2003-04-30
Two of my most trusted classical music review sources have very different views on Paul McCreesh's St. Matthew Passion. Gramophone selected it as Recording of the Month for May 2003 while ClassicsToday gave it a 4 (out of 10) for artistic quality. I am still waiting for my Amazon.com parcel to arrive.
I have seen the future of music and its name is iTunes (Farhad Manjoo, Salon.com, 29/4/03). He claims that Apple's new online music-buying system is everything Napster promised to be - cheap, easy and, best of all, legal. See also The 10-10-220 of File-Sharing - Ninety-nine cents for all your songs at Apple's new music store (Paul Boutin, Slate, 29/4/03)
Would you become a customer of Apple's iTune Music Store? I probably would, for songs from hard-to-find albums, such as Lisa Ekdahl's earlier Swedish CDs. The question is, what sort of songs are available from this store? Will it have the songs I like (and like to buy in this way)?
Would you become a customer of Apple's iTune Music Store? I probably would, for songs from hard-to-find albums, such as Lisa Ekdahl's earlier Swedish CDs. The question is, what sort of songs are available from this store? Will it have the songs I like (and like to buy in this way)?
2003-04-29
2003-04-27
2003-04-25
2003-04-23
Bernard Lewis: "I'm Right, You're Wrong, Go To Hell" - Religions and the meeting of civilization (The Atlantic Monthly, May 03)
2003-04-22
2003-04-20
2003-04-19
2003-04-16
Salon.com has quite a glowing review of the "Bulletproof Monk". The reviewer seems to like Chow Yun-Fat a lot, since he wrote: "The real romantic presence here is Chow Yun-Fat. And in any movie with Chow, how could it be any other way?" and "Watching Chow points up the difference between a star who knows how to be fully attentive and alive when he has reined himself in and a stiff like Harrison Ford who stands around taking up space. Everything Chow does is shot through with slivers of humor. Even when he's in his silent and commanding mode, you get the sense of someone for whom being in front of a camera is the most natural thing in the world. And he possesses what I can only call -- and I know it sounds corny -- the inner light you see in some movie stars, the ability to allow themselves to be transformed by an emotion that lifts the movie to a place where the audience doesn't feel silly or ashamed for responding."
2003-04-15
Personal website of two of my work mates: Brad's Cyberspace and Tiny Witch World. The Tiny Witch, Candy Kan, will soon be moving to greener pasture :-(
