I finished Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane two days ago, and I waited and waited and waited, for everything to sink in before I write this final post and talk about my humble thoughts about it. Yes, it is that kind of book. No, I didn’t expect it. I expected good but this […]
重回中文閱讀的懷抱—吳明益《複眼人》
有多久沒看純中文寫的小說了? 發現吳明益先生和他的小說作品純是偶然-—在我工作的書店中以作者姓氏排書,每次整理到W(Wu)列會看到一本從封面到作者到描述都很獨特的小說,The Man with Compound Eyes,就是我手上這本《複眼人》的英文版。或許由於吳先生的名聲在english readers間不甚熟識的關係,這本一直便留在書架上。好奇的我後來查得作者實為台灣東華大學華文文學系教授後,當然會想一探究竟。 生為純正(香港)華人,從小陪伴啟蒙我長大的是「俠之大者」金庸,「飛雪連天射白鹿、笑書神俠倚碧鴛」,金大俠筆下的人物和武林影響我至深,當中最愛如「笑傲江湖」的靈動,「天龍八部」的深邃,瀟灑的令狐沖、玲瓏的黃蓉、豪邁的蕭峰等不單是紙上的角色,更早已深入我的靈魂,教我從此迷上閱讀。 讀遍金庸後的青年期我如一重度癮君子,遍尋圖書館及書店想找回閱讀金庸小說給我的整個靈魂上的滋養,其間發現了獨樹一格的古龍、溫瑞安、黃易等諸君作品,雖各有其精彩獨到處,卻難以再感受到讀金庸那種沁入靈魂的飽足感。 再後來大學主修英國文學,開始廣泛閱讀世界文學如莎翁的戲劇、美國Flannery O’Connor 及俄國Chekhov的短篇小說等,主題深邃則深邃矣,文筆精彩則精彩矣,卻感覺差了點什麼。這段期間真正讓我投入閱讀的反而是青少年小說如《哈利波特》和《飢餓遊戲》等。 出社會工作後讀的書愈多,讓我重新接觸「中文」閱讀的卻是號稱當代日本文學旗手村上春樹。村上的獨特文風,賴明珠的中文翻譯讀來輕鬆,意象情感觸及內心柔軟處的感覺卻是我繼讀金庸所久違的。 然而翻譯終是翻譯。當我讀過中文現代文學泰斗如魯迅和張愛玲等作品後卻感覺不得其門而入,我幾乎已放棄尋找能讓我感動的中文作品。中文小說的題材對我來說也是個問題,慣於英語和世界文學包羅萬象的題材的我,發現華文小說在嚴肅鄉土文學或一字一血淚社會小說如莫言、余華等作品,和「大眾類型小說」如九把刀、張小嫻(當然,這兩位的作品也很好看)等之間的是個無人地帶,難讀和好讀的作品之間竟難找到平衡點—讀來無壓力而讀後讓我難忘的作品。 直到讀起吳先生的《複眼人》—魔幻寫實的題材,以一無以名狀的山洞崩塌為首章,然後介紹起主角之一阿特烈的瓦憂瓦優族,讀到其如土著人對海洋的原始崇拜和各種奇異風俗、以及另一主角女教授阿莉思,自丈夫和兒子失蹤後一人堅持住在台北鄉郊海邊奇特房子,一心尋死;毫不炫麗的句子 ,不特別帶追看性的情節,卻彷如魔法般扣人心弦,轉眼我便翻過百頁。當然不管題材、文風和小說結構上《複眼人》很難和金庸作品比較,但其錦密的內涵和厚實的中文意象,對此刻久旱中文文學的我而言實有如受寒毒之苦的張無忌九陽神功初成,全身暖哄哄的,說不出的受用。 各位廣大的讀者們,你又讀過什麼令你難忘的中文小說呢?
A Tapestry of a Novel in the best sense of the word—Dear Edward
“Tapestry” is not a word I trust in a book blurb, no matter who has written it. Yet, 336 pages later and a month of carrying the book around every day, I have to concede—Dear Edward is a most fascinating tapestry of a book. My distrust in the word lies simply in that it tells […]
There is Something Heroic about Being a Bookseller—The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
“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 […]