一個是家財萬貫卻終身癱瘓的法國富豪,
一個是來自社會底層的阿爾及利亞裔失業移民,
看似兩個平行世界、無可逆轉的人生,
卻有了動人交會,共譜生命新頁!
「他真讓人受不了,愛慕虛榮,傲慢粗魯,性情陰晴不定,卻很善解人意。沒有他,我可能就此腐朽終老。阿布戴從不間斷地照顧我,彷彿我是個小嬰兒。他能注意到任何微小的狀況,所有我忽略的他都不會放過,當我被監禁的時候,他讓我擺脫束縛,當我軟弱的時候,他保護我。當我崩潰的時候,他能讓我笑。他是我的惡魔看護。」
富豪菲利普正處於人生和事業的巔峰,認為所有事都在自己的掌握中,直到1993年的一場飛行傘意外,改變了他的一生。菲利普因這場意外終身癱瘓,妻子也因不治之症病逝,只能困坐在巴黎深宅大院內的菲利普,體認到自己「碰不得」(intouchable)──無法接觸人群,旁人也不敢親近,直到阿布戴的出現逆轉了他的人生。
阿布戴身處社會邊緣,個性不拘小節,對一切肆無忌憚,這位阿爾及利亞裔的失業移民竟為不良於行的菲利普帶來嶄新人生,照顧他的生活起居,共度十年悲喜交加的日子。
兩個不同世界、人生殘缺的人,拒絕尋求幫助,最後卻療癒了彼此,幫助了彼此。
本書透過作者口述聽寫而成,內容談及童年回憶、家庭生活、對人生和愛情的憧憬、癱瘓後對世界的觀感、對弱勢族群的憐惜、對來世的想法,以及與看護之間的深刻情誼,至情至性,令人動容。
法國影史最賣座電影《逆轉人生》,即是根據這部真人實事原著改編拍成。
“He was unbearable, vain, proud, brutal, inconsistent, human. Without him, I would have rotted to death. . . . He was my guardian devil.”
As the descendant of two prominent French families and director of one of the world’s most celebrated champagne houses, Philippe Pozzo di Borgo was not someone in the habit of asking for help. Then, in 1993, right on the heels of his wife being diagnosed with a terminal illness, a paragliding accident left him a quadriplegic.
Passing his days hidden behind the high walls of his Paris townhouse, Philippe found himself the modern equivalent of an “untouchable” — unable to reach out to others, as others were afraid to reach out to him. The only person who seemed unaffected by Philippe’s condition was someone who had been marginalized his entire life — Abdel, the unemployed, uninhibited Algerian immigrant who would become his unlikely caretaker. In between dramas and jokes, he sustained Philippe’s life for the next ten years.
A Second Wind, the basis for the major motion picture The Intouchables, is the inspiring true story of two men who refused to ask for help, and then wound up helping each other.
★本書中譯版《逆轉人生》由繆思出版。
作者簡介
菲利普.波佐.迪博戈(Philippe Pozzo di Borgo)
出身法國名門世家,全球頂級柏瑪芮(Pommery,隸屬法國精品LVMH集團旗下)香檳企業前執行長。42歲時發生一場飛行傘意外,全身幾乎癱瘓,而妻子也在不久後因病辭世,身後留下一雙兒女。此後,作者身陷輪椅上,深居於巴黎大院中,直到一名阿爾及利亞裔看護的出現,改變了他的人生。目前與第二任妻子和子女定居摩洛哥,擔任「西蒙.德希漢」協會(Assocition Simon de Cyrene)主席,為殘障朋友發聲,創造共同分享的生活空間。