2014年6月29日星期日

執書櫃(7):繼續點算藏書(英文小說)

英文小說買的時候很開心(特別在它減價時),但買回來後卻要花很長時間讀,買的速度比看的快。我覺得我不像是買來給自己讀,倒是像書店入貨般,買來是給顧客買走的。

我看得最快的是奇幻小說,Neil Gaiman的,Clive Barker的,Stephen Kings的,Harry Potter系列和The Hunger Games系列。有部份是借回家看的,所以收藏的都是一本起兩本止。而Harry Potter則因為書太厚,只保留了The Half-Blood Prince一本。Neil Gaiman有的書是兒童小說(其中一本是電影Caroline原著),有的是成人短篇小說和繪本。家裡有本厚厚的American Gods,我只看了開首。這本書甚獲好評,獲取Hugo and Nebula Awards(雨果獎與星雲獎)。

科幻小說是我所愛,但未看完的書很多,包括Ursula K. Le Guin的The Left Hand of Darkness(黑暗的左手)和The Birthday of the World(她的奇幻書《天賦之子》我則極速看完)。前者是她最有名的作品,同樣拿下Hugo and Nebula Awards。這個故事很迷人,講一個星際旅客為宇宙聯盟做說客,飛到一個終年嚴寒的星球要求那裡的國家加入聯盟。他所到的國家的人民沒有固定性別,可男可女。這不純粹是一個科幻故事,當中探討的議題包括性別、權力、政治等。

2014年6月28日星期六

執書櫃(6):繼續點算藏書(翻譯文學)

至於翻譯文學,日本作者我有推理小說作者東野圭吾和伊坂幸太郎;奇幻作者恩田陸和國際知名的村上春樹。我擁有的日本文學作品實在不多。

special mention:
~我在二手書店用了便宜的價錢買下了太宰治的《人間失格》
~我有本講日本武士道的書,書名就叫《武士道》
~你有沒有看過妹尾河童的書?他擅長將看到的景物詳細繪畫,他出版過「窺看」系列,用畫筆記下旅途上的見聞。亦曾到訪不同人士的家居廁所和工作間,用鳥瞰角度繪畫這些房間。他的書曾經非常受歡迎,但很來靜了下來。

2014年6月27日星期五

執書櫃(5):亦舒的審美觀

亦舒對美只有一套標準:就是高挑、瘦削、濃眉、大眼、小嘴、皮膚白、蜂腰、長腿。她在此書明說,凡是與這些標準相反便是不漂亮:

「人類對五官的喜愛,始終狹窄地限於白皙皮膚、大眼睛高鼻樑及小嘴,凡是相反的都不好看。」

像《一點舊一點新》中,愛上周妙宜的孫教授的太太,便膚色犁黑,五官與以上的美人標準相反,因此「外貌十分吃虧」。她是否因此得不到丈夫的愛?是否因為這樣,丈夫便受年輕貌美的周妙宜吸引過去?也不單純是這個原因。原來她年輕時供丈夫讀書--「幫一朋友升學是大大好事,幫伴侶就不必了。那麼大恩典揹一生一世,一日重過一日,最終會被壓死......」這是亦舒的人生智慧。

2014年6月26日星期四

執書櫃(4):亦舒《一點舊一點新》

(我那本《一點舊一點新》好殘舊,所以從網上找封面來貼)

你聽新娘要穿戴something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue這個英國傳統習俗嗎?亦舒的《一點舊一點新》,便是由一宗墮樓案講起。死者周妙宜是一位妙齡少女,衣著打份有齊「一點舊一點新,一點借來一點藍色」這四個元素。是準備結婚呢?為何卻慘死?是意外、謀殺還是自殺呢?

女警關遂心奉命調查這宗墮樓案。她先扮成大學生混入她的宿舍,認識她的同學。進而一個個調查她的身邊人。過程中,她逐漸拼湊出這位少女的人生拼圖。這少女活潑可愛,但同時有點憂鬱,十分任性。她經歷過幾段情,曾在幾位男士心中留下烙印。

執書櫃(3):點算藏書

執書櫃執至大汗淋漓。今趟我比較狠心,比之前抽出更多書來送;但仍有一些漫畫、舊相好(如蔡瀾)、簽名本,不捨得放棄。

我的書櫃有兩層;放在後排的書,容易被我忘記。趁今次執拾的機會,我將未看(或未看完)的書的書名和位置記錄下來(家裡有四個放書的地方......),讓自己知道有多少書等著我看。

趁著執書櫃的當兒回顧一下我的收藏說。我將書大致分為文學(小說、散文、詩)、實用書和生活類書。

2014年6月19日星期四

執書櫃(2)

