What a big thrill

痛快係讀小說《The Girl Who Play with Fire》 by Stieg Larsson。

可惜係Stieg Larsson， a Swedish author, 寫完三本書正寫緊第四本時就心臟病辭世。

前傳係《The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo》, 我期待緊第三本英譯出世。

唔知導演Tarantino有沒有興趣將其拍成電影。

這部書，完全沒有花俏華麗的語言，完全平鋪直訴簡單用詞到小學生都識睇，開頭會覺得節奏慢，不過會有足夠的伏線釣住讓人看下去，很快嗰節奏就改變，曲折離奇開始鋪陳出來，女主人的血肉開始從模糊到聚焦到烙印於心。

不能話這部書對咩事咩人有咩明顯控訴，不過係全書都有個底蘊同基調，令我睇完後有好深的反省。 就好似電影《District 9》咁，隱藏的神韻深厚得令人嘆服。

Good old BBC

I always consider 70s is a vintage period. When come to watch the BBC produced miniseries: The Glittering Prizes (1976), I am amazed tremendously by its taste and literature.

Through its production, I come to know a wonderful novelist and screenwriter, Frederic Raphael. I shall start to collect his works to read at once.

From Economist----Spud we like

Spud we like

Feb 28th 2008
From The Economist print edition

In praise of the humble but world-changing tuber

IT IS the world's fourth-most-important food crop, after maize, wheat and rice. It provides more calories, more quickly, using less land and in a wider range of climates than any other plant. It is, of course, the potato.

The United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato (see article). It hopes that greater awareness of the merits of potatoes will contribute to the achievement of its Millennium Development Goals, by helping to alleviate poverty, improve food security and promote economic development. It is always the international year of this or month of that. But the potato's unusual history (see article) means it is well worth celebrating by readers of The Economist—because the potato is intertwined with economic development, trade liberalisation and globalisation.

Unlikely though it seems, the potato promoted economic development by underpinning the industrial revolution in England in the 19th century. It provided a cheap source of calories and was easy to cultivate, so it liberated workers from the land. Potatoes became popular in the north of England, as people there specialised in livestock farming and domestic industry, while farmers in the south (where the soil was more suitable) concentrated on wheat production. By a happy accident, this concentrated industrial activity in the regions where coal was readily available, and a potato-driven population boom provided ample workers for the new factories. Friedrich Engels even declared that the potato was the equal of iron for its “historically revolutionary role”.

The potato promoted free trade by contributing to the abolition of Britain's Corn Laws—the cause which prompted the founding of The Economist in 1843. The Corn Laws restricted imports of grain into the United Kingdom in order to protect domestic wheat producers. Landowners supported the laws, since cheap imported grain would reduce their income, but industrialists opposed them because imports would drive down the cost of food, allowing people to spend more on manufactured goods. Ultimately it was not the eloquence of the arguments against the Corn Laws that led to their abolition—and more's the pity. It was the tragedy of the Irish potato famine of 1845, in which 1m Irish perished when the potato crop on which they subsisted succumbed to blight. The need to import grain to relieve the situation in Ireland forced the government, which was dominated by landowners who backed the Corn Laws, to reverse its position.

This paved the way for liberalisation in other areas, and free trade became British policy. As the Duke of Wellington complained at the time, “rotten potatoes have done it all.”

The YouTuber generation

In the form of French fries, served alongside burgers and Coca-Cola, potatoes are now an icon of globalisation. This is quite a turnaround given the scepticism which first greeted them on their arrival in the Old World in the 16th century. Spuds were variously thought to cause leprosy, to be fit only for animals, to be associated with the devil or to be poisonous. They took hold in 18th-century Europe only when war and famine meant there was nothing else to eat; people then realised just how versatile and reliable they were. As Adam Smith, one of the potato's many admirers, observed at the time, “The very general use which is made of potatoes in these kingdoms as food for man is a convincing proof that the prejudices of a nation, with regard to diet, however deeply rooted, are by no means unconquerable.” Mashed, fried, boiled and roast, a humble tuber changed the world, and free-trading globalisers everywhere should celebrate it.

