2014年9月18日星期四

放假通知(在公司寫了幾封放假通知電郵,不自覺在這裡用上這四個字)

請了大假到加拿大探父母,會有好一陣子不能寫blog。(剛好最近沒什麼話想說)

今次除了探親,還會與父母跟團去古巴旅行。

父母退休後已沒有冒險精神,加上身體關係,已不大有興緻去旅行。而年初去台灣的經歷(雙雙病倒,天氣又不好),不多不少嚇倒他們。今次竟然有興趣去古巴,是因為他們的一對老夫婦好友想去,他們知我回來,便提議一起去。

我發夢也沒想過可以去古巴。這國家從香港去很遠很轉折,但從加拿大去很方便。不過對跟團我卻有保留,特別是看了行程之後。慣了自己計劃行程,慣了在異地走走走看看看,坐咖啡館或吃街邊小吃,突然要我全程和一班人跟著導遊走,和花半天在海灘暢泳,看夜總會表演,感覺不像旅行。如果要度假,為何不到東南亞,要遠道去古巴呢?

2014年9月15日星期一

Louise Penny's (#9) There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.



Guess what? 我已看到第九本Inspector Gamache Series (之前誤以為這套書叫「三松村系列」,原來不是)。四百多頁,五天看完。第八本Beautiful Mystery說的是修道院裡的謀殺案,我不大有耐性看,於是把心一橫,跳到第九本。

書名How the Light gets in來自Leonard Cohen的歌Anthem的這一句:There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. Chief Inspector Gamache的部門被邪惡的高層Chief Superintendent Francoeur弄得四分五裂,連跟隨他十五年的Beauvoir也被Francoeur和藥物操控,變成了Francoeur的手下。只有代替Beauvoir職位的Agent Lacoste留在他身邊。今次Gamache要查的案是一位老人家的謀殺案。她原是在加拿大有名得像明星的五胞胎的其中一個(作者的靈感來自Dionne quintuplets),因為童年時過度曝光而變得孤僻。她來到三松村探訪前心理醫生Myrna,打算向她傾吐家庭的秘密,怎知秘密沒講成,卻被謀殺了。究竟誰會對一位老人家下毒手呢?

2014年9月12日星期五

[A Trick of the Light]The Cruel Art World

Any owner of a high-end art gallery was immediately suspect, of arrogance if not murder. Jean-Guy Beauvoir had little tolerance for either.

“She asked André Castonguay how big his dick was.”
 “I did not. I asked how big a dick he was. There’s a difference.”
Despite herself, Clara smirked. She’d often wanted to ask gallery owners the same question.
太好笑!

“And I say they are, and who’s to say who’s right? That’s what drives artists and dealers crazy. It’s so subjective.”

2014年9月10日星期三

[A Trick of the Light]好人難做

另一段讓我看得心痛的,是Gamache與副手Beauvoir的關係。

在上一單大案中,他們兩個都受槍傷。先是Beauvoir被壞人射中腹部,Gamache背他至牆邊,替他包紥後,吻了他一下額頭,便出去繼續與壞人搏鬥。然後他也中槍,人人都以為他死了,Beauvoir也不例外,但他愛莫能助。最後,Gamache從鬼門關走了一轉回來。

想不到,事發後,年紀較大、傷得較重的Gamache首先復原。Beauvoir卻在半年後仍未康復;不單傷口繼續痛,還經常發惡夢。他開始依懶止痛藥。他亦會在半夜重看被人偷偷放上網的槍戰影片,不能自拔。

這兩人情同父子,但性格卻很不同;知道這點,有助了解他們的關係。

2014年9月9日星期二

[A Trick of the Light]:當伴侶是同行--藝術家夫婦Peter & Clara

很久未試過看小說看得這麼上心(看我一直post文便知),看到書中幾段關係的轉變,有驚心動魄之感。

先是藝術家夫婦Clara和Peter的關係。Peter是個技藝很好的藝術家,他的風格是將一件件日常用品放大很多倍,將細節繪畫出來,令那件物品變得不平凡。他的作品獲好評,很快便成名了。而他的妻子Clara,在藝術上還在掙扎階段。她的作品不能讓人一眼看穿。她又喜歡畫人像畫。要知道,現在的藝術界覺得畫人像畫太容易了,沒創意!而且現在時興畫醜陋的事物,人性的黑暗面,這樣才有talking point。還有藝術家會畫人性的光明面嗎?但是,畫出一幅不平凡的人像畫,比什麼都難。而Clara做到了。她畫筆下的人物,在絕望中見到希望。她的努力沒有白費,終於有人看懂她的畫了。如果Peter的畫是good的話,她的畫是great。Greatness不是一下子就讓人看出來的,但終究會被人發現。在接近五十歲之齡,Clara終於獲得她一直夢寐以求的機會--開個人畫展!

2014年9月7日星期日

Louise Penny's (#7) A Trick of the Light: 人會改變嗎?