書很厚

字很細

Stephen King: The Dark Tower VII
這是Stephen King的史詩式奇幻巨著,共七集。像Harry Potter系列一樣,一本比一本厚。這套書的靈感來自Robert Browning的一首詩:Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came。而這套巨著的內容,如果用一句話來講,就是「Roland到黑塔之路」這樣簡單。Stephen King的腦袋不知是何構造,一首詩被他變為七本書的內容。這是本奇幻小說,他不單玩平衡時空,亦玩後設,將自己當做其中一個角色。他在其他書的角色亦會走入此書。這套書我看了四集,覺得Stephen King很厲害,有多處描寫都令人心寒(如有思想的單軌電車,雙種人格-的女子,每年都有孖生孩子的其中一個被捉走虐待的小鎮......),但當中亦有溫馨之處(如Roland與他的隊友的相處,以及小動物Oy)。

看了四集後,我停了很久才看第五集(距離第一本的出版時間有23年!),但已忘掉之前的大部份情節。不過我趁減價買了最後一集,想看結局篇。但這本書實在厚,字實在細,最後我只看了結局。而這個結局不負眾望,令人心寒得很。可憐的Roland!

2014年6月18日星期三

執書櫃:關麗珊《親密關係》《我們的天空:被社會遺忘的檔案》《白色珊瑚的溫柔》

家裡的書愈來愈多,被逼棄掉一些(會捐贈或賣掉)。最先放棄的,是沒心機看完或不會重看的小說。其實要取捨很難,有些書縱使不會重看,仍想保留。或者我在這裡為將棄掉的書寫幾句話,自己心裡會好過些。

要特別講明,我棄掉的書不是寫得不好的書,只是要有取拾。否則我不會花時間在這裡寫。:P

2014年6月11日星期三

2014年6月10日星期二

Instagram-相片分享(三)吃

繼續......


某次在朋友家打邊爐,這次邊爐以素食為主。


湯丸


小米沙律。小米處理得不好,很硬......


水煮蛋,yummy!

2014年6月9日星期一

Louise Penny's (#5) The Brutal Telling (Part 4)書內提到的美食

Louise Penny的書經常提及美食。我看到第五本,才想起應該為她的書做個美食特輯。

。profiterole(發音):原來是泡芙的法文名稱。英名是cream puff。


Their main courses had arrived. A fruit-stuffed Rock Cornish game hen, done on the spit, for Gamache; melted Brie, fresh tomato and basil fettuccine for Lacoste; and a lamb and prune tagine for Beauvoir. A platter of freshly harvested grilled vegetables was also brought to the table. Gamache’s chicken was tender and tasty, delicately flavored with Pommery-style(一種香檳) mustard and vermouth(苦艾酒).

Rock Cornish game hen這不是真的打獵回來的雞,而是畜養的。也不單指母雞。

http://www.lindasitaliantable.com/tag/valpolicella/(食譜)

2014年6月8日星期日

Louise Penny's (#5) The Brutal Telling (Part 3) (quotations)

Well, yes, okay. Maybe the torte. Listen, we come here because of you. You’re the attraction. We love you, Olivier.” Olivier raised his eyes to hers. He hadn’t realized, until that moment, that he’d always been afraid their affection was conditional. He was the owner of the bistro, the only one in town. They liked him for the atmosphere and welcome. The food and drink. That was the boundary of their feelings for him. They liked him for what he gave to them. Sold to them. Without the bistro, he was nothing to them.
-有時我也有類似疑問,別人喜歡我,是因為我是我,還是因為我做的事?Is their affection conditional?

Olivier felt like a little boy again. While other kids ran around collecting frogs and sticks and grasshoppers, he’d sought reassurance. Affection. He’d gather up the words and actions, even from strangers, and he’d stuff them into the hole that was growing. It had worked. For a while. Then he’d needed more than just words.
-他是個缺乏家庭溫暖的人。有些人最終會toughen up,找到自己所愛,建立家庭,然後將滿滿的愛傾灑在子女身上,以彌補他們小時候沒有的。有些人的傷口永不癒合,無論什麼也填不滿心裡的黑洞。

So far so good, thought Morin. Seems the idiot agent act is working. Now if only it wasn’t an act.
-我很喜歡這位Gamache「執回來」的新探員。他看上去魯鈍,對自己缺乏信心,但又想努力做好,很可愛!

At least his family compared well to people who actually killed each other, rather than just thought about it.