香港文人

我看得最多的書大概是出自香港文人之手最多。細細個時看金庸的武俠小説看得如痴如醉，不亦樂乎。《天龍八部》最令我開眼界，現在細心想想，什麽胡人漢人你 殺我我殺你的遊戲，原來到今天還在上演，查先生也許會感到可惜。他的書在某國有這麽多人喜歡閲讀，卻又這麽少人明白他意指爲何，也真是無奈。

大 少少喜歡上倪匡的科幻小説，率直富幻想得令我拍手叫絕。當中有很多反共言論開始帶我進入這個領域的思考。記得那時膽生毛般在初中一年級的政治課上指住在那 本教科書中白紙黑字的“集會自由、言論自由、公民享有投票權”等等問老師爲何這些權利我卻從未享受過亦沒見得我父母有如此權利過。當時那位爲人師表者卻含 糊其詞不知所言地敷衍我這個小人。（當時已經開始以什麽什麽這國人質素差所以不配有民主之類的荒謬論調來糊弄我這麽一個平凡無出息的學生，屌，如果我有陽 具的話。）

再大少少被亦舒的小説深深地打動。很多人以爲她寫的不過是言情小説，那就錯矣，她的小説是對少男少女一課關於人生態度、愛情的啓蒙。沒有爹娘的少女最好去看看她的書，猶如苦海中的一盞明燈。自讀其文後，更明白吾母教導我人須自愛自重的一套，原來背後有如此深意。

到 現在多數讀non-fic類別，以中文來算，多數是香港文人作品適合我的脾胃。陶先生那股幽默嬉笑言詞中那股 清明理性之見又恰到好處地盡顯，認真佩服之至。李教授那套思生死思考態度及方法，助我理清這幾年纍積的對物事的一套思考及人生態度。還有很多很多學者及文 人所寫的專欄及書籍，那種智慧的思辯帶我走入無盡的搜索及思考，獲益甚多。

我看香港雖然已沒落得如哈巴狗般折墮，香港文人上一代及今日一代還是撐得很出色，真正難得。

You can't miss it

I really want to introduce you to the book " Watching the English-The hidden rules of English behaviour" written by Kate Fox if you haven't read it before. I will say it's a typical well done non-fiction which demonstrates the author's 12 years English behaviour anthropological research in a plain, witty and humorous way, quite opposite to those "academic junks" which are full of bullshits and playing terminology around, you know.

It's such a funny book to read coz it reveals the unwritten rules governing the quirks, habits and foibles of the English people. She showed detail analysis in her observation of English people's talking, dressing, drinking, flirting and queueing ...etc. and ended up quite reasonable conclusions which impressed me a lot.

Honestly, before reading the book, I thought I had understood all rules governing in their society, just say, I know the "fair play" concept how important to them(I'm quite right at this point) and English are quite hypocritical in circumstances(I'm quite wrong). Again, books prove my ignorance and stereotypes. This book helps me to classify and sort my own ideas on the English culture in a bit accurate way.

拈書

《The Kite Runner》By: Khaled Hosseini

It's a very touching story and it's written beautifully. Usually to help me judge whether the novel is good or not, it depends on how vivid pictures can be shown up in my mind as my eyeballs are following the lines. A genuinely fascinating story can lift my imagination into the world just depicted by the author. That's why most of the time I may prefer a book to a movie if the movie is come from a detail and well written book.

Seriously, redemption is quite a cliche if it's the only theme in a story. Fortunately, this story is not only about redemption. Well actually, I'd think that's the fake one which it doesn't seem like a redemption at all even the little boy finally got away from the sick and disgusting racist.

What a surprise to me is that before the bloody Russia's invasion in Afghanistan in70s, this nation was developing quite well or at least the country was enjoying a period of peace and prosperity in circumstances. I recalled that when there was the news images related to Afghanistan quite recent time, I had a concept that Afghanistan was such a poor country, and more or less I would think that it was because of the war between US and the Taliban. Oh, sometimes I can be a bit brainless and lazy or not really think logically. If I try to dig out my memory on the event about knocking down those giant Buddhist statues under the period of Taliban governance, I may not need this book to remind me that Afghanistan have been in suffering from the invasion by Russia to the period of Taliban governance and even now it's suffering from the conflicts between those fractious tribes.

The most impressed me is that the father figure how to support the whole movement in the story. It seems that every fatal point in the life of the son is related to the father whatever he's alive or dead after all. The dignity had been held by the father is a real touching and the most enjoying part to read, for me.

