To be a man
"To be a man," my father said, wiping his cheeks,"is to look at the wreckage of your life and to confront it all without pity for yourself. Without alibis. And to go on. To endure－"
"Mine on Thursday", by Robert Comier
星期六, 7月 23, 2005
星期四, 7月 14, 2005
星期五, 7月 01, 2005
星期五, 6月 24, 2005
TNND的「候鳥計畫」
聽說我們實驗室要來兩個美國summer...
http://tw.news.yahoo.com/050623/43/1zkv1.html
五星級飯店招待台裔學子 國科會檢討
....而補助待遇問題，國科會補助每人新台幣 3萬5000元膳宿生活之用，另外聘雇單位還視財務情況給予每天1000元工作津貼(週休二日不算)，因此整個實習最高可領到 6萬元，比起台灣的研究所畢業生進入職場的待遇，算是相當優渥。
不過國科會的照顧美意卻也引起不少討論，國科會主委吳茂昆表示，原本只有50位台裔子弟的名額一下子擴增到 184人，負責受訓事宜的中山大學無承接這麼多人的膳宿事宜，因此轉包給旅行社處理，旅行社和南部五星級飯店有合作契約，可以較低的價格取得房間，所以才會落腳在這些五星級飯店。
而生活補助費過高的問題，吳茂昆說，據他了解，暑期在美國的研究單位實習， 2個月可拿到3000美元(新聞)，整個暑假可拿到5000美元，不過美國的生活消費不低，因此所得有限；而這些台裔子弟必需自付機票、自理膳宿；國科會當初只是單向的思考希望多照顧他們一點，畢竟他們未來在各領域將成為出類拔萃的份子，對台灣今後在國際舞台上發光發熱有一定的幫助。....
幹! 俺做到死也沒有60K/month. 最好去美國當summer student可以拿USD1500/month啦! 騙人不知道行情喔!! -_-凸!!
聽說我們實驗室要來兩個美國summer...
http://tw.news.yahoo.com/050623/43/1zkv1.html
五星級飯店招待台裔學子 國科會檢討
....而補助待遇問題，國科會補助每人新台幣 3萬5000元膳宿生活之用，另外聘雇單位還視財務情況給予每天1000元工作津貼(週休二日不算)，因此整個實習最高可領到 6萬元，比起台灣的研究所畢業生進入職場的待遇，算是相當優渥。
不過國科會的照顧美意卻也引起不少討論，國科會主委吳茂昆表示，原本只有50位台裔子弟的名額一下子擴增到 184人，負責受訓事宜的中山大學無承接這麼多人的膳宿事宜，因此轉包給旅行社處理，旅行社和南部五星級飯店有合作契約，可以較低的價格取得房間，所以才會落腳在這些五星級飯店。
而生活補助費過高的問題，吳茂昆說，據他了解，暑期在美國的研究單位實習， 2個月可拿到3000美元(新聞)，整個暑假可拿到5000美元，不過美國的生活消費不低，因此所得有限；而這些台裔子弟必需自付機票、自理膳宿；國科會當初只是單向的思考希望多照顧他們一點，畢竟他們未來在各領域將成為出類拔萃的份子，對台灣今後在國際舞台上發光發熱有一定的幫助。....
幹! 俺做到死也沒有60K/month. 最好去美國當summer student可以拿USD1500/month啦! 騙人不知道行情喔!! -_-凸!!
星期四, 6月 16, 2005
Are we living in 1984?
微軟中文網過濾敏感字眼 被批向中國網路審查低頭
http://www.ettoday.com/2005/06/14/334-1803587.htm
"MS is watching you."
by Age Ko'will
微軟中文網過濾敏感字眼 被批向中國網路審查低頭
http://www.ettoday.com/2005/06/14/334-1803587.htm
"MS is watching you."
by Age Ko'will
星期五, 6月 03, 2005
說推薦太沉重...
最近常常被人問起：「看你這麼常看書，都看些什麼啊？」
我通常的答案是：「奇幻小說。」
「奇幻小說？是像魔戒，哈利波特那種的嗎？」不知道是基於禮貌不要讓場面冷下來的提問，或是真的基於好奇而問的問題。
「是啊。」言簡意賅。
「喔？真的啊？好像蠻有趣的，可以推薦幾本來看看嗎？」
呃，碰到這樣無厘頭的問題，我通常都會愣個３秒鐘，然後開始支支吾吾。「嗯...欸...喔...那個ＸＸＸ不錯，可是有點厚...啊？不習慣讀大部頭的書啊？有沒有比較屬於"入門級"的？呃...那個ＹＹＹ也很好玩...」
比較好的結果是等到下次見面問起：「那個上次推薦你看的ＸＸＸ還不錯吧？」然後換來對方一陣尷尬的沉默，還有比較直接的人就會說：「后！你上次推薦我看的那本好無聊，我一本還沒看完就看到睡著了。」然後換來我一陣尷尬的沉默...
常常聽到一句話－「你的王道不等於我的王道。」是啊，每個人的價值觀都不一樣，我覺得有趣的，可能別人厭惡至極；我看到感動的要死然後哭的「梨花帶雨」 （好啦，我知道這是很噁心的形容詞，尤其用在男生身上），可是就是有人覺得很funny。我跟你又不是很熟，我怎麼知道我推薦給你的，會不會剛好是你討厭 到死掉的書系？
書有百百本，人有萬萬種。拜託拜託，不要一聽到別人的興趣是「看書」，就一股腦的扒上來問：「你有沒有推薦的書啊？」
下次碰到這種問題，我的回答可能是《聖經》或是《波若波羅蜜多心經》。
最近常常被人問起：「看你這麼常看書，都看些什麼啊？」
我通常的答案是：「奇幻小說。」
「奇幻小說？是像魔戒，哈利波特那種的嗎？」不知道是基於禮貌不要讓場面冷下來的提問，或是真的基於好奇而問的問題。
「是啊。」言簡意賅。
「喔？真的啊？好像蠻有趣的，可以推薦幾本來看看嗎？」
呃，碰到這樣無厘頭的問題，我通常都會愣個３秒鐘，然後開始支支吾吾。「嗯...欸...喔...那個ＸＸＸ不錯，可是有點厚...啊？不習慣讀大部頭的書啊？有沒有比較屬於"入門級"的？呃...那個ＹＹＹ也很好玩...」
比較好的結果是等到下次見面問起：「那個上次推薦你看的ＸＸＸ還不錯吧？」然後換來對方一陣尷尬的沉默，還有比較直接的人就會說：「后！你上次推薦我看的那本好無聊，我一本還沒看完就看到睡著了。」然後換來我一陣尷尬的沉默...
常常聽到一句話－「你的王道不等於我的王道。」是啊，每個人的價值觀都不一樣，我覺得有趣的，可能別人厭惡至極；我看到感動的要死然後哭的「梨花帶雨」 （好啦，我知道這是很噁心的形容詞，尤其用在男生身上），可是就是有人覺得很funny。我跟你又不是很熟，我怎麼知道我推薦給你的，會不會剛好是你討厭 到死掉的書系？
書有百百本，人有萬萬種。拜託拜託，不要一聽到別人的興趣是「看書」，就一股腦的扒上來問：「你有沒有推薦的書啊？」
下次碰到這種問題，我的回答可能是《聖經》或是《波若波羅蜜多心經》。
星期四, 6月 02, 2005
A Feast for Crows－It's done！
Finally, A Feast for Crows is done...sort of...
等了N年，Robin Hobb阿姨連Twany Man Trilogy都出完了，
馬丁大叔終於把這A Song of Ice and Fire第四本A Feast for Crows給凹出來了。
出書日期未定，只能確定七月不會來，八月也不會來...Orz
不過因為書太厚(作者說會超過已經厚達1076頁的A Storm of Swords)，"為免造成裝訂困難"，
只得把北境與Westeros大陸外的劇情切到下一集A Dance with Dragons。
也就是說黑衣少狼主和小龍后將不會在第四集AFfC中出場～～嗚嗚～～
呃，這樣說來Bran和Arya的戲該不會也要等到下一本ADwD吧？！
馬丁大叔你真是會吊人胃口啊～
總之，AFfC裡面就只能看到獅子和玫瑰在君臨城中鬥心機，冬恩在一旁虎視耽耽。三河流域則是群魔亂舞，不知道能不能看到苦情的Catelyn成功復仇？
唉呀唉呀～真是令人期待啊～～
作者自己對A Feast for Crows"縮水"的解釋
Finally, A Feast for Crows is done...sort of...
等了N年，Robin Hobb阿姨連Twany Man Trilogy都出完了，
馬丁大叔終於把這A Song of Ice and Fire第四本A Feast for Crows給凹出來了。
出書日期未定，只能確定七月不會來，八月也不會來...Orz
不過因為書太厚(作者說會超過已經厚達1076頁的A Storm of Swords)，"為免造成裝訂困難"，
只得把北境與Westeros大陸外的劇情切到下一集A Dance with Dragons。
也就是說黑衣少狼主和小龍后將不會在第四集AFfC中出場～～嗚嗚～～
呃，這樣說來Bran和Arya的戲該不會也要等到下一本ADwD吧？！
馬丁大叔你真是會吊人胃口啊～
總之，AFfC裡面就只能看到獅子和玫瑰在君臨城中鬥心機，冬恩在一旁虎視耽耽。三河流域則是群魔亂舞，不知道能不能看到苦情的Catelyn成功復仇？
唉呀唉呀～真是令人期待啊～～
作者自己對A Feast for Crows"縮水"的解釋
星期四, 5月 12, 2005
Brave or Reckless?
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星期二, 5月 10, 2005
Dr.コトー診療所
"僕は、死亡診断書を書くために、この島に来たわけじゃありません。"
－五島健助－
日 本，志木那島，一座風光明媚的離島，只不過有一間沒有任何醫生想要去的診療所，醫療水準低落到只要有急重症患者出現，除了後送到本島之外，就只能等死。島 上的居民，由於之前的駐島醫生不是敷衍了事，就是水準低落，因而不再信任任何醫生。某天，鄉公所課長從東京大學外科部請來了五島健助醫生駐島看診。驚訝於 本島與離島兩者之間醫療水準的落差之外，五島醫生還必須面對島民的不信任與敵視。五島醫生能夠扮演好志木那島診療所醫生的角色嗎？
一年前，電視看一次，VCD看一次，很感動。
一年之後，終於買到DVD，再看一次，還是很感動。
感動的是，五島醫生以醫生的身分對於患者的堅持。
感動的是，五島醫生以朋友的身分對於島民的付出。
感動的是，志木那島島民對於五島醫生的體諒與關懷。
可以讓我看這麼多次也感動這麼多次的日劇，除了Long Vacation和Love Generation之外，就是這個了。
我想在這部戲中不單單是五島醫生以醫生的身分拯救了許多志木那島島民。更重要的是，在志木那島上的經驗與島民的幫忙，反而回過頭來把五島醫生從他黑暗的過去中拯救出來。
唔，台灣的外島是不是也會有著一樣感人的故事呢？ Pondering...
"僕は、死亡診断書を書くために、この島に来たわけじゃありません。"
－五島健助－
日 本，志木那島，一座風光明媚的離島，只不過有一間沒有任何醫生想要去的診療所，醫療水準低落到只要有急重症患者出現，除了後送到本島之外，就只能等死。島 上的居民，由於之前的駐島醫生不是敷衍了事，就是水準低落，因而不再信任任何醫生。某天，鄉公所課長從東京大學外科部請來了五島健助醫生駐島看診。驚訝於 本島與離島兩者之間醫療水準的落差之外，五島醫生還必須面對島民的不信任與敵視。五島醫生能夠扮演好志木那島診療所醫生的角色嗎？
一年前，電視看一次，VCD看一次，很感動。
一年之後，終於買到DVD，再看一次，還是很感動。
感動的是，五島醫生以醫生的身分對於患者的堅持。
感動的是，五島醫生以朋友的身分對於島民的付出。
感動的是，志木那島島民對於五島醫生的體諒與關懷。
可以讓我看這麼多次也感動這麼多次的日劇，除了Long Vacation和Love Generation之外，就是這個了。
我想在這部戲中不單單是五島醫生以醫生的身分拯救了許多志木那島島民。更重要的是，在志木那島上的經驗與島民的幫忙，反而回過頭來把五島醫生從他黑暗的過去中拯救出來。
唔，台灣的外島是不是也會有著一樣感人的故事呢？ Pondering...
星期五, 4月 29, 2005
All About "Hana & Alice"...
我都不知道岩井俊二在花與愛麗絲裡面埋了這麼多小東西,
嗚...真懷疑當初在看的時候是不是睡著了. >_<
當初看到那句"我愛你"和蒼井優最後一幕的芭蕾舞，還感動的亂七八糟...
找時間再去看一次好了 :P
[2004金馬]朦朧、雙生花、青春殘像 - 花與愛麗絲(Hana & Alice)
[感想] 續‧花與愛麗絲的二三事
作者首頁：新‧龍貓森林
我都不知道岩井俊二在花與愛麗絲裡面埋了這麼多小東西,
嗚...真懷疑當初在看的時候是不是睡著了. >_<
當初看到那句"我愛你"和蒼井優最後一幕的芭蕾舞，還感動的亂七八糟...
找時間再去看一次好了 :P
[2004金馬]朦朧、雙生花、青春殘像 - 花與愛麗絲(Hana & Alice)
[感想] 續‧花與愛麗絲的二三事
作者首頁：新‧龍貓森林
星期二, 4月 26, 2005
星期三, 3月 16, 2005
星期一, 3月 14, 2005
CUBITAL TUNNEL SYNDROME (ULNAR NERVE AT ELBOW: A SENSORYAND MOTOR SYNDROME)
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE 37:75-93 (2000)
While focal entrapment of the ulnar nerve is an increasingly recognized cause of work-associated morbidity, the literature on these disorders in the occupational setting is sparse. Cubital tunnel syndrome is ulnar nerve entrapment at the medial aspect of the elbow. It is the second most common entrapment neuropathy of the upper extremity after carpal tunnel syndrome [AAEM, 1999; Idler, 1996].
Epidemiology
Two recent comprehensive reviews of the epidemiology of WMSDs [Hagberg et al., 1995; Bernard, 1997] did not assess studies of nerve entrapments in the upper extremity aside from carpal tunnel syndrome. While Hagberg and Silverstein [1995] stated that ulnar nerve entrapment in the elbow region (cubital tunnel syndrome) was the second most frequent upper extremity entrapment neuropathy, they did not review this disorder, stating that studies providing evidence of its work-relatedness are currently lacking. However, earlier and subsequent articles and texts provide some evidence of the work-relatedness. Specifc work related risk factors common to the cubital tunnel syndrome appear to be aggravating motions consisting of repetitive and sudden elbow flexion, and repeated trauma or pressure to the elbow at the ulnar groove [Feldman et al., 1983; Herrington and Morse, 1995; Gordon, 1995]. Job tasks associated with cubital tunnel syndrome include shoveling, hammering, lifting, manipulating handles of boring and punching machines, leaning on the elbow at a desk or work bench, working in tight places, digging, and use of hand saws or large power machinery [Feldman et al., 1983; Gordon, 1995; Blair, 1995].
Anatomy and Pathology
The ulnar nerve originates from the inferior roots of the brachial plexus (C8-T1). Compressions of the nerve at given points along its course through the upper extremity give rise to the various nerve entrapment syndromes. While cubital tunnel is a general term used to describe localized entrapment of the ulnar nerve at the elbow, the site of entrapment of the ulnar nerve in the region of the elbow can occur in several locations including proximal to the elbow by the medial head of the triceps' "arcade of Struther's,'' at the elbow by the arcuate ligament, or in the mid-forearm by the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle. Precise localization of
entrapment is important if surgery is being contemplated [Hilburn, 1996].
Clinical Presentation
Depending upon the severity of the entrapment, typical symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome include: (1) activityrelated numbness or paresthesias involving the 4th and 5th fingers; (2) pain in the medial aspect of the elbow and proximal forearm; (3) progressive inability to separate fingers, pick up small objects between the thumb and index finger; (4) loss of power grip and dexterity and, in severe cases, claw position of the ring and little fingers, hand fatigue and atrophy of the hypothenar and interosseous muscles [Idler, 1996; Feldman et al., 1983; Herrington and Morse, 1995; Blair, 1995]. As with carpal tunnel syndrome, symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome are often associated with nocturnal awakening.
A variety of provocative tests have been suggested for use in diagnosing cubital tunnel syndrome. These include Tinel's sign (paresthesias in the fifth digit and medial half of the fourth digit when tapping over the ulnar nerve at the elbow), the elbow flexion test in which symptoms in digits 4 and/or 5 (paresthesias and/or numbness) develop following maximum flexion of the elbow with the forearm in supination and the wrist in neutral, and the pressure provocative test, in which pressure is applied proximal to the cubital tunnel with the elbow in 20 flexion and the forearm in supination [Novak et al., 1994].
Novak and colleagues [1994] evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of Tinel's sign over the cubital tunnel, the "pressure provocative test,'' and the elbow flexion test. The sensitivity and specificity of the Tinel's sign were 0.70 and 0.98, respectively. The sensitivity of the flexion test at 60 seconds was 0.75 and the specificity 0.99. The 60 second ressure test's sensitivity was 0.89, with a specificity of 0.98. A maneuver combining the elbow flexion test with maintaining local pressure over the cubital canal for 30 seconds, resulted in sensitivity=0.91, specificity=0.97, and ppv=0.93.
Tests of function in muscles innervated by the ulnar nerve may not always be impaired because of cross supply to these muscles by the median nerve. Clinical methods described to test the ulnar innervated intrinsic muscles of the hand include: abduction of the digits (with the IP joints in extension) against resistance; flexion of the fifth digit DIP joint against resistance; difficulty in adducting the fifth digit while it is in extension (Wartenberg's sign); inability to properly cross the index and middle fingers (Scott Earle test); and inability to pinch index and thumb tips together firmly without sharp flexion of the DIP joint (positive Froment's sign) [Idler, 1996]. The "late'' signs include wasting of the intrinsic muscle mass of the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle, one of the intrinsic muscles best viewed in the space between the thumb and the second metacarpal bone.
Sensory testing over the ulnar nerve distribution should include the palmar and dorsal aspects of the fourth and fifth digit, comparing the affected and non-affected sides. Such testing can be accomplished using standardized (Semmes-Weinstein) monofilaments or vibratory testing, since light touch and vibration sense are the first affected in early stages of nerve entrapment [Idler, 1996].
A classification of causes of cubital tunnel syndrome is described by Tetro and Pichora [1996]. Of the classification systems devised for describing the severity of cubital tunnel syndrome, that of Dellon [1989] is the most comprehensive, incorporating progression of symptoms and clinical tests of motor and sensory ulnar nerve function.
Electrodiagnostic Testing
Electrodiagnostic testing including nerve conduction velocity and electromyography should be performed whenever an entrapment neuropathy is suspected, but the severity of the clinical findings may not always correlate with the results of such testing. In addition, the proper technique and interpretation by the specialists performing these tests is of paramount importance for the evaluating physician who must decide when to refer a patient for surgery. Blair [1995] writes "the definition of cubital syndrome on the basis of absolute electrophysiologic values is of limited merit, as normal and abnormal values are technique and laboratory dependent".