A review of Haruki Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore" in English, from Book Munch. Kiki, the reviewer, said: "Murakami's latest is a modern retelling of the Oedipus story. It is also the story of two individuals and their search for answers." "Reading this novel I often felt like a second grader wading through "Crime and Punishment". There is a sense of vertigo swirling around many of the events and characters. Dream-like evocations are everywhere while concrete facts are illusive. I suspect that often Murakami's language sings and soars and performs back flips off the high board."
2003-04-14
《海邊的卡夫卡》國內中文版序言
這部作品於二零零一年春動筆,二零零二年秋在日本刊行。《海邊的卡夫卡》這部長篇小說的基本構思浮現出來的時候,我腦袋里的念頭最先是寫一個以十五歲少年為主人公的故事。至於故事如何發展則完全心中無數(我總是在不預想故事發展的情況下動筆寫小說),總之就是要把一個少年設定為主人公。這是我這部小說的最根本性的主題。我筆下的主人公迄今大多數是二十幾歲至三十幾歲的男性,他們住在東京等大城市,從事專業性工作或者失業,從社會角度看來,決不是評價高的人,或者莫如說是在游離於社會主流之外的地方生活的人們。可是他們自成一統,有不同於他人的個人價值觀。在這個意義上,他們保有一貫性,也能根據情況讓自己成為強者。以前我所描寫的大體是這樣的生活方式、這樣的價值觀,以及他們在人生旅途中個人經歷過的人與事、他們視野中的這個世界的形態。
但在這部作品中我想寫一個少年的故事。所以想寫少年,是因為他們還是“可變”的存在,他們的靈魂仍處於綿軟狀態而未固定於一個方向,他們身上類似價值觀和生活方式那樣的因素尚未牢固確立。然而他們的身體正以迅猛的速度趨向成熟,他們的精神在無邊的荒野中摸索自由、困惑和猶豫。我想把如此搖擺、蛻變的靈魂細緻入微地描繪在fiction (小說)這 一容器之中,籍 此展現一個人的精神究竟將在怎樣的故事性中聚斂成形、由怎樣的波濤將其衝往怎樣的地帶。這是我想寫的一點。
當然您一讀即可知曉,主人公田村卡夫卡君不是隨處可見的普通的十五歲少年。他幼年時被母親拋棄,又被父親詛咒,他決心“成為世界上最頑強的十五歲少年”。他沉浸在深深的孤獨中,默默鍛煉身體,輟學離家,一個人奔赴陌生的遠方。無論怎麼看──在日本也好或許在中國也好──都很難說是平均線上的十五歲少年形象。盡管如此,我還是認為田村卡夫卡君的許多部分是我、又同時是你。年齡在十五歲,意味著心在希望與絕望之間碰撞,意味著世界在現實性與虛擬性之間游移,意味著身體在跳躍與沉實之間徘徊。我們既接受熱切的祝福,又接受凶狠的詛咒。田村卡夫卡君不過是以極端的形式將我們十五歲時實際體驗和經歷過的事情作為故事承攬下來。
田村卡夫卡君以孤立無援的狀態離開家門,投入到波濤洶湧的成年人世界之中。那裡有企圖傷害他的力量。那種力量有的時候就在現實之中,有的時候則來自現實之外。而與此同時,又有許多人願意拯救或結果上拯救了他的靈魂。他被衝往世界的盡頭,又以自身力量返回。返回之際他已不再是他,他已進入下一階段。
於是我們領教了世界是何等凶頑(tough),同時又得知世界也可以變得溫存和美好。《海邊的卡夫卡》力圖通過十五歲少年的眼睛來描繪這樣一個世界。恕我重複,田村卡夫卡君是我自身也是您自身。閱讀這個故事的時間里,倘若您也能以這樣的眼睛觀看世界,作為作者將感到無比欣喜。
二零零三年初春
這部作品於二零零一年春動筆,二零零二年秋在日本刊行。《海邊的卡夫卡》這部長篇小說的基本構思浮現出來的時候,我腦袋里的念頭最先是寫一個以十五歲少年為主人公的故事。至於故事如何發展則完全心中無數(我總是在不預想故事發展的情況下動筆寫小說),總之就是要把一個少年設定為主人公。這是我這部小說的最根本性的主題。我筆下的主人公迄今大多數是二十幾歲至三十幾歲的男性,他們住在東京等大城市,從事專業性工作或者失業,從社會角度看來,決不是評價高的人,或者莫如說是在游離於社會主流之外的地方生活的人們。可是他們自成一統,有不同於他人的個人價值觀。在這個意義上,他們保有一貫性,也能根據情況讓自己成為強者。以前我所描寫的大體是這樣的生活方式、這樣的價值觀,以及他們在人生旅途中個人經歷過的人與事、他們視野中的這個世界的形態。
但在這部作品中我想寫一個少年的故事。所以想寫少年,是因為他們還是“可變”的存在,他們的靈魂仍處於綿軟狀態而未固定於一個方向,他們身上類似價值觀和生活方式那樣的因素尚未牢固確立。然而他們的身體正以迅猛的速度趨向成熟,他們的精神在無邊的荒野中摸索自由、困惑和猶豫。我想把如此搖擺、蛻變的靈魂細緻入微地描繪在fiction (小說)這 一容器之中,籍 此展現一個人的精神究竟將在怎樣的故事性中聚斂成形、由怎樣的波濤將其衝往怎樣的地帶。這是我想寫的一點。
當然您一讀即可知曉,主人公田村卡夫卡君不是隨處可見的普通的十五歲少年。他幼年時被母親拋棄,又被父親詛咒,他決心“成為世界上最頑強的十五歲少年”。他沉浸在深深的孤獨中,默默鍛煉身體,輟學離家,一個人奔赴陌生的遠方。無論怎麼看──在日本也好或許在中國也好──都很難說是平均線上的十五歲少年形象。盡管如此,我還是認為田村卡夫卡君的許多部分是我、又同時是你。年齡在十五歲,意味著心在希望與絕望之間碰撞,意味著世界在現實性與虛擬性之間游移,意味著身體在跳躍與沉實之間徘徊。我們既接受熱切的祝福,又接受凶狠的詛咒。田村卡夫卡君不過是以極端的形式將我們十五歲時實際體驗和經歷過的事情作為故事承攬下來。
田村卡夫卡君以孤立無援的狀態離開家門,投入到波濤洶湧的成年人世界之中。那裡有企圖傷害他的力量。那種力量有的時候就在現實之中,有的時候則來自現實之外。而與此同時,又有許多人願意拯救或結果上拯救了他的靈魂。他被衝往世界的盡頭,又以自身力量返回。返回之際他已不再是他,他已進入下一階段。
