I knew I liked him for a reason

[转载] 太平洋的风 - 韩寒

尤其是这段：

这篇文章里不想谈论什么政治和体制。作为一个从大陆来的写作者，我只是非常失落。这些失落并不是来自于这几天浅显的旅行，而是一直以来的感受。我失落在我生存的环境里，前几十年教人凶残和斗争，后几十年使人贪婪和自私，于是我们很多人的骨子里被埋下了这些种子；我失落在我们的前辈们摧毁了文化，也摧毁了那些传统的美德，摧毁了人与人之间的信任，摧毁了信仰和共识，却没有建立起一个美丽新世界，作为晚辈，我们谁也不知道能否弥补这一切，还是继续的摧毁下去；我失落在不知道我们的后代能不能生存在一个互相理解而不是互相伤害的环境之中；我失落在作为一个写作者，我写这篇文章的时候还要不停的考虑措辞，以免哪个地方说过了线；我失落在当他人以善意面对我的时候，我的第一反应居然是会不会有什么阴谋；我失落在我们自己的文艺作品很少能够在台湾真正流传，而能在台湾流传的关于我们的大多是那些历史真相和社会批判，更让人失落的是那些批判和揭露往往都是被我们自己买了回去，用于更加了解我们自己。除了利益和人与人之间的斗争，我们几乎对一切都冷漠。这些冷漠和荒诞所催生的新闻都被世界各地的报纸不停的放在头版，虽然可以说这是官方的错，但无奈却也成了这个民族的注释。

傳統與現在的對話

昨晚非常有幸在林肯中心的演出裏看見了久聞大名的笛簫大師張維良。
一曲“平沙落雁”立刻就把心境帶入古意盎然的天地悠境。

以前只在各種音樂專輯裏見過“張維良”的名字，隱約知道他是笛簫界的翹楚級人物，昨晚直到張大師穿著白色唐裝出場才知道竟然就是本尊駕到了！

全場只有他有一首獨奏曲子，並且只出場了一次。果然大師就是與衆不同。

另外還有青年代裏非常有名的笛簫演奏家陳悅！也是明星級別的人物。

我有她這張“情竹”專輯。但真正讓我記住陳悅的是《亂紅》和《綠野仙蹤》這兩首曲子。
那種刹那間的意境感似乎有種魔力。陳悅本人比這張照片還要靚麗許多。可惜昨晚並沒有她演奏的完整的傳統笛簫曲目，多以中國樂器與西洋樂曲的新穎組合為主。

綠野仙蹤 - 陳悅

亂紅 - 陳悅

Ice Cold

 ★★★★★ 5/5

A review of Tess Gerritsen's "Rizzoli and Isles" series is long past due. But then again, as a habit, if I am not saying anything, it probably means I enjoyed the reading experience.

I haven't had the chance to read any of Gerritsen's standalone medical thrillers. Counting Ice Cold, I have read seven Rizzoli and Isles, save only the Keepsake and the Silent Girl. I stumbled upon Tess Gerritsen by accident when I felt ready to venture into some uncharted literary landscape other than the one created by Preston and Child, and randomly picked up the Mephisto Club -- the word "Mephisto" somehow caught my attention. It is the sixth novel in the Rizzoli and Isles saga, and I remember I was glued to the pages after only a few short chapters into the story. Since then, I began to devour every Rizzoli and Isles (in chronological order) with a hunger. Gerritsen has delivered every story with such a powerful punch, and I'm so glad every Gerritsen reading experience has turned out memorable and satisfying. "Riveting" would be the first word that comes to mind to describe her writing.

I was mildly surprised when I saw her picture and realized she is Chinese-American, and even more impressed to learn that she is a physician-turned-novelist, and a very successful one at that. All in all, an amazingly talented woman, whose novels are about two amazing female protagonists - homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles, the ME.

It's been sometime since I realized I'm easily drawn to forms of literary expression featuring heroines. Looking back, this is probably why I found the Ghost in the Shells stories so mesmerizing, like a mystifying force pulling me in. I doubt GITS would have the same effect on me without the central female figure Major Motoko Kusanagi -- a polar opposite sentient force positioned against the cold and metallic cyber universe. Likewise, I find the Rizzoli and Isles characters refreshing, so remarkably different from each other yet both deliciously stunning, almost goddess incarnates, though one would be like the She-Ifrit, the other one Shiva. (Ahh, FF8 coming to my rescue again)

It's not just about girls kicking ass which is of course a joy to read/watch. Stories with female protagonists are interesting because of the ever present factors of struggling against a list of adversities male protagonists usually take for granted: going against social expectations, and constantly having to prove oneself as better than her male counterparts, not to mention double the amount of butting heads and wading through prejudice-induced crap. But lying at the core of these is the presence of a deeply-ingrained strength unique only to women -- something hardcoded into our physiology and nature, us who are meant to be procreators.

It's interesting to note that most of the crimes in the Rizzoli and Isles stories have females as victims, some of these women fall prey to heinous acts unthinkable to many, and the ones that survive go through hell-like PTSD. I remember there were moments when I felt compelled to take breaks from my reading. The pictures painted, the messages conveyed were delivered with such accuracy and poignancy, that maybe female readers especially felt the shudder and shocking force. So, two strongly willed and "worth-her-salt" women out to save other helpless fellow females in the big-bad-male testosterone-pumped-world. The stage is set.