The reader is referred to a recent comprehensive review, the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine's "Practice Parameter for Electrodiagnostic Studies in Ulnar Neuropathy at the Elbow" [AAEM, 1999]. This document attempts to standardize the methodology and technique for performing electrodiagnostic testing of the ulnar nerve at the elbow. Its four-page summary is a useful guide in assessing the quality of electrodiagnostic testing for the clinician who refers a patient. Two of the three AAEM practice standards listed are: limb temperatures should be maintained and noted within a reference range (34 C is most commonly used), and, elbow position should be the same during electrodiagnostic stimulation and measurement of the nerve and also when comparing the patient's results with the normal values adopted by the testing laboratory. The AAEM suggests moderate elbow flexion of 70-90 from horizontal but recognizes that studies have used different elbow flexion/extension angles [AAEM, 1999]. The information provided by electrodiagnostic testing
of the ulnar nerve can help:
1. confirm injury to the nerve;
2. gauge the severity of nerve injury;
3. locate the site(s) of injury along the course of the nerve.
Electrodiagnostic studies are useful in documenting mild to marked entrapment of the ulnar nerve in the cubital tunnel. However, the values of electrodiagnostic tests must be interpreted in the clinical context, for 65% of the population may have 10±20 m/second slowing across the elbow [Blair, 1995]. Very mild cubital tunnel syndrome is a clinical diagnosis based on practitioner experience [Blair, 1995]. Comparison of the affected and unaffected limbs (if the condition is not bilateral) could also prove useful for reaching an accurate diagnosis. A review paper by Hilburn [1996] provides an excellent overview of the use of electrodiagnostic studies in the diagnosis of cubital tunnel syndrome as does a textbook by Preston and Shapiro [1998]. Once it is clear that the ulnar nerve is probably involved in the injury process, referral to an experienced specialist in electrophysiologic testing is warranted for the reasons listed above. In addition, the specialist can select, from among the various nerve conduction testing parameters available, those appropriate for the patient.
Treatment
The treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome is generally based on assessment of (1) the severity of symptoms and sensory or motor impairment upon presentation of the patient and (2) the duration of symptoms and nerve function impairment. In mild or moderate cubital tunnel syndrome a minimum of six months of non-surgical, conservative (medical) management is suggested before considering surgery [Idler, 1996]. Surgical intervention is generally recommended for severe sensory or motor impairment [Idler, 1996; Tetro and Pichora, 1996]. However, there is less agreement in the literature on the best method of initial treatment for moderate cubital tunnel syndrome, based on less successful outcomes compared to mild neuropathy. Medical monitoring of patients at 1±3 month intervals is warranted, which should include assessment of symptoms, signs of nerve impairment and compliance with treatment recommendations. If no improvement is seen or the clinical condition deteriorates, electrodiagnostic retesting is recommended by most authors and operative intervention should be considered [Tetro and Pichora, 1996].
Non-surgical management of the cubital tunnel syndrome should include modification of inciting exposures and activities at work and at home. Extreme elbow flexion should be avoided at home and at work. Patients frequently benefit from use of an elbow splint. The elbow should be splinted in elbow extension which limits flexion to no greater than 45 but does not apply direct pressure to the nerve [Sailer, 1996]. Splints should be used at night even in the absence of nighttime paresthesias noted upon awakening. During the day, elbow pads may be used to protect the ulnar nerve within the ulnar groove from direct pressure or trauma. Use of elbow padding and night splinting is suggested for a trial of at least three months. In severe cases, daytime splinting may be tried [Idler, 1996]. Additionally, for more chronic and severe cases of cubital tunnel syndrome, physical or occupational hand therapy should be performed.
Authors differ over the time from the onset of symptoms for which adequate conservative measures are to be tried before surgery should be considered in patients who present with mild or moderate cubital tunnel syndrome, but it ranges from six months [Idler, 1996] to one year [Tetro and Pichora, 1996]. Dellon et al. [1993] have found that a high percentage (89%) of patients with "mild, intermittent disease were successfully treated nonoperatively, whereas only 38% of those with moderate disease(persistent paresthesias, muscle weakness, abnormal two-point discrimination [less than 10 mm] were successfully managed conservatively." Urbaniak [1991] recommends a trial of conservative measures in patients with the following findings: "(1) early symptoms, intermittent episodes; (2) mild paresthesias without significant pain; (3) minimal physical findings (slight numbness), with normal motor examination.'' He suggests operative exploration without a trial of conservative treatment in those with "severe findings of weakness, decreased two-point discrimination, and electromyographic evidence of denervation potentials..."[Tetro and Pichora, 1996].
The medical literature varies on the most appropriate operative procedure for the different subtypes of cubital tunnel syndrome. Basically, releasing constrictions at all affected sites along the nerve in the elbow region is one surgical option (simple decompression), and changing the position of the nerve to the front of the elbow (anterior transposition) is the second major category of operation, with variations used within each category. Needless to say, there is debate over the best operative procedure to be used, and the reader can refer to the reference article by Tetro and Pichora for a discussion of the different operative procedures.
It is important to modify ergonomic risk factors associated with ulnar nerve entrapment flexion (greater than 45), repetitive elbow flexion, and forceful exertions of the wrist, forearm or elbow.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE 37:75-93 (2000)
While focal entrapment of the ulnar nerve is an increasingly recognized cause of work-associated morbidity, the literature on these disorders in the occupational setting is sparse. Cubital tunnel syndrome is ulnar nerve entrapment at the medial aspect of the elbow. It is the second most common entrapment neuropathy of the upper extremity after carpal tunnel syndrome [AAEM, 1999; Idler, 1996].
Epidemiology
Two recent comprehensive reviews of the epidemiology of WMSDs [Hagberg et al., 1995; Bernard, 1997] did not assess studies of nerve entrapments in the upper extremity aside from carpal tunnel syndrome. While Hagberg and Silverstein [1995] stated that ulnar nerve entrapment in the elbow region (cubital tunnel syndrome) was the second most frequent upper extremity entrapment neuropathy, they did not review this disorder, stating that studies providing evidence of its work-relatedness are currently lacking. However, earlier and subsequent articles and texts provide some evidence of the work-relatedness. Specifc work related risk factors common to the cubital tunnel syndrome appear to be aggravating motions consisting of repetitive and sudden elbow flexion, and repeated trauma or pressure to the elbow at the ulnar groove [Feldman et al., 1983; Herrington and Morse, 1995; Gordon, 1995]. Job tasks associated with cubital tunnel syndrome include shoveling, hammering, lifting, manipulating handles of boring and punching machines, leaning on the elbow at a desk or work bench, working in tight places, digging, and use of hand saws or large power machinery [Feldman et al., 1983; Gordon, 1995; Blair, 1995].
Anatomy and Pathology
The ulnar nerve originates from the inferior roots of the brachial plexus (C8-T1). Compressions of the nerve at given points along its course through the upper extremity give rise to the various nerve entrapment syndromes. While cubital tunnel is a general term used to describe localized entrapment of the ulnar nerve at the elbow, the site of entrapment of the ulnar nerve in the region of the elbow can occur in several locations including proximal to the elbow by the medial head of the triceps' "arcade of Struther's,'' at the elbow by the arcuate ligament, or in the mid-forearm by the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle. Precise localization of
entrapment is important if surgery is being contemplated [Hilburn, 1996].
Clinical Presentation
Depending upon the severity of the entrapment, typical symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome include: (1) activityrelated numbness or paresthesias involving the 4th and 5th fingers; (2) pain in the medial aspect of the elbow and proximal forearm; (3) progressive inability to separate fingers, pick up small objects between the thumb and index finger; (4) loss of power grip and dexterity and, in severe cases, claw position of the ring and little fingers, hand fatigue and atrophy of the hypothenar and interosseous muscles [Idler, 1996; Feldman et al., 1983; Herrington and Morse, 1995; Blair, 1995]. As with carpal tunnel syndrome, symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome are often associated with nocturnal awakening.
A variety of provocative tests have been suggested for use in diagnosing cubital tunnel syndrome. These include Tinel's sign (paresthesias in the fifth digit and medial half of the fourth digit when tapping over the ulnar nerve at the elbow), the elbow flexion test in which symptoms in digits 4 and/or 5 (paresthesias and/or numbness) develop following maximum flexion of the elbow with the forearm in supination and the wrist in neutral, and the pressure provocative test, in which pressure is applied proximal to the cubital tunnel with the elbow in 20 flexion and the forearm in supination [Novak et al., 1994].
Novak and colleagues [1994] evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of Tinel's sign over the cubital tunnel, the "pressure provocative test,'' and the elbow flexion test. The sensitivity and specificity of the Tinel's sign were 0.70 and 0.98, respectively. The sensitivity of the flexion test at 60 seconds was 0.75 and the specificity 0.99. The 60 second ressure test's sensitivity was 0.89, with a specificity of 0.98. A maneuver combining the elbow flexion test with maintaining local pressure over the cubital canal for 30 seconds, resulted in sensitivity=0.91, specificity=0.97, and ppv=0.93.
Tests of function in muscles innervated by the ulnar nerve may not always be impaired because of cross supply to these muscles by the median nerve. Clinical methods described to test the ulnar innervated intrinsic muscles of the hand include: abduction of the digits (with the IP joints in extension) against resistance; flexion of the fifth digit DIP joint against resistance; difficulty in adducting the fifth digit while it is in extension (Wartenberg's sign); inability to properly cross the index and middle fingers (Scott Earle test); and inability to pinch index and thumb tips together firmly without sharp flexion of the DIP joint (positive Froment's sign) [Idler, 1996]. The "late'' signs include wasting of the intrinsic muscle mass of the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle, one of the intrinsic muscles best viewed in the space between the thumb and the second metacarpal bone.
Sensory testing over the ulnar nerve distribution should include the palmar and dorsal aspects of the fourth and fifth digit, comparing the affected and non-affected sides. Such testing can be accomplished using standardized (Semmes-Weinstein) monofilaments or vibratory testing, since light touch and vibration sense are the first affected in early stages of nerve entrapment [Idler, 1996].
A classification of causes of cubital tunnel syndrome is described by Tetro and Pichora [1996]. Of the classification systems devised for describing the severity of cubital tunnel syndrome, that of Dellon [1989] is the most comprehensive, incorporating progression of symptoms and clinical tests of motor and sensory ulnar nerve function.
Electrodiagnostic Testing
Electrodiagnostic testing including nerve conduction velocity and electromyography should be performed whenever an entrapment neuropathy is suspected, but the severity of the clinical findings may not always correlate with the results of such testing. In addition, the proper technique and interpretation by the specialists performing these tests is of paramount importance for the evaluating physician who must decide when to refer a patient for surgery. Blair [1995] writes "the definition of cubital syndrome on the basis of absolute electrophysiologic values is of limited merit, as normal and abnormal values are technique and laboratory dependent".
The reader is referred to a recent comprehensive review, the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine's "Practice Parameter for Electrodiagnostic Studies in Ulnar Neuropathy at the Elbow" [AAEM, 1999]. This document attempts to standardize the methodology and technique for performing electrodiagnostic testing of the ulnar nerve at the elbow. Its four-page summary is a useful guide in assessing the quality of electrodiagnostic testing for the clinician who refers a patient. Two of the three AAEM practice standards listed are: limb temperatures should be maintained and noted within a reference range (34 C is most commonly used), and, elbow position should be the same during electrodiagnostic stimulation and measurement of the nerve and also when comparing the patient's results with the normal values adopted by the testing laboratory. The AAEM suggests moderate elbow flexion of 70-90 from horizontal but recognizes that studies have used different elbow flexion/extension angles [AAEM, 1999]. The information provided by electrodiagnostic testing
of the ulnar nerve can help:
1. confirm injury to the nerve;
2. gauge the severity of nerve injury;
3. locate the site(s) of injury along the course of the nerve.
Electrodiagnostic studies are useful in documenting mild to marked entrapment of the ulnar nerve in the cubital tunnel. However, the values of electrodiagnostic tests must be interpreted in the clinical context, for 65% of the population may have 10±20 m/second slowing across the elbow [Blair, 1995]. Very mild cubital tunnel syndrome is a clinical diagnosis based on practitioner experience [Blair, 1995]. Comparison of the affected and unaffected limbs (if the condition is not bilateral) could also prove useful for reaching an accurate diagnosis. A review paper by Hilburn [1996] provides an excellent overview of the use of electrodiagnostic studies in the diagnosis of cubital tunnel syndrome as does a textbook by Preston and Shapiro [1998]. Once it is clear that the ulnar nerve is probably involved in the injury process, referral to an experienced specialist in electrophysiologic testing is warranted for the reasons listed above. In addition, the specialist can select, from among the various nerve conduction testing parameters available, those appropriate for the patient.
Treatment
The treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome is generally based on assessment of (1) the severity of symptoms and sensory or motor impairment upon presentation of the patient and (2) the duration of symptoms and nerve function impairment. In mild or moderate cubital tunnel syndrome a minimum of six months of non-surgical, conservative (medical) management is suggested before considering surgery [Idler, 1996]. Surgical intervention is generally recommended for severe sensory or motor impairment [Idler, 1996; Tetro and Pichora, 1996]. However, there is less agreement in the literature on the best method of initial treatment for moderate cubital tunnel syndrome, based on less successful outcomes compared to mild neuropathy. Medical monitoring of patients at 1±3 month intervals is warranted, which should include assessment of symptoms, signs of nerve impairment and compliance with treatment recommendations. If no improvement is seen or the clinical condition deteriorates, electrodiagnostic retesting is recommended by most authors and operative intervention should be considered [Tetro and Pichora, 1996].
Non-surgical management of the cubital tunnel syndrome should include modification of inciting exposures and activities at work and at home. Extreme elbow flexion should be avoided at home and at work. Patients frequently benefit from use of an elbow splint. The elbow should be splinted in elbow extension which limits flexion to no greater than 45 but does not apply direct pressure to the nerve [Sailer, 1996]. Splints should be used at night even in the absence of nighttime paresthesias noted upon awakening. During the day, elbow pads may be used to protect the ulnar nerve within the ulnar groove from direct pressure or trauma. Use of elbow padding and night splinting is suggested for a trial of at least three months. In severe cases, daytime splinting may be tried [Idler, 1996]. Additionally, for more chronic and severe cases of cubital tunnel syndrome, physical or occupational hand therapy should be performed.
Authors differ over the time from the onset of symptoms for which adequate conservative measures are to be tried before surgery should be considered in patients who present with mild or moderate cubital tunnel syndrome, but it ranges from six months [Idler, 1996] to one year [Tetro and Pichora, 1996]. Dellon et al. [1993] have found that a high percentage (89%) of patients with "mild, intermittent disease were successfully treated nonoperatively, whereas only 38% of those with moderate disease(persistent paresthesias, muscle weakness, abnormal two-point discrimination [less than 10 mm] were successfully managed conservatively." Urbaniak [1991] recommends a trial of conservative measures in patients with the following findings: "(1) early symptoms, intermittent episodes; (2) mild paresthesias without significant pain; (3) minimal physical findings (slight numbness), with normal motor examination.'' He suggests operative exploration without a trial of conservative treatment in those with "severe findings of weakness, decreased two-point discrimination, and electromyographic evidence of denervation potentials..."[Tetro and Pichora, 1996].
The medical literature varies on the most appropriate operative procedure for the different subtypes of cubital tunnel syndrome. Basically, releasing constrictions at all affected sites along the nerve in the elbow region is one surgical option (simple decompression), and changing the position of the nerve to the front of the elbow (anterior transposition) is the second major category of operation, with variations used within each category. Needless to say, there is debate over the best operative procedure to be used, and the reader can refer to the reference article by Tetro and Pichora for a discussion of the different operative procedures.
It is important to modify ergonomic risk factors associated with ulnar nerve entrapment flexion (greater than 45), repetitive elbow flexion, and forceful exertions of the wrist, forearm or elbow.
星期一, 2月 28, 2005
敦南兒童館小講堂：在過與不及之間‧‧‧
地點/敦南兒童館 小教室
主講.演出/蔡宜容(英國瑞汀大學兒童文學碩士)
什麼是青少年文本？
主角是青少年，讀者是青少年，或者你我青少年時期曾經讀過的作品？
3/04(五) 比愛情更堅固
‧福爾摩斯與華生
‧ 蝙蝠俠與羅賓(卡漫&電影)
‧ 西洋古董洋菓子店(卡漫&日劇)
3/11(五) 比親情更複雜
‧ 晚安，湯姆先生/嗑藥/小婦人
‧ 變奏家族(漫‧北條司)
‧ 流氓蛋糕店(漫‧漥之內英策)
3/18(五) 比童話更深沉
‧ 格林童話/安徒生&王爾德童話
‧ 毒伯爵該隱(漫‧由貴香織)
3/25(五) 比純真更曖昧
‧ 洛麗泰(納布可夫)
‧ 愛麗絲夢遊仙境(路易絲‧卡洛)
‧ 終極追殺令(電影‧盧貝松)
‧ 水手服與機關槍(赤川次郎&角川電影聯手打造萬歲少女)
地點/敦南兒童館 小教室
主講.演出/蔡宜容(英國瑞汀大學兒童文學碩士)
什麼是青少年文本？
主角是青少年，讀者是青少年，或者你我青少年時期曾經讀過的作品？
3/04(五) 比愛情更堅固
‧福爾摩斯與華生
‧ 蝙蝠俠與羅賓(卡漫&電影)
‧ 西洋古董洋菓子店(卡漫&日劇)
3/11(五) 比親情更複雜
‧ 晚安，湯姆先生/嗑藥/小婦人
‧ 變奏家族(漫‧北條司)
‧ 流氓蛋糕店(漫‧漥之內英策)
3/18(五) 比童話更深沉
‧ 格林童話/安徒生&王爾德童話
‧ 毒伯爵該隱(漫‧由貴香織)
3/25(五) 比純真更曖昧
‧ 洛麗泰(納布可夫)
‧ 愛麗絲夢遊仙境(路易絲‧卡洛)
‧ 終極追殺令(電影‧盧貝松)
‧ 水手服與機關槍(赤川次郎&角川電影聯手打造萬歲少女)
星期四, 2月 03, 2005
スチームボーイ
僕は、未来を、あきらめない。
比起Howl's moving castle, 個人更期待大友克洋的Steam Boy.
【阿基拉】動畫教父 大友克洋Katsuhiro Otomo歷時八年，全力打造 古典科幻冒險史詩
耗資24億日幣，打造影史最昂貴動畫長片，氣勢恢弘，遠勝【霍爾的移動城堡】
2004年威尼斯影展閉幕片
「人類的福音」？抑或「惡魔的渴望」？蒸氣男孩的冒險篇章
十九世紀中葉，維多利亞時代的大英帝國，工業革命方興未艾，理性與進步似乎凌駕一切，標誌了人類文明昂首進步的無限可能。就在第一次萬國博覽會揭幕前夕，住在倫敦的13歲少年雷‧史汀（Ray Stim）突然收到發明家祖父從美國寄來，稱之為「蒸氣球」（Steam Ball）的神秘動力裝置。「蒸氣球」依據全新機械理論所設計，可以產生一種劃時代的龐大能源，足以供應整個國家所需。同時間，英國情報組織，以及一個名為奧哈拉基金會（Ohara Foundation）的黑暗組織，都覬覦「蒸氣球」所蘊含的驚人力量，準備策動陰謀，從雷的手中加以奪取。一場壯大的復古科幻冒險，就在各種複雜的爭逐角力間磅礡登場……
大友克洋&【阿基拉 】AKIRA 末世預言的科幻經典
1988年，來自東瀛的大友克洋以【阿基拉】一片震撼世界影壇！這部以二十一世紀新東京毀滅預言為主題的科幻動畫，以有別於宮崎駿的超限寫實筆調，以及【銀翼殺手】般深沈詭異的哲學思考、迷離頹廢的美術風格，一舉改寫動畫電影的想像疆界，也奠定了大友氏無可動搖的教父級地位，影響之廣，連之後延燒全球的【駭客任務】三部曲導演 華喬斯基兄弟也肯定該片在科幻類型上無可比擬的劃時代意義。
這部耗資一億日圓（當時已屬天價）的電影，在美國上映時曾創下首週票房冠軍的光榮記錄，也讓一向以迪士尼橫掃全球的美國動畫產業，見識到日本同業在技術上的精密紮實與匠心。而【阿基拉】最具革命性的創舉，就在於片中配音與嘴型同步，這在宮崎駿之前是見不到的。暌違16年後，讓億萬影迷望穿秋水的【蒸氣男孩】，將再次以融合復古與幻想的全新風格，掀起一場前所未有的壯闊體驗。
《蒸氣男孩 Steamboy》電影預售票
上映時間：2005年3月18日晚場起上映
上映地點：台北首輪上映戲院
票價：單張全票250元。雙人套票2張380元 (另加贈〝蒸氣男孩〞原文海報乙張，自2月5日起憑2張預售票至國家戲劇院或音樂廳售票口換取)
僕は、未来を、あきらめない。
比起Howl's moving castle, 個人更期待大友克洋的Steam Boy.
