆然。得势的神祗招摇过市好不威风，被遗忘的旧神们失去法力沦落社会底层，信仰随文化而演化，文化随技术而演化，很多时候，我们以保护的名义让没有生命力的文化形式苟延残喘，其实又有哪种文化能真正死去呢？今天这个时代，文化的永生不是幻想，只是需要它懂得适时退场而已～～