“Hey A.J.,”she calls. “There is something kind of heroic about being a bookseller.” When we first meet A.J Fikry, the recently widowed owner of the only bookshop on Alice Island, there seems nothing particularly heroic about him. He’s an irritable drunk who thinks he and his bookshop are probably too good for the island dwellers […]
越讀十年—說一本改變我人生軌跡的書
每個行業都有大師，出版業也不例外。國外的且不算—因為我暫時沒有知識—在華文界我知道且深受的影響的有一位—台灣的大塊文化董事長，Net & Books創辦人郝明義先生。不記得在哪讀到，但稱他卓而成家的—出版家—不是我的創見。而我認識先生，繼而深受他影響正始於他寫於2007年的《越讀者》。 這本談閱讀方法、理論及實踐的書對青年時迷茫的我無異一本真正的啟蒙書。自此書起我方知閱讀可以有方法，而且我國備受愛戴景仰的大賢如諸葛亮、蘇東坡、陶淵明及朱熹等早已傳下種種法門，各有妙用；也是由此書我知道了關於閱讀方法論的外國大學者Mortimer J. Adler著作《如何閱讀一本書》(How to Read a Book)提到的四種層次的閱讀；然而最為重要的，是先生在此書中字字句句滲出的閱讀的美好和可能性，在情感上直接使我之後的人生與書結下深緣。誇張的說一句，假如我沒有讀過這本書，我今天不可能成為一名選書師。 提幾個此書對我最直接的影響。首先，先生直接啟蒙了我對漫畫(Graphic Novels)的欣賞(Part 4圖像與漫畫的作用)。在此之前，我對漫畫此既深且博的載體(medium)還只停留於幼時愛看的叮噹(Dorameon)和花生漫畫(Peanuts)。到現在當然對此道還是連入門都談不上，但起碼真的去找了幾本還真不錯的Graphic Novels來看，比如Craig Thompson的Blankets、蓋曼大叔(Neil Gaiman)的Sandman系列，又比如非常狂野的Sex Criminals或近新的Monstress，都是大開腦洞的佳作。 由此而進，先生對閱讀的整體性思考也深深影響了我，對於書以外文本(non-book texts)的閱讀(Part 3為什麼不必是文字與書)—當然先生不是第一位說類似的道理，比如我從沒讀過而只二手閱讀的沈從文先生就說過讀小書和讀大書的道理，但真正影響我的還要數先生此書。可以說，我開始寫影評、寫遊戲點評(Games Commentary)也是從此開始。 此外，先生提及最好有一個心儀的對像(Part 7)。他的對像英國哲學家羅素(Bertrand Russell)直接成為了我的首幾位最愛的作者及哲人之一，此中種種的二度影響不在話下—在看了無數自我成長(Self-Help)類的書後，真要感嘆於近一世紀前寫成的羅素的The Conquest of Happiness的簡潔精闢完爆當今多少暢銷作品。正是因為先生在書中對羅素的由心敬佩，為我開啟了對知識追尋的這道大門。 說《越讀者》改變了我人生軌跡有點誇張，細思之下卻是不爭的事實。如果你只讀一本關於閱讀的書，我衷心推薦這一本。
John Green Did it Again— Turtles All the Way Down Review
Thank you, John Green, you did it again. Thank you for writing another great novel for all ages—forget the YA catergory—that illuminates, entertains, and provokes in equal measure. Thank you for outdoing yourself by not making romance the center of the new book, and making the wait after The Fault in Our Stars worth it. Every writer […]
Four Novels I Would Recommend to Anyone, AnyTime
So normally I believe that there is no absolute good or bad when it comes to recommending books; a good book for me might just be a mediocre one for you, and vice versa. But there are a few novels I have read and enjoyed so much that I would recommend them to anyone, anytime. In […]
So, What is Reading, Really?－Attitude and Thoughts of a Master of the Art of Living
Sooner or later, a reader would ask himself/herself, “What is reading?”, or sometimes, “Am I doing it right?”, or still, “Why am I even reading this?” I am a reader. And I am curious. Have been, will be, always. So yeah, I’ve been there. Today I want to talk about reading－the essence of the activity, […]
Shiny Little Screens
Shiny Little Screens When the sharp nail through the flimsy shoe stroke from below I’d certainly had skipped its blow And the name granny’d called When proudly he strode past the road Save the suffocating pain a random pointy thing Bestowed Unto a strange realm remarkably close Faceless creatures moving along Straight and flat they […]
Archaic Self-help on Getting Rich: A Review of The Richest Man in Babylon
If you are like me－a 20-something who just starts working but have no idea where to start on the road to financial freedom, look no further－The Richest Man in Babylon offers tips, rules, , as well as concrete advice, and above all hope. If you don’t mind the archaic-style English (Ten years ago when I stood at the gates […]
How to Always Find the Right Read in an Age of Far Too Many Choices
The Problem Reading has never been easier－when you can think of a title and have it downloaded into your device built and meant for reading in under a minute－and yet harder－facing an ocean of choices for every single genre and topic you can think of. But the problem here is obviously not only choosing the […]
How Reading can be Delicious: 4 Types of Reads Everyone Needs
The other day I got an Ask to Answer, aka A2A on Quora: How can I start tolerating books? I thought long and hard－about whether I should write an answer or not. Does the phrase tolerating books indicate the person asking is a lost cause beyond saving? I did write an answer (as you may guess). And I am glad I […]
How I Quit “Good” Reading and Started Free Reading
Only You Can Decide Somewhere along the way, a reader will ask himself/herself: “How do I get better at reading?” I have asked, too and was fortunate enough to find my own answer－a bit too hard a way. The motivation to improve is certainly a good thing, but in terms of reading, it can get […]