【阿基拉】動畫教父 大友克洋Katsuhiro Otomo歷時八年，全力打造 古典科幻冒險史詩
耗資24億日幣，打造影史最昂貴動畫長片，氣勢恢弘，遠勝【霍爾的移動城堡】
2004年威尼斯影展閉幕片
「人類的福音」？抑或「惡魔的渴望」？蒸氣男孩的冒險篇章
十九世紀中葉，維多利亞時代的大英帝國，工業革命方興未艾，理性與進步似乎凌駕一切，標誌了人類文明昂首進步的無限可能。就在第一次萬國博覽會揭幕前夕，住在倫敦的13歲少年雷‧史汀（Ray Stim）突然收到發明家祖父從美國寄來，稱之為「蒸氣球」（Steam Ball）的神秘動力裝置。「蒸氣球」依據全新機械理論所設計，可以產生一種劃時代的龐大能源，足以供應整個國家所需。同時間，英國情報組織，以及一個名為奧哈拉基金會（Ohara Foundation）的黑暗組織，都覬覦「蒸氣球」所蘊含的驚人力量，準備策動陰謀，從雷的手中加以奪取。一場壯大的復古科幻冒險，就在各種複雜的爭逐角力間磅礡登場……
大友克洋&【阿基拉 】AKIRA 末世預言的科幻經典
1988年，來自東瀛的大友克洋以【阿基拉】一片震撼世界影壇！這部以二十一世紀新東京毀滅預言為主題的科幻動畫，以有別於宮崎駿的超限寫實筆調，以及【銀翼殺手】般深沈詭異的哲學思考、迷離頹廢的美術風格，一舉改寫動畫電影的想像疆界，也奠定了大友氏無可動搖的教父級地位，影響之廣，連之後延燒全球的【駭客任務】三部曲導演 華喬斯基兄弟也肯定該片在科幻類型上無可比擬的劃時代意義。
這部耗資一億日圓（當時已屬天價）的電影，在美國上映時曾創下首週票房冠軍的光榮記錄，也讓一向以迪士尼橫掃全球的美國動畫產業，見識到日本同業在技術上的精密紮實與匠心。而【阿基拉】最具革命性的創舉，就在於片中配音與嘴型同步，這在宮崎駿之前是見不到的。暌違16年後，讓億萬影迷望穿秋水的【蒸氣男孩】，將再次以融合復古與幻想的全新風格，掀起一場前所未有的壯闊體驗。
《蒸氣男孩 Steamboy》電影預售票
上映時間：2005年3月18日晚場起上映
上映地點：台北首輪上映戲院
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星期二, 2月 01, 2005
So What Exactly Is Fantasy?
Vol II, No. 1 (February, 2005) by Cheryl Morgan
Cheryl Morgan is the editor of the online science fiction and
fantasy review magazine Emerald City. Ms. Morgan and the magazine
have been nominated for Hugo awards and for a British Science Fiction
Association award. In 2004 Emerald City won the Hugo award for Best
Fanzine."Cheryl is also a regular contributor to Locus magazine. When
not writing she can normally be found at conventions, or saving up for
her next convention.
The thing that surprised me most about my last essay for IROSF was the level of emotional outrage caused by my expanding SFWA as “Science Fiction Writers of America.” Now of course that was the original name, which is why it is still abbreviated with just one F. But as a SFWA member myself I guess I should have known that these days it is “Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.”
Sadly that sort of thing doesn’t register with me. I’m one of those terrible people who tend to lump “science fiction” and “fantasy” all in the same bucket. It never occurs to me that the “World Science Fiction Convention” would try to ban fantasy fans from becoming members, and of course it never has, but I still regularly meet people who are absolutely convinced that it does. And my forgetting that vital little “and Fantasy” from the full name of SFWA engendered the sort of reaction you might get if I carelessly described the USA as a British colony, or Pakistan as part of India.
I can see at least two possible reasons why I might have got people so upset. The first is that some time back in the dim and distant past some people in SFWA might have tried to bar fantasy writers from membership (though quite what they’d be doing banning the likes of Fritz Leiber and Roger Zelazny is a mystery to me). Certainly the SFWA web site says that the “and Fantasy” was added as an important signal to people who felt that they might not be welcome. It may also be the case that some of the fantasy-writing members of SFWA believe that their craft is special and unique and does not deserve to be hidden under the catchall term of “science fiction”. After all, a lot of fantasy has little or nothing to do with science, even though it generally appears on the “science fiction” shelves of bookstores. Terminology is important, and people get upset about it. Ultimately, however, I believe that attempts to draw a firm dividing line between science fiction and fantasy are not only doomed to failure but are foolish. Here’s why.
Let’s start right back at the beginning. When Homer was recounting The Iliad to rapt audiences in ancient Greece no one worried about whether his stories were fantastical or mimetic. They probably didn’t even worry very much about whether the events he described were true or fictional. People accepted that the Trojan War had happened, and that the Gods existed. If Homer embellished a little on the truth to produce a better story, well who cared, except of course the lord paying the bard’s keep that night.
When Japanese court women started writing novels (monogatari) back in the 11th Century I am pretty sure that they would have written about spirits. It would have been expected. Shinto is an animistic religion. Even as far forward as the 16th Century, when Shakespeare put witches in Macbeth and fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, no one buried their heads in their hands in horror and raved about how poor, foolish Will was ruining his reputation by turning his back on the purity of historical plays and instead was writing—shock! horror!—fantasy.
Civilization, however, moved on, and by the time that Samuel Richardson helped the Western world catch up with Japanese culture there was a distinct whiff of science in the air. Things were either real, or they weren’t. Richardson’s novels were entirely about ordinary people facing ordinary moral problems. And when Mary Shelly came to write Frankenstein, it was generally understood that there were two kinds of books that a novelist might write. Either one based one’s story on the real world, or one wrote a book in which one “phantsied” things that did not really exist. Or rather, of course, things that could not exist, for wasn’t much of fiction actually about people that didn’t really exist, or people that did exist doing things they never actually did? When you think about it, the distinction isn’t really that watertight. Whateve; to a reader of Ms. Shelley’s day Frankenstein was a fantasy.
And so at last we come to the late 19th Century and the flowering of science fiction as we know it. We have Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. Wells referred to his famous early works as “scientific romances”. This might have been a polite nod to M. Verne, as “roman” is the French word for novel and “romance” is still occasionally used in (British) English to mean a novel rather than specifically a book about love. Generally the term “romance” is used for the more fanciful type of novel, because every Briton is brought up to believe that those Frenchies are not well grounded in things like common sense and practicality. Later in his career, when Wells was attempting to establish himself as a serious novelist, he got quite angry with those fans who wanted him to turn out more books about Martians and time machines. Wells was going to prove that he could write proper books, and so he did, although of course few people remember them today.
Then there was the famous spat between Wells and Henry James. James was big on the idea of the novel as an exploration of the human psyche. That was, after all, what Richardson had done. Wells believed that the remit of the novel was much broader. He wanted to write about social relations and politics. After all, wasn’t that what people like Dickens and Trollope had done? And somehow out of this we have, at least in the UK, ended up with a ridiculous divide in the literary establishment between “real novels”, which are never about anything except the real world, and “populist crap”, which is a convenient short-hand term for science fiction, fantasy, horror, mysteries, romance, westerns and anything else that the guardians of literary excellence happen to turn their noses up at. And the symbolic champion of the “real novel” is Henry James, a man who is famous for writing (wait for it. . . ) ghost stories. Well, that’s all very clear isn’t it?
By the late 19th Century, however, there was a new idea in the literary firmament, one that made it easier to distinguish between “real novels” and “populist crap”. That idea was genre. Now I’m not a big fan of genre myself. The whole idea of genre is that the novelist should leave her imagination at the door and instead write to a set of rules, a formula.(1) The best known examples come from the romance industry where aspiring “novelists” wishing to write for the big publishing houses are actually given a set of rules as to when the first kiss should occur, in which chapter the hero should propose marriage, and so on. Science fiction and fantasy publishers are by no means as prescriptive but, as Diana Wynne Jones showed with her fabulous Tough Guide to Fantasy Land, many fantasy writers have voluntarily confined themselves to a formula nonetheless. Doubtless the same could be said of certain subdivisions of SF, particularly those with TV or film tie-ins.
Genre, then, is a form of fossilization of the imagination, but it is fossilization with a purpose. It is a marketing tool, a means by which eager customers can find exactly the sort of book they are looking for. It is, if you like, the McDonalds of the publishing industry. No matter where you are in the world, if you walk into a bookstore and see a book whose cover shows a girl in a chain mail bikini riding a dragon and waving a sword you will know exactly what to expect. If instead the girl is wearing a long, white dress and is snuggling up to a unicorn in a flower-strewn woodland glade then a subtly different type of book is on offer. It doesn’t really matter whose name is on the cover. Authors, however, bless their imaginative little hearts, generally refuse to be tied down. And unless they are writing for one of those publishers that insists on following the formula they quite often get away with some rather clever subversion. Those of you who have ever been to a convention panel on the difference between fantasy and science fiction can skip the next two paragraphs, because the examples I am going to give are much over-used, but they do make the point.
Consider, if you will, a series of books in which space travelers land on an alien planet and use genetic engineering to help mould some of the local fauna to their requirements. Although they eventually lose most of their technological skills, they continue to use logic and ordinary human bravery to combat whatever menaces come their way. Is that science fiction or fantasy? Yep, you got it in one. That was Anne McCaffrey’s Dragon Riders of Pern series, one of the most famous sets of “fantasy” books ever written.
Now, consider instead a story in which an evil sorcerer has taken over the empire and the young prince has been forced into hiding, not even knowing who he really is. Thanks to the help of a set of loyal, if somewhat strange, companions, a sword with strange powers, and a wizened old guru, he succeeds against all odds and defeats the bad guys, because of course it is right that he should do so. Got it? Yes, quite right, that was Star Wars, possibly the most famous “science fiction” movie ever made.
One of the obvious problems with genre, then, is that it is rather easily subverted. Indeed, any author worth her salt should want to subvert it. Writing novels should be about using your imagination, not about following a formula. (Yes, OK, I know that there are those writing courses that say that novels are all about making a living and if you want to get published you have to follow the formula. But IROSF is a serious literary magazine and we have pretensions to creativity here.) But the other problem with genre is that the rules are very hard to apply, even though they seem simple.
Take the obvious thing about magic. You would have thought that it would be easy to decide whether a book was fantasy or not simply by whether or not magical things happened during the story. But you can’t. And one of the reasons that you can’t is that the idiotic divide between “real novels” and “populist crap” really only applies in the English-speaking world. And the white English-speaking world at that. If you look at novels written in Spanish or Italian or Finnish or Russian (to name but a few) you find quite a lot of big-name writers putting magic into their books. If you read books in English by people from India or the Caribbean they too have magic in them. Salman Rushdie’s first novel, Grimus, is an out-and-out fantasy. It is hard to find these days, probably because his publishers don’t want to admit that he wrote “that stuff”, but he did. The bottom line is that if people have won Nobel prizes for literature for writing books with magic in them, then those books can’t be “populist crap”, they must be “real novels”. Which means that they must be “magic realism”, not “fantasy”. Got that? Clear as mud, isn’t it.
Oh, and just in case you think that argument only applies to fantasy, stop right there and go out and read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. That book was shortlisted for the UK’s prestigious Booker Prize in 2004. It consists of six inter-woven narratives, two of which take place very clearly in the future. One of them features a character who is a clone, and the other is set in a post-apocalyptic world. But do any of the mainstream critics who rave about the book describe this as “science fiction”? Dear me no, it is serious literature. A science fiction novel would never get shortlisted for the Booker Prize. (And come to think of it, you quite possibly won’t find Jurassic Park in the science fiction section of your bookstore either. It is too popular to get hidden away in the ghetto.)
And this is how I found myself stuck in a London restaurant seated next to a guy who insisted that “fantasy” only meant books with elves and dragons and wizards in them. Extending the definition of fantasy, he told me, to include anything with magic in it, was a shameful attempt on my part to give spurious and undeserved legitimacy to the dreadful crap that I read. If I had given him a Jeff Vandermeer novel to read he would have told me that it wasn’t fantasy, it was too good. But if I had given him a Jeff Vandermeer novel and had first told him that Jeff was a past winner of the World Fantasy Award he would have told me that he didn’t want to waste his time reading that crap.
And what exactly is “that crap” anyway? Ask people to name a famous fantasy author and there is a good chance that they will very quickly come up with three names: J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and Terry Pratchett. They all write that stuff with elves and dragons and wizards, right? It is all the same.
Well, let’s think about that. Tolkien wrote books set entirely in an imaginary world. Sure there were elves and dragons and wizards, but it would be entirely legitimate to say that they were not real. Tolkien didn’t try to place them in our world. He made up a world in which such things could exist, but it was all a story, albeit a story with a message for us. Rowling, on the other hand, has her magicians and magical creatures very firmly located in our world. Magic does exist, she says. And she pokes fun at the ignorant muggles who don’t understand this. That is a very different approach to using magic in a novel. At first sight you might think that Pratchett is doing the same sort of thing as Tolkien. He too has created an imaginary world. But whereas Tolkien took great pains to make his imaginary world seem real when you were inside it, Pratchett deliberately makes his world absurd. And once you have got into his books you realize that he has done this for a purpose. It is all a joke. The imaginary world is not there to be taken seriously, it is there to allow Pratchett to poke fun at politicians, and religion, at the military, at the media, and at anyone else he thinks needs taking down a peg or two.
So there we have three very different approaches to writing “fantasy” and the relation of the fantastic elements of the story to the real ones. In one set of books the magic is claimed to be real and exist in our world, in another it is real but only within the confines of an imaginary world, and in the third it is a deliberate joke, a vehicle for satire. Three of the most famous fantasy writers in the world, and they are not writing the same thing at all.
We should also note in passing that not all science fiction is the same. One of the most recent literary movements to grace the SF scene is something called Mundane SF. The people involved in this movement believe that SF has become much too fanciful. Everyone knows that if there is life on Mars then it is limited to tiny bacteria. Everyone knows that you can’t travel faster than light. Uploading human minds into computers is an absurd idea. And even the simplest forms of nanotechnology are indistinguishable from magic. No, say the Mundane SF folks, science fiction should be firmly rooted in real science, it should limit its subject matter to what we know is possible. Everything else is just fantasy.
This is all getting rather complicated. But SF and fantasy are commonly studied in universities these days. Do those clever literary professors have any ideas of offer? Can they tell us what fantasy is? Sadly most of them are not much help. Part of being a literary academic is that you tend to study certain writers in great detail. So we might find some professor who knows everything about everything that the Inklings wrote, but who has never even heard of Tad Williams, and only knows of Guy Gavriel Kay because of the work he did on Tolkien’s back catalog. Such people tend to come up with definitions of fantasy that are barely recognizable to those of us who actually read a lot of fantasy. What we need is an academic with a breadth of vision.
Well actually what we need is an academic who is also one of the world’s leading reviewers of SF&F books. Gary K. Wolfe, the Locus reviewer, happens to fit the bill, and he has come up with some interesting ideas that revolve around the mode in which a book is written rather than the tropes that the stories use. What does that mean? Well, let’s go back to our examples. A science fiction book, by Wolfe’s classification, is one that takes a logical, scientific approach to the plot. How does that affect Anne McCaffrey? So Pern is threatened by Thread. But Thread is a natural phenomenon. Its appearance in the skies of Pern is explained by studying astronomy. And if Lessa, F’lar and co. are the people who defeat it, that is because they are unusually intelligent, determined and brave, not because they are of royal birth.
In contrast, Wolfe argues, a fantasy story is one in which the threat to the heroes is somehow morally wrong. It isn’t just that there are enemies; it is that they are Evil. And in general they can only be overcome by someone who is fated to do so. Often that person has to be of royal birth, although this isn’t essential. Some fantasies require that the hero be particularly innocent (Parsival being the classic example). But the point is that the heroes don’t succeed because they work things out—indeed doing so is often shown to be totally impossible—they do so because they were meant to do so. The Grail myth is a classic example of this. Gawain fails, Lancelot fails, all of the best knights of the Round Table have no chance at all, because only one man is destined to complete the quest.
Take the end of The Lord of the Rings, for example. For all of his effort and heroism, when Frodo finally gets to Mount Doom he finds himself unable to destroy the Ring. In the end, Good only triumphs because Gollum bites Frodo’s finger off, and in his excitement falls into the volcano. Sure it took great heroism for Frodo and Sam to get to Mount Doom in the first place. But Tolkien can’t allow the Hobbits to succeed in their own right. He is writing a fantasy and he has to make a moral point, presumably one about evil carrying the seeds of its own destruction.
Personally I rather like Wolfe’s classification. It makes a lot more sense to me than relying on tropes. But it isn’t everyone’s cup to tea. We are back with Star Wars again. There is no way that Han Solo could ever have done what Luke Skywalker did. It wasn’t because he wasn’t skilled or brave enough. He just wasn’t the right hero. Heck, George Lucas openly admits that the whole plot was based on the ideas about hero tales developed by the famous mythologist, Joseph Campbell. But you try telling most people that Star Wars isn’t science fiction. It has space ships in it, for heaven’s sake. And Wookies and Ewoks are aliens whereas Elves and Dwarves are, well, you know, magical. Not the same things at all. Dear me no.
So I say to myself, why bother? Why get so hot under the collar about what “fantasy” is, or what “science fiction” is? It is hard enough to define in the first place. And if you come up with a definition there’s a good chance that most people won’t agree with it. Besides, both science fiction and fantasy are all about imaginative writing. And if your writer is imaginative then there is a good chance that she will want to blur the boundaries between science fiction and fantasy anyway. OK, so the marketing people at the publishers will want to have their little boxes. But it is our job to break out of boxes, not to invent new ones in which we can confine ourselves. Is it fantasy? Is it science fiction? Clearly there are a lot of people out there who care deeply about this issue, and these things are fun to argue. But given the difficulty of coming to a conclusion, and the fact that the best stories are generally those that are hardest to pigeonhole, you have to wonder how important the distinction really is and why we get so agitated about it. Isn’t the quality of the story rather more important than whether the characters are wielding ray guns or swords?