And what a tale those eyes told Gamache. In them he saw the infant, the boy, the young man, afraid. Never certain what he would find in his father. Would he be loving and kind and warm today? Or would he sizzle the skin off his son? With a look, a word. Leaving the boy naked and ashamed. Knowing himself to be weak and needy, stupid and selfish.
-剛看了明珠台的Chronicle,男主角的父親便是這種人。現實中我也見過這種父親,深深感受到他為兒子帶來的傷害。

So that the boy grew an outer hull to withstand assault. But while those skins saved tender young souls, Gamache knew, they soon stopped protecting and became the problem. Because while the hard outer shell kept the hurt at bay, it also kept out the light. And inside the frightened little soul became something else entirely, nurtured only in darkness.
-噢!這就是Chronicle的劇情!可惜世上還有很多虐待兒女的父母。

Dust swirled in the little light that struggled through the window.
-純粹喜歡這個畫面。

The oil lamps threw light very unlike anything an electric bulb produced. This light was gentle. The edges of the world seemed softer.
-也喜歡這個畫面。

He was like Pinocchio. A man made of wood, mimicking humanity. Shiny and smiling and fake. And if you cut into him you’d see rings. Circles of deceit and scheming and justification.

”Most unhappiness comes from not being able to sit quietly in a room.-Pascal”

Myrna knew everyone’s tastes, both the ones they declared and their actual ones.
-Myrna是一間二手書書店的店長。是的,有些人會隱藏自己的閱讀興趣。

Any progress on what "woo" might mean?” “There’s a film director named John Woo. He’s from China. Did Mission Impossible II,” said Morin seriously, as though giving them vital information.
-摘錄這句,只想說,為何不是He's from Hong Kong呢?

And as she walked she thought about Emily Carr. And the ridicule she’d endured at the hands of gallery owners, critics, a public too afraid to go where she wanted to take them. Deeper. Deeper into the wilderness.
-這讓我有興趣了解Emily Carr的身平。書名The Brutal Telling也來自她的話。她本來與父親親厚,但後來卻疏遠父親。沒人知道為什麼。我上網查,找到這段字:Carr was extremely close to her father before an incident in her adolescence — which remains unclear but which Carr later referred to as the "brutal telling" — irrevocably destroyed their relationship. Her sensitivity and her devotion to art isolated her from her sisters, who failed to understand either her work or her desire to pursue it in spite of financial strain. Throughout her life, Carr remained steadfast in her commitment to art despite her family's lack of support.(http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/emily_carr/en/about/index.php)

Lies annoyed the Inspector the truth seemed to piss him off even more. Especially when it was inconvenient.

How about violin?” asked Morin. Beauvoir looked at him again as at an unexpectedly bright chimp.
-Morin是那個遲鈍的新探員,免不了被Beauvoir看不起。這句話刻薄得來很好笑!

There was general commiserating and all agreed Clara had done the right thing. Then they agreed she should call in the morning and beg his forgiveness. Then they agreed she shouldn’t.
-為Clara策劃畫展的參展人用言語侮辱她的同性戀朋友Gabri,雖然不是在他面前說,但畢竟也是侮辱了她的朋友。當時她卻不發一言,事後她終於找到機會向他表示不滿,惹起參展人的怒火。她與朋友們分享此事。我想說的是,有這樣一班朋友真好!

baking? We could. It’s what I love to do. But Sarah’s Boulangerie was already here. She’d lived in the village all her life. The bakery belonged to her grandmother. So we opened a bistro instead. All our croissants, and pies, and breads are baked by Sarah. We adjusted our dreams to fit the dreams already here.
-這是個很好的心態。現在的人時興跟風,你在這條街開特色小食店成功,很快便有其他人跟風,令同類小食店開滿一街,「做爛個市」。而在三松村,人們會為其他人著想。在Gabri和Oliver來到這條村時,村裡已有餅店;Gabri和Oliver便不開餅店,改為開餐廳,亦不會自己焗餅,而會向那間餅店入貨。這才是和諧社會(「和諧」應該是這個意思吧)。

“I’m afraid of not recognizing Paradise.”
-還未參透這句話。

it was vital to be aware of actions in the present. Because the present became the past, and the past grew. And got up, and followed you.

How to explain how reasonable, brilliant even, this all seemed at two thirty in the morning. In the dark. With a body ten feet away.
-夜深時份反應會遲純些。

“My favorite quote from Thoreau is also from Walden,” said Gamache. “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.”

Louise Penny's (#5) The Brutal Telling (Part 2) (quotations)

Olivier reached across the mountain that was his partner and took the call.
-身型像山一樣,哈!

The phone rang again. It was a sound they knew well. Somehow different from other phones. It was the ringing that announced a death.
-朋友說笑,有些人有等巴士運,有些沒有。有運的,到了車站不夠,想等的巴士便出現;沒運的,未走到車站前便眼見兩部要等的巴士開走(我試過,還要是同號碼的),或等了二十分鐘都沒有車。你聽過常有人說自己沒抽奬運嗎?究竟會否有人特別有/沒運氣?這是否錯覺?覺得電話鈴聲會因應內容而改變,可能是這路思想。

“Really, Papa, not even Henri would go out in this.” Henri leaped up and ran to get his ball. The fatal words, “Henri” and “out,” had been combined unleashing an undeniable force.
-可看出Louise Penny愛狗,她懂得寫狗。

