Voyage

 (只是把碎碎念的東西撈回來......)

2007/10/21

這是一本以故事為基礎的書，說的 - 或說編的，就是故事。Page-turner一本， 使我不管一切，又在車上看起書來。佩服這樣隨手拈來，就能編出很有吸引力的故事的天賦。故事大部份發生在英國約克郡，還沒有到那種充滿雲霧，蒼涼古老的蘇格蘭高地。(會想到這個是因為，簡愛在書中一再被提起。) 然而整個氛圍是那麼冷，那麼寂寞，讓我讀到後面幾度落淚。書頁閤上後，Judy說的 in between的嗒然若失於焉更為嚴重。

2008/03/31

開始讀英文版。這書的中文版，說實在，細節有些模糊了。今早等車時從第一頁讀起，Margaret 收到來自Vida Winter 的信。第一人稱的敘述談到Vida 的字，談到辨識不同的手稿，尤其是過去人們的書寫筆跡，一段很美的文字，引在這裡。（也補在寫字那一篇）

When you read a manuscript that has been damaged by water, fire, light or just the passing of the years, your eye needs to study not just the shape of the letters but other marks of production. The speed of the pen. The pressure of the hand on the page. Breaks and releases in the flow. You must relax.

想起曾在巴黎路易斯島上的書局（其實比較像禮品店）櫥窗，看到一份號稱是李斯特手稿的信。紙已暈黃，墨色很淡，草寫的字體十分秀麗，但我辨識不出那是些什麼字。我一定是沒有relax, 雖然，以現在的後見之明，我似乎是曾感覺到那 pressure of the hand on the page.......

2008/04/16

對著迷的東西有種「OBS症候群」。繼續看youtube上的 Danny & Lindsay, 重看簡愛2006及 S&S 2008, 為自己那麼耽溺於 Ｒomance 感到好笑。今早讀到的 The Thirteenth Tale, Margaret有這麼一段，真是說出我的心情。

I read old novels. The reason is simple: I prefer proper endings. Marriages and deaths, noble sacrifices and miraculous restorations, tragic separations and unhoped-for reunions, great falls and dreams fulfilled; there, in my view, constitute an ending worth the wait. The should come after adventures, perils, dangers and dilemmas, and wind everything up nice and neatly.

故事若是安排的迭宕起伏，當然讀起來更不忍釋手。而Margaret說的沒錯，"Ending like this are to be found more commonly in old novels than new ones."

2008/05/20

到Page One找Donna Leon的小說，之後依慣例巡視JA, 發現新版本；價格低到出乎意料，紙也不割手，最重要的是，字體夠大，讀起來應該會輕鬆多了。原先還在三心二意要不要放棄P&P, S&S和Emma （家裡夠多了）後來仍然全數掃回家。

今早讀到的　The Thirteenth Tale　來到 Margaret 到圖書室找 Jane Eyre. 書中提到 Vida Winter 蒐集了許多 Jane Eyre 版本－不管稀有或普通的，許多許多

I was in the library. I was looking for Jane Eyre and found almost a whole shelf of copies. It was a collection of a fanatic: There were cheap, modern copies, with secondhand values; editions that came up so rarely on the market it would be hard to put a price to them; copies that fell at every pint between these two extremes.

我於是想，對於喜歡或說對我們有某種意義的書本，買上許多，撫摸浮想，讀或不讀，應該已經不在考慮範圍內了。