Footnotes
1. OK, this isn’t a usual definition of genre, but it is the only one that works for me. I’ll probably write more about this later, but in the meantime readers are referred to my “Searching for Copernicus”essays in Emerald City #91 and #92 and in particular the essay by Gary K. Wolfe that I talk about in them. Those essays also talk a lot more about definitions of “SF” and “fantasy”.
Vol II, No. 1 (February, 2005) by Cheryl Morgan
Cheryl Morgan is the editor of the online science fiction and
fantasy review magazine Emerald City. Ms. Morgan and the magazine
have been nominated for Hugo awards and for a British Science Fiction
Association award. In 2004 Emerald City won the Hugo award for Best
Fanzine."Cheryl is also a regular contributor to Locus magazine. When
not writing she can normally be found at conventions, or saving up for
her next convention.
The thing that surprised me most about my last essay for IROSF was the level of emotional outrage caused by my expanding SFWA as “Science Fiction Writers of America.” Now of course that was the original name, which is why it is still abbreviated with just one F. But as a SFWA member myself I guess I should have known that these days it is “Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.”
Sadly that sort of thing doesn’t register with me. I’m one of those terrible people who tend to lump “science fiction” and “fantasy” all in the same bucket. It never occurs to me that the “World Science Fiction Convention” would try to ban fantasy fans from becoming members, and of course it never has, but I still regularly meet people who are absolutely convinced that it does. And my forgetting that vital little “and Fantasy” from the full name of SFWA engendered the sort of reaction you might get if I carelessly described the USA as a British colony, or Pakistan as part of India.
I can see at least two possible reasons why I might have got people so upset. The first is that some time back in the dim and distant past some people in SFWA might have tried to bar fantasy writers from membership (though quite what they’d be doing banning the likes of Fritz Leiber and Roger Zelazny is a mystery to me). Certainly the SFWA web site says that the “and Fantasy” was added as an important signal to people who felt that they might not be welcome. It may also be the case that some of the fantasy-writing members of SFWA believe that their craft is special and unique and does not deserve to be hidden under the catchall term of “science fiction”. After all, a lot of fantasy has little or nothing to do with science, even though it generally appears on the “science fiction” shelves of bookstores. Terminology is important, and people get upset about it. Ultimately, however, I believe that attempts to draw a firm dividing line between science fiction and fantasy are not only doomed to failure but are foolish. Here’s why.
Let’s start right back at the beginning. When Homer was recounting The Iliad to rapt audiences in ancient Greece no one worried about whether his stories were fantastical or mimetic. They probably didn’t even worry very much about whether the events he described were true or fictional. People accepted that the Trojan War had happened, and that the Gods existed. If Homer embellished a little on the truth to produce a better story, well who cared, except of course the lord paying the bard’s keep that night.
When Japanese court women started writing novels (monogatari) back in the 11th Century I am pretty sure that they would have written about spirits. It would have been expected. Shinto is an animistic religion. Even as far forward as the 16th Century, when Shakespeare put witches in Macbeth and fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, no one buried their heads in their hands in horror and raved about how poor, foolish Will was ruining his reputation by turning his back on the purity of historical plays and instead was writing—shock! horror!—fantasy.
Civilization, however, moved on, and by the time that Samuel Richardson helped the Western world catch up with Japanese culture there was a distinct whiff of science in the air. Things were either real, or they weren’t. Richardson’s novels were entirely about ordinary people facing ordinary moral problems. And when Mary Shelly came to write Frankenstein, it was generally understood that there were two kinds of books that a novelist might write. Either one based one’s story on the real world, or one wrote a book in which one “phantsied” things that did not really exist. Or rather, of course, things that could not exist, for wasn’t much of fiction actually about people that didn’t really exist, or people that did exist doing things they never actually did? When you think about it, the distinction isn’t really that watertight. Whateve; to a reader of Ms. Shelley’s day Frankenstein was a fantasy.
And so at last we come to the late 19th Century and the flowering of science fiction as we know it. We have Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. Wells referred to his famous early works as “scientific romances”. This might have been a polite nod to M. Verne, as “roman” is the French word for novel and “romance” is still occasionally used in (British) English to mean a novel rather than specifically a book about love. Generally the term “romance” is used for the more fanciful type of novel, because every Briton is brought up to believe that those Frenchies are not well grounded in things like common sense and practicality. Later in his career, when Wells was attempting to establish himself as a serious novelist, he got quite angry with those fans who wanted him to turn out more books about Martians and time machines. Wells was going to prove that he could write proper books, and so he did, although of course few people remember them today.
Then there was the famous spat between Wells and Henry James. James was big on the idea of the novel as an exploration of the human psyche. That was, after all, what Richardson had done. Wells believed that the remit of the novel was much broader. He wanted to write about social relations and politics. After all, wasn’t that what people like Dickens and Trollope had done? And somehow out of this we have, at least in the UK, ended up with a ridiculous divide in the literary establishment between “real novels”, which are never about anything except the real world, and “populist crap”, which is a convenient short-hand term for science fiction, fantasy, horror, mysteries, romance, westerns and anything else that the guardians of literary excellence happen to turn their noses up at. And the symbolic champion of the “real novel” is Henry James, a man who is famous for writing (wait for it. . . ) ghost stories. Well, that’s all very clear isn’t it?
By the late 19th Century, however, there was a new idea in the literary firmament, one that made it easier to distinguish between “real novels” and “populist crap”. That idea was genre. Now I’m not a big fan of genre myself. The whole idea of genre is that the novelist should leave her imagination at the door and instead write to a set of rules, a formula.(1) The best known examples come from the romance industry where aspiring “novelists” wishing to write for the big publishing houses are actually given a set of rules as to when the first kiss should occur, in which chapter the hero should propose marriage, and so on. Science fiction and fantasy publishers are by no means as prescriptive but, as Diana Wynne Jones showed with her fabulous Tough Guide to Fantasy Land, many fantasy writers have voluntarily confined themselves to a formula nonetheless. Doubtless the same could be said of certain subdivisions of SF, particularly those with TV or film tie-ins.
Genre, then, is a form of fossilization of the imagination, but it is fossilization with a purpose. It is a marketing tool, a means by which eager customers can find exactly the sort of book they are looking for. It is, if you like, the McDonalds of the publishing industry. No matter where you are in the world, if you walk into a bookstore and see a book whose cover shows a girl in a chain mail bikini riding a dragon and waving a sword you will know exactly what to expect. If instead the girl is wearing a long, white dress and is snuggling up to a unicorn in a flower-strewn woodland glade then a subtly different type of book is on offer. It doesn’t really matter whose name is on the cover. Authors, however, bless their imaginative little hearts, generally refuse to be tied down. And unless they are writing for one of those publishers that insists on following the formula they quite often get away with some rather clever subversion. Those of you who have ever been to a convention panel on the difference between fantasy and science fiction can skip the next two paragraphs, because the examples I am going to give are much over-used, but they do make the point.
Consider, if you will, a series of books in which space travelers land on an alien planet and use genetic engineering to help mould some of the local fauna to their requirements. Although they eventually lose most of their technological skills, they continue to use logic and ordinary human bravery to combat whatever menaces come their way. Is that science fiction or fantasy? Yep, you got it in one. That was Anne McCaffrey’s Dragon Riders of Pern series, one of the most famous sets of “fantasy” books ever written.
Now, consider instead a story in which an evil sorcerer has taken over the empire and the young prince has been forced into hiding, not even knowing who he really is. Thanks to the help of a set of loyal, if somewhat strange, companions, a sword with strange powers, and a wizened old guru, he succeeds against all odds and defeats the bad guys, because of course it is right that he should do so. Got it? Yes, quite right, that was Star Wars, possibly the most famous “science fiction” movie ever made.
One of the obvious problems with genre, then, is that it is rather easily subverted. Indeed, any author worth her salt should want to subvert it. Writing novels should be about using your imagination, not about following a formula. (Yes, OK, I know that there are those writing courses that say that novels are all about making a living and if you want to get published you have to follow the formula. But IROSF is a serious literary magazine and we have pretensions to creativity here.) But the other problem with genre is that the rules are very hard to apply, even though they seem simple.
Take the obvious thing about magic. You would have thought that it would be easy to decide whether a book was fantasy or not simply by whether or not magical things happened during the story. But you can’t. And one of the reasons that you can’t is that the idiotic divide between “real novels” and “populist crap” really only applies in the English-speaking world. And the white English-speaking world at that. If you look at novels written in Spanish or Italian or Finnish or Russian (to name but a few) you find quite a lot of big-name writers putting magic into their books. If you read books in English by people from India or the Caribbean they too have magic in them. Salman Rushdie’s first novel, Grimus, is an out-and-out fantasy. It is hard to find these days, probably because his publishers don’t want to admit that he wrote “that stuff”, but he did. The bottom line is that if people have won Nobel prizes for literature for writing books with magic in them, then those books can’t be “populist crap”, they must be “real novels”. Which means that they must be “magic realism”, not “fantasy”. Got that? Clear as mud, isn’t it.
Oh, and just in case you think that argument only applies to fantasy, stop right there and go out and read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. That book was shortlisted for the UK’s prestigious Booker Prize in 2004. It consists of six inter-woven narratives, two of which take place very clearly in the future. One of them features a character who is a clone, and the other is set in a post-apocalyptic world. But do any of the mainstream critics who rave about the book describe this as “science fiction”? Dear me no, it is serious literature. A science fiction novel would never get shortlisted for the Booker Prize. (And come to think of it, you quite possibly won’t find Jurassic Park in the science fiction section of your bookstore either. It is too popular to get hidden away in the ghetto.)
And this is how I found myself stuck in a London restaurant seated next to a guy who insisted that “fantasy” only meant books with elves and dragons and wizards in them. Extending the definition of fantasy, he told me, to include anything with magic in it, was a shameful attempt on my part to give spurious and undeserved legitimacy to the dreadful crap that I read. If I had given him a Jeff Vandermeer novel to read he would have told me that it wasn’t fantasy, it was too good. But if I had given him a Jeff Vandermeer novel and had first told him that Jeff was a past winner of the World Fantasy Award he would have told me that he didn’t want to waste his time reading that crap.
And what exactly is “that crap” anyway? Ask people to name a famous fantasy author and there is a good chance that they will very quickly come up with three names: J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and Terry Pratchett. They all write that stuff with elves and dragons and wizards, right? It is all the same.
Well, let’s think about that. Tolkien wrote books set entirely in an imaginary world. Sure there were elves and dragons and wizards, but it would be entirely legitimate to say that they were not real. Tolkien didn’t try to place them in our world. He made up a world in which such things could exist, but it was all a story, albeit a story with a message for us. Rowling, on the other hand, has her magicians and magical creatures very firmly located in our world. Magic does exist, she says. And she pokes fun at the ignorant muggles who don’t understand this. That is a very different approach to using magic in a novel. At first sight you might think that Pratchett is doing the same sort of thing as Tolkien. He too has created an imaginary world. But whereas Tolkien took great pains to make his imaginary world seem real when you were inside it, Pratchett deliberately makes his world absurd. And once you have got into his books you realize that he has done this for a purpose. It is all a joke. The imaginary world is not there to be taken seriously, it is there to allow Pratchett to poke fun at politicians, and religion, at the military, at the media, and at anyone else he thinks needs taking down a peg or two.
So there we have three very different approaches to writing “fantasy” and the relation of the fantastic elements of the story to the real ones. In one set of books the magic is claimed to be real and exist in our world, in another it is real but only within the confines of an imaginary world, and in the third it is a deliberate joke, a vehicle for satire. Three of the most famous fantasy writers in the world, and they are not writing the same thing at all.
We should also note in passing that not all science fiction is the same. One of the most recent literary movements to grace the SF scene is something called Mundane SF. The people involved in this movement believe that SF has become much too fanciful. Everyone knows that if there is life on Mars then it is limited to tiny bacteria. Everyone knows that you can’t travel faster than light. Uploading human minds into computers is an absurd idea. And even the simplest forms of nanotechnology are indistinguishable from magic. No, say the Mundane SF folks, science fiction should be firmly rooted in real science, it should limit its subject matter to what we know is possible. Everything else is just fantasy.
This is all getting rather complicated. But SF and fantasy are commonly studied in universities these days. Do those clever literary professors have any ideas of offer? Can they tell us what fantasy is? Sadly most of them are not much help. Part of being a literary academic is that you tend to study certain writers in great detail. So we might find some professor who knows everything about everything that the Inklings wrote, but who has never even heard of Tad Williams, and only knows of Guy Gavriel Kay because of the work he did on Tolkien’s back catalog. Such people tend to come up with definitions of fantasy that are barely recognizable to those of us who actually read a lot of fantasy. What we need is an academic with a breadth of vision.
Well actually what we need is an academic who is also one of the world’s leading reviewers of SF&F books. Gary K. Wolfe, the Locus reviewer, happens to fit the bill, and he has come up with some interesting ideas that revolve around the mode in which a book is written rather than the tropes that the stories use. What does that mean? Well, let’s go back to our examples. A science fiction book, by Wolfe’s classification, is one that takes a logical, scientific approach to the plot. How does that affect Anne McCaffrey? So Pern is threatened by Thread. But Thread is a natural phenomenon. Its appearance in the skies of Pern is explained by studying astronomy. And if Lessa, F’lar and co. are the people who defeat it, that is because they are unusually intelligent, determined and brave, not because they are of royal birth.
In contrast, Wolfe argues, a fantasy story is one in which the threat to the heroes is somehow morally wrong. It isn’t just that there are enemies; it is that they are Evil. And in general they can only be overcome by someone who is fated to do so. Often that person has to be of royal birth, although this isn’t essential. Some fantasies require that the hero be particularly innocent (Parsival being the classic example). But the point is that the heroes don’t succeed because they work things out—indeed doing so is often shown to be totally impossible—they do so because they were meant to do so. The Grail myth is a classic example of this. Gawain fails, Lancelot fails, all of the best knights of the Round Table have no chance at all, because only one man is destined to complete the quest.
Take the end of The Lord of the Rings, for example. For all of his effort and heroism, when Frodo finally gets to Mount Doom he finds himself unable to destroy the Ring. In the end, Good only triumphs because Gollum bites Frodo’s finger off, and in his excitement falls into the volcano. Sure it took great heroism for Frodo and Sam to get to Mount Doom in the first place. But Tolkien can’t allow the Hobbits to succeed in their own right. He is writing a fantasy and he has to make a moral point, presumably one about evil carrying the seeds of its own destruction.
Personally I rather like Wolfe’s classification. It makes a lot more sense to me than relying on tropes. But it isn’t everyone’s cup to tea. We are back with Star Wars again. There is no way that Han Solo could ever have done what Luke Skywalker did. It wasn’t because he wasn’t skilled or brave enough. He just wasn’t the right hero. Heck, George Lucas openly admits that the whole plot was based on the ideas about hero tales developed by the famous mythologist, Joseph Campbell. But you try telling most people that Star Wars isn’t science fiction. It has space ships in it, for heaven’s sake. And Wookies and Ewoks are aliens whereas Elves and Dwarves are, well, you know, magical. Not the same things at all. Dear me no.
So I say to myself, why bother? Why get so hot under the collar about what “fantasy” is, or what “science fiction” is? It is hard enough to define in the first place. And if you come up with a definition there’s a good chance that most people won’t agree with it. Besides, both science fiction and fantasy are all about imaginative writing. And if your writer is imaginative then there is a good chance that she will want to blur the boundaries between science fiction and fantasy anyway. OK, so the marketing people at the publishers will want to have their little boxes. But it is our job to break out of boxes, not to invent new ones in which we can confine ourselves. Is it fantasy? Is it science fiction? Clearly there are a lot of people out there who care deeply about this issue, and these things are fun to argue. But given the difficulty of coming to a conclusion, and the fact that the best stories are generally those that are hardest to pigeonhole, you have to wonder how important the distinction really is and why we get so agitated about it. Isn’t the quality of the story rather more important than whether the characters are wielding ray guns or swords?
Footnotes
1. OK, this isn’t a usual definition of genre, but it is the only one that works for me. I’ll probably write more about this later, but in the meantime readers are referred to my “Searching for Copernicus”essays in Emerald City #91 and #92 and in particular the essay by Gary K. Wolfe that I talk about in them. Those essays also talk a lot more about definitions of “SF” and “fantasy”.
The Rhythm of Poetry
最近在看Angels and Demons時, 為了要解書中的字謎, 是有關於iambic pentameter,
左看右看不知道這個這是啥, 所以用google找了一下, 翻成"抑揚五音步", 再看了一下其他
資料, 原來這是英詩其中的一種格律. 才知道英詩也像唐詩一樣, 有平仄, 絕句/律詩等稱為
"格律"的東西.
英詩的格律就是由meter和feet組成, 這2者有點像樂曲中的拍子和小節的關係. 因為英語有
輕重音的分別, 所以詩句的韻律是由輕重音的不同組合來決定, 而輕重音的排列方式稱為音步
(feet), 而一行詩文中feet的數量則稱為meter. 英詩中常見的音步有下列幾種:
1.iambic, iambus 抑揚格, 輕重格
一輕讀音節後跟一個重讀音節即構成抑揚格, 是英詩的最重要也最常用的音步.
2.trochaic, trochee 揚抑格, 重輕格
由一個重讀音節後跟一個輕讀音節構成.
3.anapaestic, anapaest 抑抑揚格
由兩個輕音節後跟一個重音節組成.
4.dactylic, dactyl 揚揚抑格
由一個重音節後跟兩個輕讀音節組成.
5.spondaic, spondee 揚揚格
由連續兩個重音節組而成, 表現沉重、緩慢、困難的動作或情緒﹔
也用於表現感情的突然變化或強調語氣. 此音步主要與其他音步合用,
甚少有以揚揚格為主的詩.
由上述幾種不同的格式排列數量, 則稱為meter, 常見的有單音步(monometer),
二音步(dimeter), 三音步(trimeter), 四音步(tetrameter), 五音步(pentameter),
六音步(hexameter), 還有少見的七音步(heptameter)和八音步(octameter).
而不同的音步和音步數目就組成了英詩的格律. 例如anapaestic trimeter, trochaic dimeter
iambic pentameter, iambic hexameter...ect.
舉個例子,
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?(Shakespeare, Sonnet 18)
- / - / - / - / - /
標"/"屬於重音, "-"屬於輕音, 所以這首詩的韻律是"輕重輕重輕重輕重輕重", 5個iamb重複五次,
所以這個句子就是屬於iambic pentameter. 而不同韻律也有各自的主要用途, 如四音步、五音步
用於各種抒情詩、敘事詩. iambic pentameter是英詩中最常見的, 如sonnet通常是iambic pentameter.
最近在看Angels and Demons時, 為了要解書中的字謎, 是有關於iambic pentameter,
左看右看不知道這個這是啥, 所以用google找了一下, 翻成"抑揚五音步", 再看了一下其他
資料, 原來這是英詩其中的一種格律. 才知道英詩也像唐詩一樣, 有平仄, 絕句/律詩等稱為
"格律"的東西.
英詩的格律就是由meter和feet組成, 這2者有點像樂曲中的拍子和小節的關係. 因為英語有
輕重音的分別, 所以詩句的韻律是由輕重音的不同組合來決定, 而輕重音的排列方式稱為音步
(feet), 而一行詩文中feet的數量則稱為meter. 英詩中常見的音步有下列幾種:
1.iambic, iambus 抑揚格, 輕重格
一輕讀音節後跟一個重讀音節即構成抑揚格, 是英詩的最重要也最常用的音步.
