The Son

為2014年the Pulitzer Prize在Fiction類的finalist。
本書故事是在描述一個美國德州家族歷經五代的發展史，從水牛還未絕種，印地安人還會綁架白人的時代開始，歷經南北戰爭、美國南方白人與墨西哥移民間爭奪土地與牲畜的血腥與仇恨、德州探勘石油潮、而直到現代。
故事聚焦在五代家族中的三個主要人物：曾被印地安人俘虜而與其之同化、後來再度回歸納白人社群的第一代；因為父親與其他白人以懲罰犯罪為名屠殺鄰居之墨西哥家庭而感到罪惡、後來又與墨西哥家庭之女兒發生關係並離家出走的第二代；以及在重男輕女且極度封閉的家族世界中、因緣際會接掌家業卻總是無法擺脫孤獨感的第四代。透過交錯進行之三個主要人物的個人敘事，故事開展出家族從第一代從零開始經營畜牧業、取得土地並度過數次危機而逐漸累積財富聲望，發展到探勘到油礦並透過石油開採權而成就豪門的過程。
三個主要人物的個人故事中有許多細節，而其中很多情節都有可堪省思或觸發想法的點。但是粗略地說，三個主要人物的共通生命基調或可說都是「錯置感」：第一代身為被俘虜的白人卻融入印地安生活、回到白人社會後反而需要重新定位自己；第二代面對父親的強勢作風以及當時的多數價值，只能情緒沮喪並忍受別人所表現出的失望；第四代在一直自覺不被理解與不被關愛的內在情緒中，勉強自己成為自己覺得必須成為的人，並接受自己其實了然於心的無奈現實，只能冷眼批判但仍還是找不到蹊徑可以讓自己從邊陲走向核心。
書中透過主要人物的內在省思所陳述出的生活觀察，有些還蠻發人深省，例如：
「They could not seem to grasp that what mattered was what you did. Not what you said or thought about」；
「The frontier was not yet settled when Buffalo Bill began his shows and the Colonel always complained about the moment his cowboys began to read novels about other cowboys; they had lost track of which was more ture, the books or their own lives」；
「"It's an old story," I say. "It's well known." "Of Course," she says. "There are many convincing detais. First, there is a dead Mexican who was a horse thief, as all dead Mexicans are. Second, there are two famous Texans, who decided, after killing a man, that they would decapitate him for fun. Third, they decide that merely decapitating this man is not funny enough. It will be hilarious if, instead of burying him, they tie his body to a wild horse."..."And the final convincing detail is that a group of Anglo cowboys, when faced with the task of capturing a legendary black stallion, instead of ropping him, or building a simple trap, decided to shoot him, because it required the least effort."」
總之本書還不錯看，有複雜細膩但敘事順暢的故事，也有從故事情節中所浮現出、可以觸發人心的人性觀照與批判。