這是Inspector Gamache系列的第七本書,與上一集三線發展不同,今次的案件比較單純,就只是在後花園發現屍體而已(!)。Penny的每一本書都令我知多一點知識,有時是文學,有時是歷史,更多時候是藝術。今次作者探討的正是藝術圈生態。藝術是主觀的,偉大抑或平庸,未必能一眼看穿,亦未必人人都懂得看。一個藝術家無論多有才華,都要等待藝廊老闆或經紀人發掘,再看是否能入文筆犀利的藝評家法眼。這些關口,必須一一通過,否則,你一是一是繼續等,一是轉行。主宰這圈子的人,獨具慧眼的少,跟風的多;謙虛的少,不可一世的多(作者對此多加諷刺)。藝術家易感、脆弱,未獲嘗識的便要四處打關係,做不了一流藝術家也要做作品能裝飾辦公室牆壁的二、三流藝術家。藝術品可以很美好,藝術圈卻是殘酷的,充滿功利、計算的人。

今次作者集中講一個故事,讀來一氣呵成。與好的文學作品一樣,她的故事主題性強,往往透過多個角色的遭遇來探討幾個議題,讓讀者反覆思考。今次她提出的主要問題是:「人會改變嗎?」(Did people change?)


2014年9月6日星期六

[Bury Your Dead摘錄]miscellaneous

有點似Ray Bradbury的手筆:


In the distance he heard the almost haunting blast on a plastic horn. A call to arms, a call to party, a call to youth. Gamache heard it, but the call wasn’t for him. He had another calling.

智慧之言:
That was the danger. Not that betrayals happened, not that cruel things happened, but that they could outweigh all the good. That we could forget the good and only remember the bad.

莎士比亞:
As Shakespeare said, the best way to peace is to have a still and quiet conscience.” Or none at all, thought Gamache, watching Mr. Blake with interest.

關於宗教:
Gamache thought if his church spoke more about joy and less about sin and guilt, he might be tempted to return himself.

好尖酸,形容一個狂人。他不是半瘋,而是瘋癲王國的統治者!
Bordering?” asked Rene. “He was the capital of the state of madness. Augustin Renaud was the Emperor of it. Bordering,” he muttered.

我也經常被別人的房子嚇到(包括各方面)
He’d seen hideous conditions, and uncovered hideous things and yet he was constantly surprised by how people lived.

三松村的幾位村民好友閒時喜歡玩「幻想旅遊」這個遊戲,他們會在旅遊廣告選一個目的地,然後假設自己正要出發到那裡去。
This is fantasy money for a fictional trip. Cheap, but fun.”

不解釋:
Tea?” Monsieur Doucet asked. Within minutes the two men were sitting at the back of the tiny store in a cave of books, of words, of ideas and stories

關於謀殺的描述:
A single, catastrophic blow. It was extremely rare. A person, if hit once, was almost certainly hit often, the murderer in a rage. He’d rain blow after blow on his victim. Almost never did they find just one blow, hard enough to kill. It meant someone was filled with enough rage to power a terrible blow, but enough control to stop there. It was a frightening combination.

喜歡這句:Mortagaged his life to see.
And then XXX had seen it. The look he’d dreamed of, fantasized about. Mortgaged his life to see. Terror on the face of the man who’d killed his father.

2014年9月3日星期三

[Bury Your Dead摘錄]魁北克市:景觀、著名建築、歷史......

Gamache在Old Quebec City休養,作者描述當地的美麗景色:


www.traevelersjoy.com

-想像一下已很美好,令你想去魁北克過冬:

Kids were wrapped and bound, mummified, preserved against a bitterly cold Quebec winter and heading for Bonhomme’s Ice Palace, or the ice slide, or the cabane a sucre with its warm maple syrup hardening to taffy on snow.

Lights were appearing in homes and restaurants, reflecting off the white snow. It was a city that lent itself to winter, and to darkness. It became even cozier, more inviting, more magical, like a fairy-tale kingdom. And we’re the peasants, thought Elizabeth with a wry smile.

太好記性不是好事。原來"Je me souviens", I remember, 我牢記在心,是魁北克的官方格言。
Je me souviens, thought Gamache. That was the problem. Always the problem. I remember. Everything.

2014年9月1日星期一

[Bury your dead摘錄] 最能安慰Beauvoir的人:Beauvoir與Ruth的互動

Chief Inspector Gamache的副手Beauvoir是個有趣的角色,而且「佔戲」愈來愈重。


在與恐怖份子的對恃中,他受了槍傷,需要放假休養。他來到經常有謀殺案發生的地方--三松村,住在Gabri開的B&B 。表面上,他只是來這個寧靜村落養傷,事實上,他受Gamache所托,到來秘密查案,要查出一單已結案的案件是否拉錯人。

他每次到三松村都是為了查案,因此一眾村民對他來說只是嫌疑犯。他不像Gamache,從不會與嫌疑犯對話,他只會問話。他難以明白為何Gamache能與村民做朋友,即使他們不是兇手。但今次來三松村,Beauvoir的心態不同了。他身心受創,人變得脆弱起來。而且這次他不能光明正大地查案,要急也急不來,這樣,他的步調才得以慢下來。他開始和部份村民真心交流,如Clara;如外表瘋癲其實看透世情的"mad poet" Ruth。