2.trochaic, trochee 揚抑格, 重輕格
由一個重讀音節後跟一個輕讀音節構成.
3.anapaestic, anapaest 抑抑揚格
由兩個輕音節後跟一個重音節組成.
4.dactylic, dactyl 揚揚抑格
由一個重音節後跟兩個輕讀音節組成.
5.spondaic, spondee 揚揚格
由連續兩個重音節組而成, 表現沉重、緩慢、困難的動作或情緒﹔
也用於表現感情的突然變化或強調語氣. 此音步主要與其他音步合用,
甚少有以揚揚格為主的詩.
由上述幾種不同的格式排列數量, 則稱為meter, 常見的有單音步(monometer),
二音步(dimeter), 三音步(trimeter), 四音步(tetrameter), 五音步(pentameter),
六音步(hexameter), 還有少見的七音步(heptameter)和八音步(octameter).
而不同的音步和音步數目就組成了英詩的格律. 例如anapaestic trimeter, trochaic dimeter
iambic pentameter, iambic hexameter...ect.
舉個例子,
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?(Shakespeare, Sonnet 18)
- / - / - / - / - /
標"/"屬於重音, "-"屬於輕音, 所以這首詩的韻律是"輕重輕重輕重輕重輕重", 5個iamb重複五次,
所以這個句子就是屬於iambic pentameter. 而不同韻律也有各自的主要用途, 如四音步、五音步
用於各種抒情詩、敘事詩. iambic pentameter是英詩中最常見的, 如sonnet通常是iambic pentameter.
星期五, 1月 28, 2005
星期日, 1月 23, 2005
星期六, 1月 22, 2005
星期五, 1月 14, 2005
A good blog for reading fantasy
亂逛網路 逛到一個不錯的blog.
http://whiteg.dyndns.org/debby/
其中"閱讀奇幻"分類下有些很棒的評論文章, 包括派翠西亞‧麥奇利普(Patricia A. Mckillip)的魔幻之海(The Changeling Sea), 安潔拉‧卡特(Angela Carter)的魔幻玩具舖(Magic Toyshop), 羅賓‧荷布(Robin Hobb)的刺客三部曲(The Farseer trilogy: Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assasin's Quest), 以撒‧艾西莫夫(Issac Asimov)的基地系列(The Foundation), 托爾金的精靈寶鑚(The Silmarillion)與魔戒...等等. 評論內容並非是全然的吹捧與歌功頌德, 而是清楚明白地指出這些作品吸引人的地方或是其俗濫之處, 有興趣的人可以去看看.
亂逛網路 逛到一個不錯的blog.
http://whiteg.dyndns.org/debby/
其中"閱讀奇幻"分類下有些很棒的評論文章, 包括派翠西亞‧麥奇利普(Patricia A. Mckillip)的魔幻之海(The Changeling Sea), 安潔拉‧卡特(Angela Carter)的魔幻玩具舖(Magic Toyshop), 羅賓‧荷布(Robin Hobb)的刺客三部曲(The Farseer trilogy: Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assasin's Quest), 以撒‧艾西莫夫(Issac Asimov)的基地系列(The Foundation), 托爾金的精靈寶鑚(The Silmarillion)與魔戒...等等. 評論內容並非是全然的吹捧與歌功頌德, 而是清楚明白地指出這些作品吸引人的地方或是其俗濫之處, 有興趣的人可以去看看.
星期二, 1月 11, 2005
New Line Cinema on His Dark Materials
Source: Los Angeles Times January 10, 2005
The Los Angeles Times reports that New Line will consider shooting the second and third novels of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" simultaneously if the first film, The Golden Compass, strikes a chord with moviegoers. This is much like how Warner Bros. filmed "The Matrix" trilogy and New Line says the "Materials" trilogy would soar far beyond the $350 million the studio spent on "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Based on the bestselling Pullman novels, "His Dark Materials" is comprised of "The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass". It revolves around a young girl who travels to the far north to save her best friend. Along the way she encounters shape-shifting creatures, witches, and a variety of otherworldly characters in parallel universes.
New Line has committed to producing only The Golden Compass, a special-effects-driven fantasy which could cost more than $150 million to bring to the screen.
The project has been on the drawing board for years. In 2002, New Line executives talked about wanting to complete The Golden Compass in time to have it in theaters last month. Now it looks like the release date will be Christmas 2006 at the earliest.
The studio is still on the hunt for a director. Chris Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy) recently dropped out of The Golden Compass. After spending six months researching the script - he rewrote Tom Stoppard's original adaptation of the novel -and meeting with design consultants and special-effects houses, Chris Weitz concluded that he didn't have the expertise to tackle such a technologically difficult movie.
====================================================================================
2002年底就聽說New Line要拍His Dark Materials trilogy,
那時FoTR才剛上映(美國),拍到現在三集魔戒都上映完畢,還沒看到第一集"黃金羅盤"...
之前又聽說劇本改編之後要把教會的戲給改掉?!(導演說法是指教會的角色可以用任何專制獨裁的權威體制來代替)過沒有多久, 連導演Chris Weitz都辭職了. 據New Line的說法是最快2006年才能看到第一集"黃金羅盤"的上映. 真是蠻多災多難的...
不過沒關係, 想當初LOTR也是花了7,8年才拍完. 只希望New Line可以照這樣堅持下去...:P
Source: Los Angeles Times January 10, 2005
The Los Angeles Times reports that New Line will consider shooting the second and third novels of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" simultaneously if the first film, The Golden Compass, strikes a chord with moviegoers. This is much like how Warner Bros. filmed "The Matrix" trilogy and New Line says the "Materials" trilogy would soar far beyond the $350 million the studio spent on "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Based on the bestselling Pullman novels, "His Dark Materials" is comprised of "The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass". It revolves around a young girl who travels to the far north to save her best friend. Along the way she encounters shape-shifting creatures, witches, and a variety of otherworldly characters in parallel universes.
New Line has committed to producing only The Golden Compass, a special-effects-driven fantasy which could cost more than $150 million to bring to the screen.
The project has been on the drawing board for years. In 2002, New Line executives talked about wanting to complete The Golden Compass in time to have it in theaters last month. Now it looks like the release date will be Christmas 2006 at the earliest.
The studio is still on the hunt for a director. Chris Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy) recently dropped out of The Golden Compass. After spending six months researching the script - he rewrote Tom Stoppard's original adaptation of the novel -and meeting with design consultants and special-effects houses, Chris Weitz concluded that he didn't have the expertise to tackle such a technologically difficult movie.
====================================================================================
2002年底就聽說New Line要拍His Dark Materials trilogy,
那時FoTR才剛上映(美國),拍到現在三集魔戒都上映完畢,還沒看到第一集"黃金羅盤"...
之前又聽說劇本改編之後要把教會的戲給改掉?!(導演說法是指教會的角色可以用任何專制獨裁的權威體制來代替)過沒有多久, 連導演Chris Weitz都辭職了. 據New Line的說法是最快2006年才能看到第一集"黃金羅盤"的上映. 真是蠻多災多難的...
不過沒關係, 想當初LOTR也是花了7,8年才拍完. 只希望New Line可以照這樣堅持下去...:P
星期日, 1月 09, 2005
星期二, 12月 14, 2004
星期四, 11月 11, 2004
星期五, 10月 29, 2004
iMac G5
USD 1,299-1,899
顯示器就是電腦
蘋果的設計師們將不必要的元件移除、將必要組件盡量縮小，加速其執行效能，完美不留痕跡地將一切隱藏起來。iMac G5 利用優雅的鍍鋁支架作為支撐，其寬螢幕顯示器可讓您在編修照片、遨遊網路或檢查電子郵件的時候，還能夠與幾個好友一起聊天 — 而且您可以同時看到所有正在進行的活動。事實上，解析度為 1680 x 1050 像素的 20 吋顯示器可以並排顯示兩頁以上的完整頁面。其螢幕空間比 1440 x 900 像素的 17 吋顯示器多了 36%。
一體成型的便利
iMac G5 將所有高科技設備都塞進其僅有 5 公分（約兩吋）薄的(1)機身之中，如吸入式 SuperDrive 或 Combo 光碟機。您可以將假期照片燒錄成 DVD 幻燈片，或將節慶的特別 DVD 影片寄給朋友；備份您的 iTunes 音樂選輯，或為特別的人製作音樂組曲光碟。當然，置入 DVD 光碟之後，就可以在華美的 LCD 顯示器 上以 16:10 寬螢幕格式觀賞影片。您可以由內建的立體揚聲器中聽到不失真的自然原音。底部揚聲器向下所發出的聲波會由桌面反射到您的耳中。17 吋機型的厚度為 5 公分（1.99 吋）；20 吋機型的厚度為 5.5 公分（2.2 吋）。
USD 1,299-1,899
顯示器就是電腦
蘋果的設計師們將不必要的元件移除、將必要組件盡量縮小，加速其執行效能，完美不留痕跡地將一切隱藏起來。iMac G5 利用優雅的鍍鋁支架作為支撐，其寬螢幕顯示器可讓您在編修照片、遨遊網路或檢查電子郵件的時候，還能夠與幾個好友一起聊天 — 而且您可以同時看到所有正在進行的活動。事實上，解析度為 1680 x 1050 像素的 20 吋顯示器可以並排顯示兩頁以上的完整頁面。其螢幕空間比 1440 x 900 像素的 17 吋顯示器多了 36%。
一體成型的便利
iMac G5 將所有高科技設備都塞進其僅有 5 公分（約兩吋）薄的(1)機身之中，如吸入式 SuperDrive 或 Combo 光碟機。您可以將假期照片燒錄成 DVD 幻燈片，或將節慶的特別 DVD 影片寄給朋友；備份您的 iTunes 音樂選輯，或為特別的人製作音樂組曲光碟。當然，置入 DVD 光碟之後，就可以在華美的 LCD 顯示器 上以 16:10 寬螢幕格式觀賞影片。您可以由內建的立體揚聲器中聽到不失真的自然原音。底部揚聲器向下所發出的聲波會由桌面反射到您的耳中。17 吋機型的厚度為 5 公分（1.99 吋）；20 吋機型的厚度為 5.5 公分（2.2 吋）。
星期二, 10月 26, 2004
西武ライオンズ 日本一！
日本シリーズ・西武、１２年ぶり日本一
中日を７－２で下し１２年ぶりの日本一に輝き、喜びのナインに胴上げされる西武の伊東監督。西武の優勝は９度目、前身の西鉄時代を含めると１２度目（２５日、ナゴヤドーム）
日本シリーズ・西武が日本一
５回裏、中日の代打・森野を三振に打ち取り、雄たけびを上げる西武先発の石井貴。西武は中日を７－２で下して日本シリーズを制した（２５日、ナゴヤドーム）
松坂 笑った！日本一
西武１２年ぶり日本一！涙あふれる伊東監督５度の舞い
西武ライオンズ 日本一で声援感謝セール
視聴率２０％に届かず＝プロ野球日本シリーズ最終戦
日本シリーズ・西武、１２年ぶり日本一
中日を７－２で下し１２年ぶりの日本一に輝き、喜びのナインに胴上げされる西武の伊東監督。西武の優勝は９度目、前身の西鉄時代を含めると１２度目（２５日、ナゴヤドーム）
日本シリーズ・西武が日本一
５回裏、中日の代打・森野を三振に打ち取り、雄たけびを上げる西武先発の石井貴。西武は中日を７－２で下して日本シリーズを制した（２５日、ナゴヤドーム）
松坂 笑った！日本一
西武１２年ぶり日本一！涙あふれる伊東監督５度の舞い
西武ライオンズ 日本一で声援感謝セール
視聴率２０％に届かず＝プロ野球日本シリーズ最終戦
星期四, 10月 21, 2004
我在西武軍的日子 -- 松坂怪物
之前被蠢蛋巨人監督給糟蹋, 十分不爽. 後來重新再做了一個天才投手加入西武軍,
天才果然不一樣, 2004年拿到新人賞, 2005拿到最優秀救援, 年薪一億四千萬.
2006年想說當救援當膩了,跟監督提議要轉任先發, 想說拿幾個完投勝或是完全
比賽回來玩玩也不錯. 可是要當上西武的王牌先發, 首先碰上的就是松坂這堵
怪物之壁...
去google找了一下松坂大輔的資料, 赫然發現在1998年的夏季甲子園, 松坂帶著
橫濱高在半準決賽對上關西最強的PL學園, 一人主投17局, 完投勝, 被安打13,
奪三振11, 四死球6, 責失點7, 投球數250!!
變態的是, 隔天準決賽對上高知・明徳義塾高, 松坂沒有先發. 大家以為松坂經過
昨天的摧殘已經爆了, 教練放棄比賽. 8局上比完, 明德義塾以6:0大幅領先橫濱高,
結果八局下橫濱高的一陣"波瀾萬丈", 打成6:4, 只差2分. 9局上, 松坂再度登場,
全場轟動!!三振明德義塾的三棒, 四棒被保送, 五棒谷口打出2壘雙殺打. 15球,
松坂又回到休息區.
9局下橫濱高的2支安打加上明德義塾的野手選擇造成無死滿壘的狀況. 接下來的3棒
後藤打出安打, 6-6, 橫濱高追平, 甲子園球場這時差點沒有被觀眾的狂吼聲給掀翻
過來, 4棒松坂以短打造成一死2.3壘有人的狀況, 5棒小山被保送, 此時1死滿壘,
只要任何一個外野飛球就可以結束比賽. 明德義塾這時再換上王牌寺本四郎. 王牌果
然不一樣, 三振6棒常盤,結果7棒柴打出中間手前的安打, 7x-6, 橫濱高大逆轉!!
此時只看到可憐的寺本四郎一個人跪在投手丘上哭...
就這樣松坂又拿到勝投...
決賽對上京都成章高校, 松坂再度先發, 又是完投9局, 投球數122、被安打0、奪三振
11、四死球3, 完成了無失點無安打比賽! (喂! 前一天對明德義塾是當成熱身嗎? O_o)
就這樣, 松坂怪物帶領著橫濱高稱霸了1998年春夏兩季的甲子園...
之前被蠢蛋巨人監督給糟蹋, 十分不爽. 後來重新再做了一個天才投手加入西武軍,
天才果然不一樣, 2004年拿到新人賞, 2005拿到最優秀救援, 年薪一億四千萬.
2006年想說當救援當膩了,跟監督提議要轉任先發, 想說拿幾個完投勝或是完全
比賽回來玩玩也不錯. 可是要當上西武的王牌先發, 首先碰上的就是松坂這堵
怪物之壁...
去google找了一下松坂大輔的資料, 赫然發現在1998年的夏季甲子園, 松坂帶著
橫濱高在半準決賽對上關西最強的PL學園, 一人主投17局, 完投勝, 被安打13,
奪三振11, 四死球6, 責失點7, 投球數250!!
變態的是, 隔天準決賽對上高知・明徳義塾高, 松坂沒有先發. 大家以為松坂經過
昨天的摧殘已經爆了, 教練放棄比賽. 8局上比完, 明德義塾以6:0大幅領先橫濱高,
結果八局下橫濱高的一陣"波瀾萬丈", 打成6:4, 只差2分. 9局上, 松坂再度登場,
全場轟動!!三振明德義塾的三棒, 四棒被保送, 五棒谷口打出2壘雙殺打. 15球,
松坂又回到休息區.
9局下橫濱高的2支安打加上明德義塾的野手選擇造成無死滿壘的狀況. 接下來的3棒
後藤打出安打, 6-6, 橫濱高追平, 甲子園球場這時差點沒有被觀眾的狂吼聲給掀翻
過來, 4棒松坂以短打造成一死2.3壘有人的狀況, 5棒小山被保送, 此時1死滿壘,
只要任何一個外野飛球就可以結束比賽. 明德義塾這時再換上王牌寺本四郎. 王牌果
然不一樣, 三振6棒常盤,結果7棒柴打出中間手前的安打, 7x-6, 橫濱高大逆轉!!
此時只看到可憐的寺本四郎一個人跪在投手丘上哭...
就這樣松坂又拿到勝投...
決賽對上京都成章高校, 松坂再度先發, 又是完投9局, 投球數122、被安打0、奪三振
11、四死球3, 完成了無失點無安打比賽! (喂! 前一天對明德義塾是當成熱身嗎? O_o)
就這樣, 松坂怪物帶領著橫濱高稱霸了1998年春夏兩季的甲子園...
星期三, 10月 13, 2004
Wow...難得一個月沒寫東西.
之前啃完Fool's Errand本來想寫讀後感的, 後來實在是因為懶惰所以就先擱著了.
本來想跟著把Golden Fool一口氣看完.可是中間又跑去看了Robert Cormier的
After The First Death和The Chocolate War, 所以到現在Golden Fool才
看完一半...
看著書櫃中未讀的Dragons of a Vanished Moon, Jonathan Strange & Mr.
Norrell, Legends, Legends II...ect.
唉唷喂呀...誰來替我問一下天神有沒有辦法把一天弄成48hrs...>_<
之前啃完Fool's Errand本來想寫讀後感的, 後來實在是因為懶惰所以就先擱著了.
本來想跟著把Golden Fool一口氣看完.可是中間又跑去看了Robert Cormier的
After The First Death和The Chocolate War, 所以到現在Golden Fool才
看完一半...
看著書櫃中未讀的Dragons of a Vanished Moon, Jonathan Strange & Mr.
Norrell, Legends, Legends II...ect.
唉唷喂呀...誰來替我問一下天神有沒有辦法把一天弄成48hrs...>_<
星期三, 9月 15, 2004
Charlemagne
I understand, up to a point
Sep 2nd 2004 From The Economist print edition
Decoding a Euro-diplomat takes more than a dictionary
IF THERE is one thing interpreters working for the European Union dread, it is attempts at humour. It is not just that jokes are hard to translate; because of the time needed for interpretation, they can prompt laughter at the wrong moment. A speaker once began with an anecdote, and then mourned a dead colleague--to be met by a gale of giggles, as listeners got his joke.
The time-lags have grown worse with the expansion of the EU, to make a total of 25 countries. Finding interpreters who can translate directly from Estonian to Portuguese is well-nigh impossible. So now speeches are translated in relays, first into English and then into a third language. If only everybody would agree to speak one or two official tongues, it would be easier. Or would it? In fact, misunderstandings can abound even when all parties speak fluent English or French. Cultural differences mean that a literal understanding of what someone says is often a world away from real understanding. For example, how many non-Brits could decode the irony (and literary allusion) which lies behind the expression "up to a point", which is used to mean "no, not in the slightest"?
The problem is now so widely recognised that informal guides to what the French or the English really mean, when they are speaking their mother tongues, have been drawn up by other nationalities. Two modest examples recently fell into your correspondent's hands. Both are genuine.
One was written for the Dutch, trying to do business with the British. Another was written by British diplomats, as a guide to the language used by their French counterparts. The fact that the Dutch--so eerily fluent in English--should need a guide to Britspeak is particularly striking. But the problem--to judge by the guide, which was spotted on an office wall in the European Court of Justice--is that Brits make their points in an indirect manner that the plain-speaking Nederlanders find baffling.
Hence the guide's warning that when a Briton says "I hear what you say", the foreign listener may understand: "He accepts my point of view." In fact, the British speaker means: "I disagree and I do not want to discuss it any further." Similarly the phrase "with the greatest respect" when used by an Englishman is recognisable to a compatriot as an icy put-down, correctly translated by the guide as meaning "I think you are wrong, or a fool."