於是我們領教了世界是何等凶頑(tough),同時又得知世界也可以變得溫存和美好。《海邊的卡夫卡》力圖通過十五歲少年的眼睛來描繪這樣一個世界。恕我重複,田村卡夫卡君是我自身也是您自身。閱讀這個故事的時間里,倘若您也能以這樣的眼睛觀看世界,作為作者將感到無比欣喜。
二零零三年初春
2003-04-13
2003-04-12
2003-04-11
2003-04-10
「橫寫直寫 向右向左 左翻右翻 沒完沒了」:天經地義
柏楊:紅塵靜思﹣珍惜中國文化 ﹣ 「中國文字在結構上,全都從左向右」,「中文橫寫,天經地義的應從左向右,不但橫寫應從左向右,就是直寫,天經地義的也應從左向右」。不過,根據台灣行政院中文書寫及排印方式統一規定,「中文直式書寫及排印,自上而下,自右而左」,但 「中文橫式書寫及排印,自左而右,自上而下」,而且在特殊情況下,又有特殊規定。官家的規定,既不合理,又複雜而混亂。唉!
-- 橫寫直寫 向右向左 左翻右翻 沒完沒了 --
2003-04-09
From an interview of Haruki Murakami (The Japan Times, 1/12/02), on his new book "Kafka on the Shore":
Is "Kafka on the Shore," your latest novel in Japan, comparable to your last long novel, "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle"?
I think that it's actually connected to "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World." I wanted to write a sequel 15 years ago, but I gave up. But I feel like "Kafka on the Shore" is connected to that book on a deeper level. Two parallel stories combine in the end. The structure is similar. And the theme of both books is a story of two different worlds, consciousness and unconsciousness. Most of us are living in those two worlds, one foot in one or the other, and all of us are living on the borderline. That's my definition of human life. The title is about the borderline of land and sea, living and dead.
Is "Kafka on the Shore," your latest novel in Japan, comparable to your last long novel, "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle"?
I think that it's actually connected to "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World." I wanted to write a sequel 15 years ago, but I gave up. But I feel like "Kafka on the Shore" is connected to that book on a deeper level. Two parallel stories combine in the end. The structure is similar. And the theme of both books is a story of two different worlds, consciousness and unconsciousness. Most of us are living in those two worlds, one foot in one or the other, and all of us are living on the borderline. That's my definition of human life. The title is about the borderline of land and sea, living and dead.
2003-04-08
2003-04-07
Can classical music flourish in a microwave mass culture? Or is it fundamentally out of tune? (Financial Times, 5/4/03)
2003-04-05
One of my most satisfying purchases of 2002: DVD of Rostropovich and Richter playing Beethoven's 5 cello sonatas
2003-04-03
村上春樹作品國內版譯者林少華首度專訪村上春樹﹕為了靈魂的自由(《北京青年報》,24/1/03)。村上強調,要打開想像力之門,須靠精神集中力,而精神集中力取決於訓練和體力(他是一位作息定時﹐勤於運動的長跑手),「失去它就完了」。最後,他更說「海邊的卡夫卡剛寫完,往下就寫寫短篇搞搞翻譯什麼的,同時積累素材。我會很長命的,不要緊」。
The longevity, in sales terms, of the classic novels, Cents and Sensibility: The surprising truth about sales of classic novels. (Slate, 2 April 2003)
2003-04-02
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