Of course, a good setup to a story can just as easily fall flat on its face if the writer can't write. But Gerritsen is one of the best thriller writers I've read so far. Gritty, powerful, disciplined and almost stone-cold at times. If I didn't know better, I'd readily believe this is the writing of a man. With good writing and good story, no wonder every one of her books takes off with positive reception.
Though there is just a small interesting observation, which of course doesn't detract from the books. The only character who seems a bit too "stereotypically perfect" is the FBI hunk Gabriel Dean (OK, even the name has that romantic ring to it) -- an annoyingly handsome rival to Jane who eventually (and predictably) becomes her too-good-to-be-true Mr.right. I suppose we all need a poster perfect male character inserted somewhere, if for nothing else, then as a safe haven, a well-deserved escape from a world riddled with gore, brutality and malice.

記憶記憶

The touch-up effect my friend used on her smartphone is called "Grace". 
I don't have such even-toned skin, not now, not ever.

三天

悠閑的三天假日。

                                  ★★★★ 4/5

Read The Black Echo (Michael Connelly), the first Harry Bosch novel in the series.  Like Tess Gerritsen, Connelly is another writer whose books I'll keep on reading.  Not sure if this is just a phase with me, but lately I seem to be partial to "gritty writing", and Connelly certainly falls in that category.  I like the subdued masculinity, the lean and sinewy undertone that his words exude.  There is something sensual about it.  The story itself is carefully constructed and masterfully laid out with a controlled pace.  All in all, many experienced writers don't write this well, and this is only Connelly's first novel (albeit a long time reporter). 

看了“漢語橋”的紐約區比賽，超精彩的。

Watched The Big Lebowski, another Coen/Coen.  So far I've loved every Coen/Coen film.  The Big Lebowski probably ranks the highest among all the Coen/Coen I've seen so far.  I haven't seen Fargo yet.  There is an inexplicable tenderness to their films, something along the lines of "women being saviors and men being in need of saving".

Watched Being John Malkovich, didn't care for it very much.

The Alienist - Caleb Carr

★★★★☆ 4.5/5

Just finished reading the last page of The Alienist (Caleb Carr) thirty minutes ago. Caleb Carr’s recount of the ruse he pulled on his publisher brought out a genuine laugh from me. (For the purpose of persuading his publisher to consent to him writing a fiction rather than a non-fiction, the author told his publisher the story in the book had actually taken place, only to later reveal that the whole thing was his invention. Both his publisher/editor bought it hook, line and sinker!)



This further confirms the awe I’ve felt throughout the process of reading this book: it reads like genuine history instead of a fictional invention! Much of it is history, in a manner of speaking. Caleb Carr began his career writing non-fiction/historical pieces, and thanks to which (I think), has become a stickler for accuracy of details, which definitely shines through in the Alienist. The novel paints such a vivid picture of what New York was like back during the turn of the 19th to 20th century: the influx of immigrants, the general status of lodging, it’s slum quarters (described in great detail), modes of transportation, the vibe, the air, oh and lastly but not least, not to mention the food. The author seems to have a genuine penchant for food (the Delmonico’s, yummm). The amount of details is simply impressive.


I wouldn’t exactly call the Alienist a “thriller”, though it is no doubt that, on top of being a stellar suspense and cerebral creation. This is of course a personal response. Having been exposed to more than enough violence and gore in the print format, the amount of bloodshed and the macabre manner the perpetrator “dresses” his victims no longer, I’m sorry to say, sets off much of a reaction from me. Nevertheless, the deductive process in the book that gradually fleshes out the identity of the perpetrator truly impressed me. In this way, the Alienist sets itself apart from most other “whodunit” stories I’ve read. The story isn’t about a group of characters involved in murder(s), and one sleuth who tries to sniff out the perp from this group through, oftentimes, the perp’s own slip ups – a formula often favored by mystery writers. There is no “preset group” to begin with, so to speak. Instead, the central figure in the Alienist, Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, through his mastery of psychoanalytical skills (and with the help of modern forensic science), gradually “paints a picture” of what the killer must look like, and fills in pieces of details from every aspect of the killer’s life. So from a vague shadow, we eventually have a name, a background, and a mental journey of the killer’s telling us the factors/people that were held responsible for the creation of such a monster.


And on a side note, I'm glad I ran into this book at this point.  Something (and I'm still not sure what) sparked an interest in me to read about the U.S. history, a subject I know pathetically little about.  I've actually always been interested in reading about history, which is one of my favorite genres to read, mostly in Chinese though (and mostly about Chinese history -- which is, long, and well, repetitive).  I just wasn't particularly interested in the U.S. History.  But lately, I'm kind of interested in knowing about the early settlers, or rather how the earliest "trailblazers" coped with the cruelty of nature, stuff like Robinson Crusoe.  The Alienist of course has nothing to do with that, but its backdrop, the turn of the 19th to 20th century, is one of the turning point, so to speak, of New York, if not the U.S. as a whole.  And I'm kind of keen on learning about those "turning points" in the U.S. history, the people and the events that have brought about what this country is, today.