The guide also points out helpfully that when a Briton says "by the way/incidentally", he is usually understood by foreigners as meaning "this is not very important", whereas in fact he means, "The primary purpose of our discussion is..." On the other hand, the phrase "I'll bear it in mind" means "I'll do nothing about it"; while "Correct me if I'm wrong" means "I'm right, please don't contradict me."
Fog in the Channel
The British guide to what the French really mean has a narrower aim: it was written specifically for officials attending the meetings of the European Union's Council of Ministers, where diplomats haggle over legal texts. The boredom and frustration which this sort of exercise can induce comes through very clearly in the authors' sarcastic observations.
No less obvious is the fact that ideas about plain speaking do not travel easily across the Channel. As the Brits see things, a Frenchman who says "je serai clair" (which literally means "I will be clear") should be understood as meaning: "I will be rude". Also evident is the Anglo-Saxons' contempt for spectacular gestures a la franaise. The phrase "Il faut la visibilite Europeenne" ("We need European visibility") is rendered as: "The EU must indulge in some pointless, annoying and, with luck, damaging international grand-standing." The British also suggest that the sentence "Il faut trouver une solution pragmatique" (literal translation: "We must find a pragmatic solution") should be understood as meaning: "Warning: I am about to propose a highly complex, theoretical, legalistic and unworkable way forward."
The British, the French and the Dutch are old sparring partners who know each other's little ways. So the capacity for misunderstanding is amplified when nationalities that are less familiar with each other come into contact. Often the problems are less to do with the meaning of words than with their unexpected impact on an audience. Take the European summit last December, when it fell to Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, to try to wrap up sensitive negotiations over a proposed constitution for the European Union.
When EU leaders filed into lunch, they were braced for tough negotiation; so they were startled when Mr Berlusconi suggested that they discuss "football and women"--and that Gerhard Schroder, the German chancellor, should lead the discussion, as he has been married four times. Some European diplomats concluded that Mr Berlusconi must have been deliberately bating Mr Schroder. But when the Italian leader was questioned about his chairmanship at a press conference, he grew hot under the collar, pointing out that he would hardly have become a billionaire unless he were fully capable of chairing a meeting. And indeed his defenders say that in Italian business circles it can be perfectly normal to set a jocular and relaxed tone before a difficult meeting, by discussing last night's football, or even teasing your colleagues about their love lives.
These sorts of misunderstandings are unlikely to be erased even if all Europe's political leaders and bureaucrats were both willing and able to speak English. But ever-inventive Brussels is coming up with a solution of sorts through the emergence of "Euro-speak"--a form of dead, bureaucratic English.
The joy of phrases like "qualified majority voting", "the community method" and "the commission's sole right of initiative" is that they are completely meaningless to all ordinary Europeans--whether in translation or in the original. But, crucially, they are crystal-clear to insiders.
I understand, up to a point
Sep 2nd 2004 From The Economist print edition
Decoding a Euro-diplomat takes more than a dictionary
IF THERE is one thing interpreters working for the European Union dread, it is attempts at humour. It is not just that jokes are hard to translate; because of the time needed for interpretation, they can prompt laughter at the wrong moment. A speaker once began with an anecdote, and then mourned a dead colleague--to be met by a gale of giggles, as listeners got his joke.
The time-lags have grown worse with the expansion of the EU, to make a total of 25 countries. Finding interpreters who can translate directly from Estonian to Portuguese is well-nigh impossible. So now speeches are translated in relays, first into English and then into a third language. If only everybody would agree to speak one or two official tongues, it would be easier. Or would it? In fact, misunderstandings can abound even when all parties speak fluent English or French. Cultural differences mean that a literal understanding of what someone says is often a world away from real understanding. For example, how many non-Brits could decode the irony (and literary allusion) which lies behind the expression "up to a point", which is used to mean "no, not in the slightest"?
The problem is now so widely recognised that informal guides to what the French or the English really mean, when they are speaking their mother tongues, have been drawn up by other nationalities. Two modest examples recently fell into your correspondent's hands. Both are genuine.
One was written for the Dutch, trying to do business with the British. Another was written by British diplomats, as a guide to the language used by their French counterparts. The fact that the Dutch--so eerily fluent in English--should need a guide to Britspeak is particularly striking. But the problem--to judge by the guide, which was spotted on an office wall in the European Court of Justice--is that Brits make their points in an indirect manner that the plain-speaking Nederlanders find baffling.
Hence the guide's warning that when a Briton says "I hear what you say", the foreign listener may understand: "He accepts my point of view." In fact, the British speaker means: "I disagree and I do not want to discuss it any further." Similarly the phrase "with the greatest respect" when used by an Englishman is recognisable to a compatriot as an icy put-down, correctly translated by the guide as meaning "I think you are wrong, or a fool."
The guide also points out helpfully that when a Briton says "by the way/incidentally", he is usually understood by foreigners as meaning "this is not very important", whereas in fact he means, "The primary purpose of our discussion is..." On the other hand, the phrase "I'll bear it in mind" means "I'll do nothing about it"; while "Correct me if I'm wrong" means "I'm right, please don't contradict me."
Fog in the Channel
The British guide to what the French really mean has a narrower aim: it was written specifically for officials attending the meetings of the European Union's Council of Ministers, where diplomats haggle over legal texts. The boredom and frustration which this sort of exercise can induce comes through very clearly in the authors' sarcastic observations.
No less obvious is the fact that ideas about plain speaking do not travel easily across the Channel. As the Brits see things, a Frenchman who says "je serai clair" (which literally means "I will be clear") should be understood as meaning: "I will be rude". Also evident is the Anglo-Saxons' contempt for spectacular gestures a la franaise. The phrase "Il faut la visibilite Europeenne" ("We need European visibility") is rendered as: "The EU must indulge in some pointless, annoying and, with luck, damaging international grand-standing." The British also suggest that the sentence "Il faut trouver une solution pragmatique" (literal translation: "We must find a pragmatic solution") should be understood as meaning: "Warning: I am about to propose a highly complex, theoretical, legalistic and unworkable way forward."
The British, the French and the Dutch are old sparring partners who know each other's little ways. So the capacity for misunderstanding is amplified when nationalities that are less familiar with each other come into contact. Often the problems are less to do with the meaning of words than with their unexpected impact on an audience. Take the European summit last December, when it fell to Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, to try to wrap up sensitive negotiations over a proposed constitution for the European Union.
When EU leaders filed into lunch, they were braced for tough negotiation; so they were startled when Mr Berlusconi suggested that they discuss "football and women"--and that Gerhard Schroder, the German chancellor, should lead the discussion, as he has been married four times. Some European diplomats concluded that Mr Berlusconi must have been deliberately bating Mr Schroder. But when the Italian leader was questioned about his chairmanship at a press conference, he grew hot under the collar, pointing out that he would hardly have become a billionaire unless he were fully capable of chairing a meeting. And indeed his defenders say that in Italian business circles it can be perfectly normal to set a jocular and relaxed tone before a difficult meeting, by discussing last night's football, or even teasing your colleagues about their love lives.
These sorts of misunderstandings are unlikely to be erased even if all Europe's political leaders and bureaucrats were both willing and able to speak English. But ever-inventive Brussels is coming up with a solution of sorts through the emergence of "Euro-speak"--a form of dead, bureaucratic English.
The joy of phrases like "qualified majority voting", "the community method" and "the commission's sole right of initiative" is that they are completely meaningless to all ordinary Europeans--whether in translation or in the original. But, crucially, they are crystal-clear to insiders.
星期五, 9月 03, 2004
菜鳥日記--豬頭監督2 之 為誰辛苦為誰忙
中日3連戰第2戰...
9局上5:5...堀內又要我王牌守護神上場救援...
可是今天狀況不好..藍臉..不調...
兩球失投球 讓對方攻佔1,3壘...0 out
堀內老頭又下達指示 "ここは満塁の策だ！"
靠! 又要我敬遠!
老子這次才不吃你這套...
下一棒打者福留孝介..哈!紫臉絕不調 比我更慘...
賭上我155速球男的自尊跟你拼啦~~~!
塞外角偏高shoot...呃!打出去了..
喔喔...剛好打到2壘手仁志腳邊..
2壘手自踩壘包...再傳給一壘手佩塔吉尼...double play!!!!
三壘跑者不敢動~~~哇哈哈!! 2out...
下一棒森野...又是個紫臉絕不調...
內角curve 1S0B
偏高直球 2S0B
最後一球...塞外角fork...哈!空振!!
3 out結束這一局...
最後巨人以7:5逆轉勝中日...俺拿到勝投兼MVP
哇哈哈!! 戰績5W3L22SP...
下場後堀內老頭竟然把我叫去訓話...
"不聽從教練指示!你把球隊勝負當成兒戲嗎? 罰金20萬!"
靠~~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!
堀內你這個死老頭~~~~!!!!!
喵地 第一年就超想跳槽....>_<
內海:"走吧, 咱們喝酒去..."
中日3連戰第2戰...
9局上5:5...堀內又要我王牌守護神上場救援...
可是今天狀況不好..藍臉..不調...
兩球失投球 讓對方攻佔1,3壘...0 out
堀內老頭又下達指示 "ここは満塁の策だ！"
靠! 又要我敬遠!
老子這次才不吃你這套...
下一棒打者福留孝介..哈!紫臉絕不調 比我更慘...
賭上我155速球男的自尊跟你拼啦~~~!
塞外角偏高shoot...呃!打出去了..
喔喔...剛好打到2壘手仁志腳邊..
2壘手自踩壘包...再傳給一壘手佩塔吉尼...double play!!!!
三壘跑者不敢動~~~哇哈哈!! 2out...
下一棒森野...又是個紫臉絕不調...
內角curve 1S0B
偏高直球 2S0B
最後一球...塞外角fork...哈!空振!!
3 out結束這一局...
最後巨人以7:5逆轉勝中日...俺拿到勝投兼MVP
哇哈哈!! 戰績5W3L22SP...
下場後堀內老頭竟然把我叫去訓話...
"不聽從教練指示!你把球隊勝負當成兒戲嗎? 罰金20萬!"
靠~~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!
堀內你這個死老頭~~~~!!!!!
喵地 第一年就超想跳槽....>_<
內海:"走吧, 咱們喝酒去..."
プロ野球選手の応援歌MIDI集
http://vitaltrack.hp.infoseek.co.jp/midi/midi.htm
有趣的網站..
有些選手的應援歌歌詞還很熱血勒..
赤星憲広
フィールド駆け抜ける セ界一のスプリンター 期待と夢乗せて 走れ赤い彗星
在場上奔馳 世界第一的sprinter 乘著期待與夢想 衝吧！紅色的彗星
松井稼頭央（関東版）
狙い球は豪速球 打てば飛ぶ飛ぶ 銀河の果てに ミスターレオ稼頭央
瞄準的球是超快速球 打到的話就會飛阿飛到銀河的盡頭 Mr.Lion稼頭央
鈴木健
地球を脱出 ホームランボール 引力に負けるな ライナーホームラン
脫離地球 全壘打球 別輸給地心引力啊 liner-homerun
http://vitaltrack.hp.infoseek.co.jp/midi/midi.htm
有趣的網站..
有些選手的應援歌歌詞還很熱血勒..
赤星憲広
フィールド駆け抜ける セ界一のスプリンター 期待と夢乗せて 走れ赤い彗星
在場上奔馳 世界第一的sprinter 乘著期待與夢想 衝吧！紅色的彗星
松井稼頭央（関東版）
狙い球は豪速球 打てば飛ぶ飛ぶ 銀河の果てに ミスターレオ稼頭央
瞄準的球是超快速球 打到的話就會飛阿飛到銀河的盡頭 Mr.Lion稼頭央
鈴木健
地球を脱出 ホームランボール 引力に負けるな ライナーホームラン
脫離地球 全壘打球 別輸給地心引力啊 liner-homerun
菜鳥日記--豬頭監督 之 奧運名場面再現...
昨天開始又是對阪神虎3連戰..
第一戰上原一開始就被阪神轟爆...
8局下5:12...堀內監督叫我上場..
靠...1,3壘有人 叫我王牌守護神上來收這種垃圾局...!@#$!@#$...
算了 趕快隨便投一投 等等找內海去喝酒...
最後 投一局 無責失點 13A:6結束比賽
堀内監督竟然還跟我complain..."果然壓不住啊..."
喵地 下次換你自己上來收垃圾!! -_-凸
第2戰 3:6 又輸了...-_-
第3戰 喔喔...巨人抓狂囉...
9局下5:3..
又被叫上場...哼 這時候還是要靠我這個守護神來守護巨人軍的啦~~
上場一看...靠~~~~~~!!!!
1,2壘有人...0 out...面對赤星打擊...還是紅臉赤星...
咻! 外角shoot 147km/h 1S0B
咻! 內角偏低curve 135km/h 2S0B
哈哈~~最後一球用直球決勝負吧!
咻! 呃! Bunt!?
雖然刺殺了赤星 可是變成2,3壘有人...1 out...
下一棒 今岡 還是後空翻紫臉的今岡...=_=...
哼 沒關係 今天我也是紅臉 跟你拼了!!
此時 堀內監督竟然下指令了 "ここは歩かせろ！"
啥?! 叫我敬遠?!
這樣叫我155km豪速球男的自尊擺哪裡~~~!!?
喂! 阿部你竟然也站起來了!
給我蹲好!! 俺還要跟今岡來做個男人間的對決啊啊啊啊啊啊~~~~!!
第一球投出 內角偏低shoot..
!!...ㄎㄧㄤ....界外全壘打 1S0B...
轉頭看看堀內監督 臉色不好
投手教練阿波野 滿臉大便
捕手阿部 "拜託你別鬧了..."
小曹...我現在可以完全體會當時你的心情了...-_-"
想到我的年薪...我的房貸...
sigh...好啦!! 敬遠就敬遠啦!
1S4B...今岡上一壘
1 out滿壘...黯然退場....>_<
就這樣 最後6:5 巨人又給老虎咬掉了...
巨人3連敗 勝差10 阪神魔術數字25....
豬頭監督 輸死你好了!!哼!!
"內海, 再去朱美媽媽桑那兒喝酒吧..."
昨天開始又是對阪神虎3連戰..
第一戰上原一開始就被阪神轟爆...
8局下5:12...堀內監督叫我上場..
靠...1,3壘有人 叫我王牌守護神上來收這種垃圾局...!@#$!@#$...
算了 趕快隨便投一投 等等找內海去喝酒...
最後 投一局 無責失點 13A:6結束比賽
堀内監督竟然還跟我complain..."果然壓不住啊..."
喵地 下次換你自己上來收垃圾!! -_-凸
第2戰 3:6 又輸了...-_-
第3戰 喔喔...巨人抓狂囉...
9局下5:3..
又被叫上場...哼 這時候還是要靠我這個守護神來守護巨人軍的啦~~
上場一看...靠~~~~~~!!!!
1,2壘有人...0 out...面對赤星打擊...還是紅臉赤星...
咻! 外角shoot 147km/h 1S0B
咻! 內角偏低curve 135km/h 2S0B
哈哈~~最後一球用直球決勝負吧!
咻! 呃! Bunt!?
雖然刺殺了赤星 可是變成2,3壘有人...1 out...
下一棒 今岡 還是後空翻紫臉的今岡...=_=...
哼 沒關係 今天我也是紅臉 跟你拼了!!
此時 堀內監督竟然下指令了 "ここは歩かせろ！"
啥?! 叫我敬遠?!
這樣叫我155km豪速球男的自尊擺哪裡~~~!!?
喂! 阿部你竟然也站起來了!
給我蹲好!! 俺還要跟今岡來做個男人間的對決啊啊啊啊啊啊~~~~!!
第一球投出 內角偏低shoot..
!!...ㄎㄧㄤ....界外全壘打 1S0B...
轉頭看看堀內監督 臉色不好
投手教練阿波野 滿臉大便
捕手阿部 "拜託你別鬧了..."
小曹...我現在可以完全體會當時你的心情了...-_-"
想到我的年薪...我的房貸...
sigh...好啦!! 敬遠就敬遠啦!
1S4B...今岡上一壘
1 out滿壘...黯然退場....>_<
就這樣 最後6:5 巨人又給老虎咬掉了...
巨人3連敗 勝差10 阪神魔術數字25....
豬頭監督 輸死你好了!!哼!!
"內海, 再去朱美媽媽桑那兒喝酒吧..."