拈書

《Maps and dreams》by Hugh Brody
一 本人類學學者著的書，如果單聼人類學這三個字，可能會覺沉悶，但實際上是一個令人開眼界的領域。這本書是那麽精彩又專注地把印第安獵人在 northwest British Columbia的生活模式呈現出來。一套生存的價值觀，傳統與變化，接受與反抗，他者的無知及破壞，過去到現在，種種的前因後果交織出一份屬於the Beaver people的悲哀，也可以是閣下的，如果你心懷悲憫的話。

《我城》著：西西
雖然香港從來都不是我城， 不知道是因爲我受香港文化影響特別深重，還是西西的筆觸犀利得讓我讀《我城》時那份不能言之的歸屬感不經意地流轉于心。我到現在還不是很清楚，是《我城》激起自己對我城的懷念，還是我真的把《我城》當成我城。

《後殖民誌》著：黃碧云
她提到很多物事，有些看法我不能認同，有些看法我是很同意。

像 她提到："每一個人為他自己的行爲負責任。我可以完全沒有道德考慮，以金錢作爲我生存的唯一價值標準。我可以因爲有了道德考慮，在這個以金錢 為最高標準的制度裏，我成爲失敗者。如果我是個不道德的人，法語說，tant pis，管它呢，我承認並面對。"“每個人為他自己的行爲負責任，我不說，如果不是我，也會是其他人。因爲我這樣說，我就放棄了我的存在選擇。我不再對我 自己的行爲負責任。我依附他人的（不）道德，他們可以，我也可以。每個人都將行爲的責任推到其他人身上。對我來說，這就是不道德。”“我說：無論其他人怎 樣，不會影響我的決定。這是我的自由意志。我的存在。如果不是我，會是其他人。但就不是我。當一個人，不再有其他人，有市場，有戰爭來做場地，一個人，面 對自我：是，我是這樣，就是一個道德選擇。”“如果每個人都清醒而自覺做道德選擇，不割離，不推諉，會不會，有一個較爲完整的，互相照顧的社群，還是，帶 來更大的孤獨與破壞？”這是我很認同的。

一個人可以做衰人可以犯錯，我不在乎。但如果一個人做衰人， 還弄權、推諉、煽動、掩飾去營造自己是一個偉人，我是很鄙視這種人。這令我想到：一 個領袖一個政黨犯錯就要徹底全心全意去承認。一個民族也要徹底去反省爲什麽自己會容忍領袖及政黨令一個國家衰足幾十年還要在扮偉大。我很承認自己的低能， 所以我同我自己講，撲街啊？抵我死。

《Howl's moving castle》by Diana Wynne Jones
此書為兒童小説。是觀宮崎駿製作的以此故事為藍本的動畫后，繼而去讀的。喜歡此書，可能我是真的像個小老太婆，Sophie開始時藏在心底的那份自卑，剛好打動我，是因爲我也有着一份自卑。

拈書

《Leaving home: a memoir 》 By Art Buchwald

Art Buchwald was an American humorist. This is his biography published in 1993. It's interesting to read his early adventure in the World War II when he served with the Marines as part of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing. What has impressed me a lot from his memoir is his struggle with the depression and the analysis of the cause of this problem with a relaxing mood. As a humorist, I guess he would not forget to make mockery of himself. Indeed, heart pouring is not his style, but I can slightly sense the bitterness in his childhood and the pity in failing to see his mother, according his factual description with using an easy tone.

《浮生六記》 著：沈復 （字三白）

清 朝自傳體小説。又一次讓後人對古代中國知識分子的優雅生活閑趣從心底讚嘆。雖然作者一生遭遇似乎不能稱順意，但他與其夫人芸的幾載恩愛雅潔的夫妻生活及游 趣，可說令人羡慕。女人0吾易做，尤其在古代。在極端男權的社會裏，即使嫺淑如其夫人，也無法躲開諸多生按白造的是非與挑剔，但歸根致底還是其怯於為自己 辯護，講白點，就係太順從長輩（可理解為權威）太委屈自己。夫人芸的那份以前中國女子特有的可愛自然受人敬佩，但如果放諸現今社會，係一種愚的表現。不 過，不能這麽比較，畢竟時代0吾同，但我知道還是有這樣的一種女子存在，可惜最後一樣係悲劇收場，不談也罷。

《The Wal-Mart Effect》 By Charles Fisherman

Very easy to understand the element of how the superstore turning to be superpower. Fair information and behind scene stories revealed in the book. People are interested in Wal-Mart will enjoy this non-fiction reading, although it's a little bit dry.