What kills can’t be seen, the Chief had warned Beauvoir. That’s what makes it so dangerous.
-Penny的每本書都有形容謀殺的金句。

Murders are about emotions. Emotions gone bad and gone wild. Remember that. And don’t ever think you know what someone else is thinking, never mind feeling.
-另一金句。人很容易自以為是,自己這樣想,就以為別人都這樣傷;所以很多時,傷害了人都不知道。

2014年6月7日星期六

Louise Penny's (#5) The Brutal Telling (Part 1)



用Kindle看書有一個奇異之處,就是我對書的長度沒有概念。只有當那本書十分十分長,看了很久也未看完的時候,我才會察覺。因為這不是實體書,看不到書的厚簿。故The Brutal Telling這本書很長,是事後我在Amazon看讀者留言時才知道的。這本書反應兩極,有人很喜歡,有人則說這本書難捱,說他們以後都不會再看Louise Penny的小說。這不會是我的最後一本Louise Penny,但兩種看法我也了解。

喜歡的人,是欣賞Penny的寫作風格,喜歡她將詩、畫、雕塑、音樂、美食等元素融入故事中。我就是如此,每次都學到新知識。這個故事便涉及一批珍貴的古董,更旁及加拿大著名藝術家Emily Carr以及住有原居民Haida族的Queen Charlotte Islands(Haida Gwaii),令我知多一點加拿大歷史(在加拿大讀書時反而沒動力去了解她的歷史)。不過,有讀者覺得這一切並不能補償故事橋段的不足;偵探小說不應只靠這些來吸引人,橋段才是最重要的。此案與文學和藝術有很大關係,解謎方法有詩意,但感覺脫離現實。不過,對於喜歡看佈局精密、查案過程嚴謹的偵探小說的讀者來說,此書未免令他們失望。

2014年6月5日星期四

X女廚房之手製意粉

想親手造意粉很久了。最近終於下定決心,從意大利食品店買回00號麵粉和semola(杜蘭小麥磨成的麵粉),雞蛋則用一早買下的。對,其實造意粉的材料很簡單,可以不用這麼講究,用普通麵粉也可,不過很多食譜都說00號最幼滑,亦是意大利餐廳常用的。又,如想講究些的可找意大利雞蛋,聽說味道比美國蛋濃郁幾倍。

手造意粉材料簡單,要的是心機和技巧。我在加拿大中學的烹飪課造過一次,不過那次有壓麵機輔助,有老師從旁指導,亦有烹飪好手幫忙(主要成功因素);今次則只有食譜和youtube當老師,只能用木棍來壓麵,所以我有點緊張。但當年煮出來的意粉是什麼味道,我完全忘了,之後沒有再造,算是白學了。所以說,學什麼都好,練習是最重要的。

六四25周年



http://infographic.appledaily.com.tw/events/tiananmen_square_protests

在Facebook找到有人分享六四25周年事件簿,可做個回顧。看回照片,才發現有些畫面我竟然記得這麼清楚。

天安門母親的片段令人傷感,她們的兒女無辜被殺,卻連公開悼念也不可。她們等了二十五年(有些已等不到),卻等不到政府的道歉。最可怕的是,在號稱言論自由的香港,有人對六四屠城迴避不談,有人自動噤聲,有些教科書說這是「風波」,沒提及政府殺了人。就是這麼簡單的幾個字:政府殺了人。有人覺得這是忌諱,不能提,彷彿不提便等於沒有發生。爺爺犯錯不能提,高官犯錯不能提,公司高層做錯決定不能提。總會有人說「有些事你知道就好,不用說出來!」所以說,升官發財的很多都是能揣摩上意的人。

在集會見到黃耀明,他是勇於為正義發聲和參加遊行集會的明星(這個詞好像愈來愈少人用了)。我曾在看電影節、舞台劇或演唱會時碰到他,亦看過他數次演出--兩次達明一派演唱會,一次個人演唱會,一次在西九的演出,一次在郭雅志演奏會的演出(他是嘉賓)。想起來,他應是我見過(真人)最多次的明星。香港有這樣的明星,真好!

2014年6月1日星期日

Instagram-相片分享(二)

外面艷陽高照,我卻要在家做家務。不是掃掃地這樣簡單(其實也不簡單......),而是要執拾雜物,以及抺櫃、抺廚房牆等。一向不擅長做家務,事倍功半,很沮喪。唯有出個blog鼓勵一下自己。



一次難忘的行山+野餐+寫生之旅。我們自製canapé扮上等人,哈哈!
  
間中會與幾位同事光顧同一家四川菜館。(但我忘了照片是否在那間拍:P)

文青style



共舞

@皇后像廣場


香港特色

 
老店

一直都用這個題:無題 :P

最後放一張異國相,醒醒神!