星期四, 9月 02, 2004
星期四, 8月 26, 2004
乾脆四手聯彈 作家如何防止作品二度離落
◎尉遲秀（文字工作者） (20031123)
村上春樹的作品也曾有過「二手翻譯」風波：在搶時間的誘因下，德國的出版社以《國境之南、太陽之西》和《發條鳥年代記》兩部小說的英文本進行轉譯，結果在德國掀起了不小論戰。論者甚至說這
「代表純文學的翻譯已然墮落」。
村上春樹的反應不得而知，不過從他和日本翻譯名家柴田元幸的對談之中或可窺見他的大而化之。他說：「一個譯作有少許的誤譯、或有些與內容不符，雖然不能說真的沒關係，但我想還有更重要的事
吧。有時會想，只要能夠傳達故事整體的、更高層次的東西，相較之下，去推敲文字表現層次的細節其實並不那麼重要。只要作品本身擁有足夠的力量，就能夠超越這些小小的誤譯。」
可是如果作家實在不耐自己的作品老是被「二手翻譯」得離離落落，可偏偏他的語言又很弱勢，那該怎麼辦？
米蘭．昆德拉就是這樣的人，他乾脆親自下海跟譯者來個四手聯彈。他花了很長的時間審定出一整套新版的法文譯本，上頭標示著「作者審定新版」，規定所有外國譯者都要根據這套法文譯本「直接」
翻譯。
對於這檔事，他也自嘲說：「一個作者竭盡心力盯著自己小說的譯本，追趕著不可數計的字詞，那就像牧羊人追著一群野羊；這畫面對他自己來說是可悲，對其他人來說是可笑。」
在這方面，比昆德拉激進的是得過諾貝爾文學獎的猶太作家以撒．辛格。他堅持以意第緒語寫作，但為杜絕英譯本不良導致「二手翻譯」失調，他乾脆跟譯者一起把作品譯成英文。
不過米蘭．昆德拉最終還是比以撒．辛格更激進：他乾脆用法語寫作了。不過這決絕卻又淒涼的手勢，可能有部分是為了撕下身上流亡的標籤，這就不關「二手翻譯」的事了。
◎尉遲秀（文字工作者） (20031123)
村上春樹的作品也曾有過「二手翻譯」風波：在搶時間的誘因下，德國的出版社以《國境之南、太陽之西》和《發條鳥年代記》兩部小說的英文本進行轉譯，結果在德國掀起了不小論戰。論者甚至說這
「代表純文學的翻譯已然墮落」。
村上春樹的反應不得而知，不過從他和日本翻譯名家柴田元幸的對談之中或可窺見他的大而化之。他說：「一個譯作有少許的誤譯、或有些與內容不符，雖然不能說真的沒關係，但我想還有更重要的事
吧。有時會想，只要能夠傳達故事整體的、更高層次的東西，相較之下，去推敲文字表現層次的細節其實並不那麼重要。只要作品本身擁有足夠的力量，就能夠超越這些小小的誤譯。」
可是如果作家實在不耐自己的作品老是被「二手翻譯」得離離落落，可偏偏他的語言又很弱勢，那該怎麼辦？
米蘭．昆德拉就是這樣的人，他乾脆親自下海跟譯者來個四手聯彈。他花了很長的時間審定出一整套新版的法文譯本，上頭標示著「作者審定新版」，規定所有外國譯者都要根據這套法文譯本「直接」
翻譯。
對於這檔事，他也自嘲說：「一個作者竭盡心力盯著自己小說的譯本，追趕著不可數計的字詞，那就像牧羊人追著一群野羊；這畫面對他自己來說是可悲，對其他人來說是可笑。」
在這方面，比昆德拉激進的是得過諾貝爾文學獎的猶太作家以撒．辛格。他堅持以意第緒語寫作，但為杜絕英譯本不良導致「二手翻譯」失調，他乾脆跟譯者一起把作品譯成英文。
不過米蘭．昆德拉最終還是比以撒．辛格更激進：他乾脆用法語寫作了。不過這決絕卻又淒涼的手勢，可能有部分是為了撕下身上流亡的標籤，這就不關「二手翻譯」的事了。
愛恨二手翻譯
http://news.chinatimes.com/Chinatimes/Philology/Philology-Book/0,3427,112003112300323+11051303+20031123+news,00.html
◎尉遲秀（文字工作者） (20031123)
閱讀翻譯作品，是我們認識國外作家最便捷的路徑。然而在語文能力的囿限下，譯者依據的文本，或許本身即是原作的翻譯本。一翻兩轉，經過二度詮譯後，譯文裡究竟殘存幾許原作的生命？
「二手翻譯」之所以存在，基本上是因為無法由原作的語言直接翻譯，於是在原作和譯作之間，多了另一個譯者出手，此謂「二手翻譯」。例如賈西亞．馬奎斯用西班牙文寫的CienAnos de Soledad，
先得有英文版的One Hundred Years of Solitude，最後我們才有《百年孤寂》，或是《一百年的孤寂》。
問題是「太初有道」（In the beginning was the Word），既然在一開始的時候有這麼一個獨一無二的「道」（Word）在那裡，那麼譯文無論信或不信、美或不美，都已經帶著「反叛」的原罪了。
西諺說「翻譯者，反叛者也」，算是說得夠清楚了。更何況是「二手翻譯」，一翻兩轉，文旨散軼，人們不免懷疑，在不同的字母或方塊字之間迴盪的究竟是誰的聲音？
〔譯者如靈媒，讓作者魂靈重現〕
我也曾捧讀譯筆流暢的《寫給下一輪太平盛世的備忘錄》，但卻在桌子中央攤著另一冊名為《未來千年備忘錄》的中譯本，左邊攤開英譯本Six Memos for the Next Millennium，右邊攤開法譯本
Lecons americanes: Aide-memoire pour le prochain millenaire，在四路靈媒陪侍的浩浩陣仗下，乞靈於卡爾維諾，企盼在眾聲（生）喧嘩之中，挖掘我懷疑仍未盡致的幽微，回復到「太初」的「道」上。
靈媒，是的，譯者就像是靈媒，大家都等著他讓作者的魂靈在讀者面前靈光乍現。
想像這個畫面：靈媒Ａ召喚著伊塔羅．卡爾維諾，然後靈媒Ｂ再通過作為分身的靈媒Ａ，試圖在讀者面前發功顯現卡爾維諾之靈，這類起乩的動作能不可疑嗎？
眾聲（生）喧嘩，沒錯，一個譯本就是一個生命，德希達給了翻譯一個有趣的形容，叫做“survie”，這個法文字很像英文的“survive”（殘留、倖存），但是法文的“sur”有「超越」的意思，“vie”是
「生命」，於是這看似帶有貶義的「殘存的生命」，卻也夾帶了「超越生命」的隱喻。這是個絕妙的命名，闡述了翻譯不只是詩意衰退的過程。
〔二手之作，亦有佳譯〕
「二手翻譯」之所以可疑，在於靈媒起舞之不可信，在於兩位靈媒先後起舞之更不可信。而它之所以竟然可信，卻也在於靈媒的神力，能讓人感受到那靈光一現。不然，我們如何會在王志弘把英文譯本
化作方塊字的雲淡風輕之中，隱約感受到那《看不見的城市》？我們又如何解釋60年代末，金溟若從日文轉譯的卡夫卡短篇小說集《蛻變》，竟能以如此沈悶而又令人焦慮的風格，神奇地在我心底塑造出卡夫卡
初次登場的經典形象？我們又如何解釋沉櫻從英文轉譯奧地利作家褚威格的《一位陌生女子的來信》，竟然可以重刷數十版，歷三十年而不衰，幾乎成為這部名作的中文「定本」？
一個比較特殊的例子是奧瑪珈音的《魯拜集》。費滋傑羅將它選譯成英文之後（他自己也順手攙和了幾句），不只延續了作品的生命，英譯本也成了經典，成為一個新的生命。從此波斯文原作和英文譯作各自延伸出無數的「一手」和「二手」翻譯，光是在台灣，屬於「二手」這一邊的佳譯就有黃克孫以七言絕句衍譯的版本和孟祥森、陳次雲舊譯《狂酒歌》重印為《魯拜集》的幾個版本，再加上胡適、郭沫若以降的諸多譯文，鋪排成翻譯史上的一幅璀璨奇景。
這一翻兩轉之後，譯文裡究竟殘存幾許原作的生命？究竟激發出多少超越的能量？或許真的只能憑藉這些靈媒的功力了。
〔汲取異域文學養分，多從二手翻譯起〕
「二手翻譯」是一個開始。最早帶著我們汲取異域文學養分的，經常還是這些「二手翻譯」。抬頭看看書架上，皇冠「當代經典」和時報「大師名作坊」這兩個引介文學經典的書系，在十幾二十年前推出的第一部小說，恰好都是「二手翻譯」的產物：前者是從義大利文到英文再到中文的《玫瑰的名字》（安伯托．艾可），後者則是從捷克文到英文再到中文的《生命中不能承受之輕》（米蘭．昆德拉）。
若要幫這二、三十年來在台灣擁有過「二手翻譯」譯本的大作家們組個聯誼會，那是相當熱鬧，最大宗的會員可能來自南美洲，包括阿根廷的波赫士、馬努葉．普易；哥倫比亞的馬奎斯；智利的聶魯達、伊莎貝拉．阿言德；墨西哥的卡洛斯．富安蒂斯、歐塔維歐．帕茲；巴西的保羅．科爾賀……，而舊大陸也不遑多讓，義大利的卡爾維諾、安伯托．艾可、亞歷山卓．巴瑞科；西班牙的阿圖羅．裴瑞茲－雷維特；葡萄牙的喬賽．薩拉馬戈、費爾南多．佩索亞；捷克的米蘭．昆德拉和伊凡．克里瑪……。這些只是抬頭在書架上看到的，名單真要開下去當然是沒完沒了，連阿根廷籍的革命英雄切．格瓦拉也可以軋上一角。從譯本的身世看來，英文譯本作為主要仰賴的對象並沒有改變，一個比較有趣的變化是從前偶有倚賴日文
譯本轉譯歐洲文學的現象消失了，倒是法文譯本悄悄地代替了不少義大利文的原作成為「二手翻譯」的文本。
就出版的實務來說，要在中國大陸找到各種語言的譯者其實並非難事，而且稿酬也比較低，但出版社的考量或許還是兩岸語境有別，遣詞用字的路數不盡相同，真要把當代作家的作品譯到讓兩岸讀者都叫好恐非易事，所以還是寧可請本地的譯者發發功，來個「二手翻譯」以饗讀者。
〔佛經或許是二手翻譯之濫觴〕
「二手翻譯」確實是個開始。第一部翻譯成中文的西方小說（小仲馬的《巴黎茶花女遺事》）就是林紓用「二手翻譯」的方式引進中國的。這位不懂任何外文的桐城派古文家，透過口譯者的協助，從光緒二十三年（1897年）開始，在不到三十年的時間內，以通俗的文言翻譯了英、法、美、俄、希臘、挪威、比利時、瑞士、西班牙、日本各國的文學作品，共計156種，其中有132種出版成書（這是鄭振鐸的考據，錢鍾書則說是一百七十餘種）。
回溯翻譯的歷史，「二手翻譯」在中國或許濫觴於佛經。後漢三國時期，「佛」的說法已出現在中國，按理說，釋迦牟尼成了正等覺之後的名號用梵文來說叫做“Buddha”，中文的音譯應該是「佛陀」、「浮圖」……，何以會有「佛」的名號？根據梵學大師季羨林的考證，原來這「佛」是譯自吐火羅文的“pud”或是龜茲文的“pud”、焉耆文的“pat”。諸如此類的種種證據，說明了早期的
佛經並非直接譯自梵文，而是轉譯自西域文本的「二手翻譯」。連我佛的名號都是這麼來的，面對「二手翻譯」的無量功德，如何能不說聲「善哉」。
http://news.chinatimes.com/Chinatimes/Philology/Philology-Book/0,3427,112003112300323+11051303+20031123+news,00.html
◎尉遲秀（文字工作者） (20031123)
閱讀翻譯作品，是我們認識國外作家最便捷的路徑。然而在語文能力的囿限下，譯者依據的文本，或許本身即是原作的翻譯本。一翻兩轉，經過二度詮譯後，譯文裡究竟殘存幾許原作的生命？
「二手翻譯」之所以存在，基本上是因為無法由原作的語言直接翻譯，於是在原作和譯作之間，多了另一個譯者出手，此謂「二手翻譯」。例如賈西亞．馬奎斯用西班牙文寫的CienAnos de Soledad，
先得有英文版的One Hundred Years of Solitude，最後我們才有《百年孤寂》，或是《一百年的孤寂》。
問題是「太初有道」（In the beginning was the Word），既然在一開始的時候有這麼一個獨一無二的「道」（Word）在那裡，那麼譯文無論信或不信、美或不美，都已經帶著「反叛」的原罪了。
西諺說「翻譯者，反叛者也」，算是說得夠清楚了。更何況是「二手翻譯」，一翻兩轉，文旨散軼，人們不免懷疑，在不同的字母或方塊字之間迴盪的究竟是誰的聲音？
〔譯者如靈媒，讓作者魂靈重現〕
我也曾捧讀譯筆流暢的《寫給下一輪太平盛世的備忘錄》，但卻在桌子中央攤著另一冊名為《未來千年備忘錄》的中譯本，左邊攤開英譯本Six Memos for the Next Millennium，右邊攤開法譯本
Lecons americanes: Aide-memoire pour le prochain millenaire，在四路靈媒陪侍的浩浩陣仗下，乞靈於卡爾維諾，企盼在眾聲（生）喧嘩之中，挖掘我懷疑仍未盡致的幽微，回復到「太初」的「道」上。
靈媒，是的，譯者就像是靈媒，大家都等著他讓作者的魂靈在讀者面前靈光乍現。
想像這個畫面：靈媒Ａ召喚著伊塔羅．卡爾維諾，然後靈媒Ｂ再通過作為分身的靈媒Ａ，試圖在讀者面前發功顯現卡爾維諾之靈，這類起乩的動作能不可疑嗎？
眾聲（生）喧嘩，沒錯，一個譯本就是一個生命，德希達給了翻譯一個有趣的形容，叫做“survie”，這個法文字很像英文的“survive”（殘留、倖存），但是法文的“sur”有「超越」的意思，“vie”是
「生命」，於是這看似帶有貶義的「殘存的生命」，卻也夾帶了「超越生命」的隱喻。這是個絕妙的命名，闡述了翻譯不只是詩意衰退的過程。
〔二手之作，亦有佳譯〕
「二手翻譯」之所以可疑，在於靈媒起舞之不可信，在於兩位靈媒先後起舞之更不可信。而它之所以竟然可信，卻也在於靈媒的神力，能讓人感受到那靈光一現。不然，我們如何會在王志弘把英文譯本
化作方塊字的雲淡風輕之中，隱約感受到那《看不見的城市》？我們又如何解釋60年代末，金溟若從日文轉譯的卡夫卡短篇小說集《蛻變》，竟能以如此沈悶而又令人焦慮的風格，神奇地在我心底塑造出卡夫卡
初次登場的經典形象？我們又如何解釋沉櫻從英文轉譯奧地利作家褚威格的《一位陌生女子的來信》，竟然可以重刷數十版，歷三十年而不衰，幾乎成為這部名作的中文「定本」？
一個比較特殊的例子是奧瑪珈音的《魯拜集》。費滋傑羅將它選譯成英文之後（他自己也順手攙和了幾句），不只延續了作品的生命，英譯本也成了經典，成為一個新的生命。從此波斯文原作和英文譯作各自延伸出無數的「一手」和「二手」翻譯，光是在台灣，屬於「二手」這一邊的佳譯就有黃克孫以七言絕句衍譯的版本和孟祥森、陳次雲舊譯《狂酒歌》重印為《魯拜集》的幾個版本，再加上胡適、郭沫若以降的諸多譯文，鋪排成翻譯史上的一幅璀璨奇景。
這一翻兩轉之後，譯文裡究竟殘存幾許原作的生命？究竟激發出多少超越的能量？或許真的只能憑藉這些靈媒的功力了。
〔汲取異域文學養分，多從二手翻譯起〕
「二手翻譯」是一個開始。最早帶著我們汲取異域文學養分的，經常還是這些「二手翻譯」。抬頭看看書架上，皇冠「當代經典」和時報「大師名作坊」這兩個引介文學經典的書系，在十幾二十年前推出的第一部小說，恰好都是「二手翻譯」的產物：前者是從義大利文到英文再到中文的《玫瑰的名字》（安伯托．艾可），後者則是從捷克文到英文再到中文的《生命中不能承受之輕》（米蘭．昆德拉）。
若要幫這二、三十年來在台灣擁有過「二手翻譯」譯本的大作家們組個聯誼會，那是相當熱鬧，最大宗的會員可能來自南美洲，包括阿根廷的波赫士、馬努葉．普易；哥倫比亞的馬奎斯；智利的聶魯達、伊莎貝拉．阿言德；墨西哥的卡洛斯．富安蒂斯、歐塔維歐．帕茲；巴西的保羅．科爾賀……，而舊大陸也不遑多讓，義大利的卡爾維諾、安伯托．艾可、亞歷山卓．巴瑞科；西班牙的阿圖羅．裴瑞茲－雷維特；葡萄牙的喬賽．薩拉馬戈、費爾南多．佩索亞；捷克的米蘭．昆德拉和伊凡．克里瑪……。這些只是抬頭在書架上看到的，名單真要開下去當然是沒完沒了，連阿根廷籍的革命英雄切．格瓦拉也可以軋上一角。從譯本的身世看來，英文譯本作為主要仰賴的對象並沒有改變，一個比較有趣的變化是從前偶有倚賴日文
譯本轉譯歐洲文學的現象消失了，倒是法文譯本悄悄地代替了不少義大利文的原作成為「二手翻譯」的文本。
就出版的實務來說，要在中國大陸找到各種語言的譯者其實並非難事，而且稿酬也比較低，但出版社的考量或許還是兩岸語境有別，遣詞用字的路數不盡相同，真要把當代作家的作品譯到讓兩岸讀者都叫好恐非易事，所以還是寧可請本地的譯者發發功，來個「二手翻譯」以饗讀者。
〔佛經或許是二手翻譯之濫觴〕
「二手翻譯」確實是個開始。第一部翻譯成中文的西方小說（小仲馬的《巴黎茶花女遺事》）就是林紓用「二手翻譯」的方式引進中國的。這位不懂任何外文的桐城派古文家，透過口譯者的協助，從光緒二十三年（1897年）開始，在不到三十年的時間內，以通俗的文言翻譯了英、法、美、俄、希臘、挪威、比利時、瑞士、西班牙、日本各國的文學作品，共計156種，其中有132種出版成書（這是鄭振鐸的考據，錢鍾書則說是一百七十餘種）。
回溯翻譯的歷史，「二手翻譯」在中國或許濫觴於佛經。後漢三國時期，「佛」的說法已出現在中國，按理說，釋迦牟尼成了正等覺之後的名號用梵文來說叫做“Buddha”，中文的音譯應該是「佛陀」、「浮圖」……，何以會有「佛」的名號？根據梵學大師季羨林的考證，原來這「佛」是譯自吐火羅文的“pud”或是龜茲文的“pud”、焉耆文的“pat”。諸如此類的種種證據，說明了早期的
佛經並非直接譯自梵文，而是轉譯自西域文本的「二手翻譯」。連我佛的名號都是這麼來的，面對「二手翻譯」的無量功德，如何能不說聲「善哉」。
アテネ五輪野球
這次雅典奧運真的是爆冷大賽，先是美國籃球夢幻六隊輸給波多黎各，
還有日本在棒球預賽輸給澳洲。本以為日本在準決賽遇上澳洲應該是
輕鬆取勝，然後決賽力克古巴拿到金牌的，沒想到竟然被澳洲０：１
給翻掉...。
不知道為什麼，比起台灣輸給義大利，＂日本輸給澳洲然後只能去跟
加拿大搶銅牌＂這件事更讓我覺得惋惜和不可思議。從賽前看到日本
代表隊的陣容就認為他們應該會是以預賽全勝之資進入準決賽，然後
打爆古巴拿到金牌。有著怪物松坂，上原浩治，城島健司，宮本慎也
等等的這種夢幻陣容怎麼可能會拿到金牌以外的獎牌呢？
準決賽松坂先發，投了７又2/3局責失分１分，５安，２四壞，１３Ｋ，
總共投了128球，怎麼看都不像敗戰投手的投球演出。可是真的就因為
這１分讓日本只能去搶銅牌...。
當然，在8/24當晚日本輸球之後，網路上的日本球迷就跟我們當初輸
給義大利一樣，對於中畑監督毫不留情的批評，甚至也有人說要去機
場砸雞蛋的（雖然我懷疑這大概是台灣人偽裝成日本Fans跑去他們網
站留言的:P），但是過了一天，8/25號以後，慢慢的媒體報導就開始
偏向報導球員和教練的感想和檢討。其中有一篇報導中提到元代表隊
監督長嶋茂雄在日本輸給澳洲後，傳了封簡訊到日本代表隊的宿舍：
「諸君たちの最後まであきらめない姿勢がテレビを見ていた日本の
ファンの方たちに、たくさんの感動を与えていることは私もうれしい
限りです。勝っておごらず、負けて腐らず。明日の試合も今まで通り、
全力で戦ってください」
看到這段話，除了感動之外，不知道該說什麼了。
代理監督中畑說在輸給澳洲之後只說「敗戦は私の責任」。
而隊長宮本慎也則是說「言い訳できない…最後までしっかり
責任を果たしたいと思います。…」
真的是男人的氣魄啊～
以下是日本Ｙａｈｏｏ的報導...
歯がゆさだけが残る敗戦 アテネ五輪野球・準決勝オーストラリア戦
自分に負けた長嶋ジャパン…… アテネ五輪野球・準決勝オーストラリア戦
中畑コーチ、大野コーチ、宮本のコメント アテネ五輪・野球準決勝・オーストラリア戦
「金だ、金だ」と騒がれた野球の、準決勝敗退という衝撃…
這次雅典奧運真的是爆冷大賽，先是美國籃球夢幻六隊輸給波多黎各，
還有日本在棒球預賽輸給澳洲。本以為日本在準決賽遇上澳洲應該是
輕鬆取勝，然後決賽力克古巴拿到金牌的，沒想到竟然被澳洲０：１
給翻掉...。
不知道為什麼，比起台灣輸給義大利，＂日本輸給澳洲然後只能去跟
加拿大搶銅牌＂這件事更讓我覺得惋惜和不可思議。從賽前看到日本
代表隊的陣容就認為他們應該會是以預賽全勝之資進入準決賽，然後
打爆古巴拿到金牌。有著怪物松坂，上原浩治，城島健司，宮本慎也
等等的這種夢幻陣容怎麼可能會拿到金牌以外的獎牌呢？
準決賽松坂先發，投了７又2/3局責失分１分，５安，２四壞，１３Ｋ，
總共投了128球，怎麼看都不像敗戰投手的投球演出。可是真的就因為
這１分讓日本只能去搶銅牌...。
當然，在8/24當晚日本輸球之後，網路上的日本球迷就跟我們當初輸
給義大利一樣，對於中畑監督毫不留情的批評，甚至也有人說要去機
場砸雞蛋的（雖然我懷疑這大概是台灣人偽裝成日本Fans跑去他們網
站留言的:P），但是過了一天，8/25號以後，慢慢的媒體報導就開始
偏向報導球員和教練的感想和檢討。其中有一篇報導中提到元代表隊
監督長嶋茂雄在日本輸給澳洲後，傳了封簡訊到日本代表隊的宿舍：
「諸君たちの最後まであきらめない姿勢がテレビを見ていた日本の
ファンの方たちに、たくさんの感動を与えていることは私もうれしい
限りです。勝っておごらず、負けて腐らず。明日の試合も今まで通り、
全力で戦ってください」
看到這段話，除了感動之外，不知道該說什麼了。
代理監督中畑說在輸給澳洲之後只說「敗戦は私の責任」。
而隊長宮本慎也則是說「言い訳できない…最後までしっかり
責任を果たしたいと思います。…」
真的是男人的氣魄啊～
以下是日本Ｙａｈｏｏ的報導...
歯がゆさだけが残る敗戦 アテネ五輪野球・準決勝オーストラリア戦
自分に負けた長嶋ジャパン…… アテネ五輪野球・準決勝オーストラリア戦
中畑コーチ、大野コーチ、宮本のコメント アテネ五輪・野球準決勝・オーストラリア戦
「金だ、金だ」と騒がれた野球の、準決勝敗退という衝撃…
星期一, 8月 16, 2004
星期六, 8月 14, 2004
隨身帶好書 女星字裡行間找樂趣
哈~某天在某台看到張清芳訪問許慧欣, 然後從eVonne的包包拿出一本小說,
登時覺得超眼熟...欸!不就是Robin Hobb的《Assassin's Quest》嗎?!
真是超有趣的經驗...哈哈~
怕說了各位不信, 特地找來這篇報導證明自己不是隨便呼嚨~~
================================================================
http://news.pchome.com.tw/entertainment/udn/20040810/index-20040810024126036609.html
許慧欣 vs. 刺客正傳
許慧欣平日最大的樂趣就是買書、看書，而且一旦愛上一個作者，她就會毫不猶豫的將該作者一系列的書買回家，日前她和媽媽去逛台北101的書店，一口氣買了19本英文小說，eVonne吐吐舌頭說：「我只有買書和買小熊維尼產品時不會手軟。」
向來對科幻、奇幻小說毫無抵抗力的eVonne，一直很迷奇幻大師羅賓荷布（Robin Hobb），於是將他創作的一系列「刺客正傳」都搬回家，近來的隨身書正是「刺客正傳2皇家刺客」（The Farseer Trilogy：Royal Assassin），一聊到書，eVonne打開話匣子滔滔不絕說：「故事是說一名身懷絕技的皇室刺客，是王室的私生子，成為政治任務下的犧牲品…好看得不得了！」她認為這些不同於日常生活中的情節，讓她的生活更加充實。
其實平日eVonne對有「精靈」角色的小說更是愛不釋手，而且有隨時隨地看書的本領，即使在化妝空檔和坐計程車，她都能把握時間看個3、5分鐘，工作人員常見她埋首書籍，不時大呼「Oh，My God！」以前還會被她嚇到，現在都已「見怪不怪」，任eVonne馳騁在書裡的奇幻世界。
=================================================================================
下次找個時間來寫寫The Farseer Trilogy的讀後感好了...
[謎之聲:你好像4月的時候就講過要寫了...到現在你連續集都看一半了還寫不出來...懶惰就誠實一點咩~]
[Akira:(心虛)呃...囉.囉唆...那時很忙啊~]
[謎之聲:忙?! 忙著領好人卡啊?!]
[Akira: T_T......(跑去角落蹲在地板上畫圈圈)]
哈~某天在某台看到張清芳訪問許慧欣, 然後從eVonne的包包拿出一本小說,
登時覺得超眼熟...欸!不就是Robin Hobb的《Assassin's Quest》嗎?!
真是超有趣的經驗...哈哈~
怕說了各位不信, 特地找來這篇報導證明自己不是隨便呼嚨~~
================================================================
http://news.pchome.com.tw/entertainment/udn/20040810/index-20040810024126036609.html
許慧欣 vs. 刺客正傳
許慧欣平日最大的樂趣就是買書、看書，而且一旦愛上一個作者，她就會毫不猶豫的將該作者一系列的書買回家，日前她和媽媽去逛台北101的書店，一口氣買了19本英文小說，eVonne吐吐舌頭說：「我只有買書和買小熊維尼產品時不會手軟。」
向來對科幻、奇幻小說毫無抵抗力的eVonne，一直很迷奇幻大師羅賓荷布（Robin Hobb），於是將他創作的一系列「刺客正傳」都搬回家，近來的隨身書正是「刺客正傳2皇家刺客」（The Farseer Trilogy：Royal Assassin），一聊到書，eVonne打開話匣子滔滔不絕說：「故事是說一名身懷絕技的皇室刺客，是王室的私生子，成為政治任務下的犧牲品…好看得不得了！」她認為這些不同於日常生活中的情節，讓她的生活更加充實。
其實平日eVonne對有「精靈」角色的小說更是愛不釋手，而且有隨時隨地看書的本領，即使在化妝空檔和坐計程車，她都能把握時間看個3、5分鐘，工作人員常見她埋首書籍，不時大呼「Oh，My God！」以前還會被她嚇到，現在都已「見怪不怪」，任eVonne馳騁在書裡的奇幻世界。
=================================================================================
下次找個時間來寫寫The Farseer Trilogy的讀後感好了...
[謎之聲:你好像4月的時候就講過要寫了...到現在你連續集都看一半了還寫不出來...懶惰就誠實一點咩~]
[Akira:(心虛)呃...囉.囉唆...那時很忙啊~]
[謎之聲:忙?! 忙著領好人卡啊?!]
[Akira: T_T......(跑去角落蹲在地板上畫圈圈)]
星期六, 8月 07, 2004
雲のむこお、約束の場所
「星之聲」(ほしのこえ) 導演 新海誠 新作發表
「雲のむこお、約束の場所」(雲的彼端，約定之處)
在國境另一端聳立的高塔，對那名少女的仰慕，懷抱著這兩個想法的少年，開始著手製造飛機。而後，世界、少女、和他之間被硬生生分離。心中只有一個想法，少年駕著飛機，衝向藍天...
---あの遠い日に 僕たちは、かなえられない約束をした。---
(在那個遙遠的日子裡，我們訂下了無法如願的約定)
有看過「星之聲」的人，應該會被"獨立製作"這四個字給嚇到，一部２０多分鐘的動畫，從腳本，作畫，到拍攝，這背後代表的技術力或許在今時今日的夢工廠，Pixar眼中大概不算什麼，但是這些所有的作業都是出自於一個日本新人導演的時候，就是一件很了不起的工作了。２００２的「星之聲」，震撼了日本業餘和專業動畫界，讓世人知道，不一定要擁有好萊塢，迪士尼同等的資金與人力，也可以做出像這樣子的動畫。2004的「雲のむこお、約束の場所」是不是會再度造成動畫界的震撼？就讓我們拭目以待吧～
官方網站：http://www.kumonomukou.com/
新海誠個人網頁 Other voices-遠い聲：http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/
「星之聲」(ほしのこえ) 導演 新海誠 新作發表
「雲のむこお、約束の場所」(雲的彼端，約定之處)
在國境另一端聳立的高塔，對那名少女的仰慕，懷抱著這兩個想法的少年，開始著手製造飛機。而後，世界、少女、和他之間被硬生生分離。心中只有一個想法，少年駕著飛機，衝向藍天...
---あの遠い日に 僕たちは、かなえられない約束をした。---
(在那個遙遠的日子裡，我們訂下了無法如願的約定)
有看過「星之聲」的人，應該會被"獨立製作"這四個字給嚇到，一部２０多分鐘的動畫，從腳本，作畫，到拍攝，這背後代表的技術力或許在今時今日的夢工廠，Pixar眼中大概不算什麼，但是這些所有的作業都是出自於一個日本新人導演的時候，就是一件很了不起的工作了。２００２的「星之聲」，震撼了日本業餘和專業動畫界，讓世人知道，不一定要擁有好萊塢，迪士尼同等的資金與人力，也可以做出像這樣子的動畫。2004的「雲のむこお、約束の場所」是不是會再度造成動畫界的震撼？就讓我們拭目以待吧～
官方網站：http://www.kumonomukou.com/
新海誠個人網頁 Other voices-遠い聲：http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/
星期五, 7月 30, 2004
NICOLAS WAS...
Neil Gaiman
older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter. He wanted to die.
The dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns did not speak his language,
but conversed in their own, twittering tongue, conducted incomprehensible
rituals, when they were not actually working in the factories.
Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless
Night. During the journey he would stand near every child in the world, leave
one of the dwarves' invisible gifts by its bedside. The children slept, frozen
into time.
He envied Prometheus and Loki, Sisyphus and Judas[1]. His punishment was harsher.
Ho.
Ho.
Ho.
=====================================================================================
[1]:Prometheus:普羅米休斯, 希臘神話中違抗宙斯的禁令, 帶給人類火種的神祇, 因此而觸怒宙斯, 被牢牢地釘在高加索山頂(Mount Caucasus)上, 每天有一隻大鷹來啄食他的肝臟, 到夜晚肝臟又長出來, 恢復原形. 普羅米修士這樣受折磨達三萬年之久, 始終沒有屈服, 後來被赫克力斯所救.
Loki:北歐神話中邪神Loki, 因為陰謀害死光神Balder, 被主神Odin與其餘諸神鎖在山洞中, 受毒蛇毒液滴面之刑罰, 直到諸神的黃昏Ragnarok才掙脫桎梏.
Sisyphus:薛西佛斯, 希臘神話中觸怒了天神宙斯, 罰在冥界的Tartarus千萬次地推滾著巨石上山, 又
千萬次地眼見巨石滾下山來.
Judas:猶大. (講這樣大家就應該很清楚是誰了吧?)
=====================================================================================
100 words, 連titles一起算是102 words.
雖然沒有任何一個字與Christmas或是Santa Claus有關, 但是相信各位都知道寫的是誰...
可以寫出這樣子的極短篇...真是奇才...
Neil Gaiman
older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter. He wanted to die.
The dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns did not speak his language,
but conversed in their own, twittering tongue, conducted incomprehensible
rituals, when they were not actually working in the factories.
Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless
Night. During the journey he would stand near every child in the world, leave
one of the dwarves' invisible gifts by its bedside. The children slept, frozen
into time.
He envied Prometheus and Loki, Sisyphus and Judas[1]. His punishment was harsher.
Ho.
Ho.
Ho.
=====================================================================================
[1]:Prometheus:普羅米休斯, 希臘神話中違抗宙斯的禁令, 帶給人類火種的神祇, 因此而觸怒宙斯, 被牢牢地釘在高加索山頂(Mount Caucasus)上, 每天有一隻大鷹來啄食他的肝臟, 到夜晚肝臟又長出來, 恢復原形. 普羅米修士這樣受折磨達三萬年之久, 始終沒有屈服, 後來被赫克力斯所救.
Loki:北歐神話中邪神Loki, 因為陰謀害死光神Balder, 被主神Odin與其餘諸神鎖在山洞中, 受毒蛇毒液滴面之刑罰, 直到諸神的黃昏Ragnarok才掙脫桎梏.
Sisyphus:薛西佛斯, 希臘神話中觸怒了天神宙斯, 罰在冥界的Tartarus千萬次地推滾著巨石上山, 又
千萬次地眼見巨石滾下山來.
Judas:猶大. (講這樣大家就應該很清楚是誰了吧?)
=====================================================================================
100 words, 連titles一起算是102 words.
雖然沒有任何一個字與Christmas或是Santa Claus有關, 但是相信各位都知道寫的是誰...
可以寫出這樣子的極短篇...真是奇才...
星期三, 7月 28, 2004
Here and everywhere
Artist: Every Little Thing
Album: Everlasting
ラジオから流れ出す
music透きとおる
シーツごしに伝わるよ
あなたの溫もりが
雲の切れ間のぞく
太陽オレンジ色
緩やかなこの瞬間
優しく二人を包む
あどけない寢顏 長いまつ毛が愛しくて
体中情熱が滿ちてゆく
いつも 守っているよ 心配ないから
世界中が微笑みかえすよ
ぎゅっと 抱きしめること 日課になるほど
二人の未來を今 見つめ合ってゆこう
昔よく見た夢に
浮かんできたあの島
なんだかちょっと
似ているね 青い海と香り
蜃氣樓の風に
吹かれ氣が付いたこと
そのしぐさその聲も
エネルギーになることを
飾らない笑顏
つぶらな瞳が眩しくて
污れずに 生きること信じれる
今日も 愛しているよ 他の誰よりも
約束だよ いつもそばにいる
ずっと 愛を育てよう 壞れないように
この地球の星空 ステージにしようよ
いつも 守っているよ 心配ないから
世界中が微笑みかえすよ
ぎゅっと 抱きしめること 日課になるほど
二人の未來を今 見つめ合ってゆこう
Artist: Every Little Thing
Album: Everlasting
ラジオから流れ出す
music透きとおる
シーツごしに伝わるよ
あなたの溫もりが
雲の切れ間のぞく
太陽オレンジ色
緩やかなこの瞬間
優しく二人を包む
あどけない寢顏 長いまつ毛が愛しくて
体中情熱が滿ちてゆく
いつも 守っているよ 心配ないから
世界中が微笑みかえすよ
ぎゅっと 抱きしめること 日課になるほど
二人の未來を今 見つめ合ってゆこう
昔よく見た夢に
浮かんできたあの島
なんだかちょっと
似ているね 青い海と香り
蜃氣樓の風に
吹かれ氣が付いたこと
そのしぐさその聲も
エネルギーになることを
飾らない笑顏
つぶらな瞳が眩しくて
污れずに 生きること信じれる
今日も 愛しているよ 他の誰よりも
約束だよ いつもそばにいる
ずっと 愛を育てよう 壞れないように
この地球の星空 ステージにしようよ
いつも 守っているよ 心配ないから
世界中が微笑みかえすよ
ぎゅっと 抱きしめること 日課になるほど
二人の未來を今 見つめ合ってゆこう
星期五, 7月 09, 2004
星期四, 7月 01, 2004
英雄少年時：亞瑟王文學與《石中劍》
作者 Grayhawk@bbs.ee.ntu.edu.tw (灰鷹流冰火陰謀魂) 看板 Fantasy
標題 [導讀] 英雄少年時：亞瑟王文學與《石中劍》(1)
時間 台大電機 Maxwell BBS (Tue Jun 29 22:44:04 2004)
────────────────────────────
英雄少年時：亞瑟王文學與《石中劍》(1)
亞瑟王傳奇（The Arthurian Romance）源於英國，流傳至歐陸各地，逐漸演變為一龐雜繁複的故事群，混雜史實、傳說、民間故事和歌謠，描寫民族領袖率同胞抵禦外侮、圓桌武士的忠勇義行、以及對聖杯完美形象的追尋，又因種族仇恨、血親相殘和悖倫的戀情，導致和平的理想終告崩滅。一千五百多年來，以亞瑟王傳奇為主題的文學作品、繪畫、電影……不計其數，其家喻戶曉的程度，在西方文化中佔有舉足輕重的地位。
歷史上究竟有沒有亞瑟王這個人？這個問題至今眾說紛紜，複雜難解。我們或可參考知名學者喬佛瑞‧艾許（Geoffrey Ashe）的觀點：「亞瑟王傳奇起源為何？又是奠基於哪些事實之上？」（艾許，1995），不須刻意將史實與虛構、歷史與文學分離，亦無須追究所謂的「正統」版本。
亞瑟王傳奇發源於西元五至六世紀的英倫諸島，羅馬軍團撤離不列顛後，原本的蓋爾族（註一）居民屢次遭受撒克遜人侵襲，在這樣混亂的局勢中，民族英雄率兵抵禦撒克遜人的形象逐漸成形。紀達斯（Gildas）在拉丁文獻《不列顛之侵略與征服》中首先提到羅馬後裔安布勞西亞‧奧理略（Ambrosius Aurelianus）率領不列顛人擊敗撒克遜人。「亞瑟」之名則首見於西元八百年左右尼尼奧斯（Nennius）所著之《不列顛史》（Historia Brittonum），亞瑟不具羅馬血統，而是本土的不列顛人，為輔佐安布勞西亞擊潰外敵的重要戰將。
現今世人所熟知的亞瑟王故事，在十二世紀蒙茅斯的喬佛瑞（Geoffrey of Monmouth） 所著《不列顛諸王史》（Historia Regum Brittaniae）中已略見雛形，包括亞瑟的身世、私生子莫桀（Mordred）叛亂，王后關妮薇出軌，亞瑟死後至仙境阿法隆（Avalon）療養等細節（但圓桌武士和藍斯洛尚未出現）。上述文獻多半以拉丁文寫成，最早的英文版本是十二世紀晚期修士萊亞曼（Layaman）譯寫自法文的《布魯特傳奇》（Roman de Brut）。此後兩百年間，亞瑟王文學在法國和德國表現最為傑出，西斯廷‧德‧托瓦（Chretien de Troyes）用古代法語寫成五部亞瑟王傳奇，藍斯洛、帕西法等圓桌武士的事蹟成為重心，亞瑟王反而成了配角。
直到十四世紀中葉，英文才有重要詩作《加文爵士與綠騎士》（註二），不過英語的集大成之作，還是十五世紀初英國湯瑪斯‧馬洛禮（Sir Thomas Malory）爵士的《亞瑟之死》 （Le Mort d'Arthur）（註三）。這部作品以散文體寫成，馬洛禮宣稱譯自一部法文作品，但確切書目至今仍不可考，應是編譯整理自諸多相關文獻，其中也包括英格蘭的民間故事。《亞瑟之死》將整個龐雜的亞瑟王傳奇盡皆收錄於其中，包括亞瑟的誕生、與羅馬之戰、藍斯洛、崔斯坦與伊索德、尋找聖杯等。
中世紀後，亞瑟王文學逐漸式微，直到十九世紀才再度成為作家的吟詠對象。桂冠詩人丁尼生寫成《國王之歌》（Idylls of the King），威廉‧莫里士則有《為關妮薇辯護》（The Defence of Guenevere）。進入二十世紀後，亞瑟王與圓桌武士仍令眾多作家神往不已，不過多半傾向從歷史角度詮釋，故事背景於是回歸更蠻荒原始的西元五世紀，那個存在於中世紀文學想像中，充滿騎士精神、宮廷貴婦的世界逐漸退位。懷特的《永恆之王》，即是二十世紀最後一部架構在這個理想年代，重述《亞瑟之死》的鉅構。
註一：Gaels，也就是塞爾特人（Celts）或不列顛人（Britons）。
註二：Sir Gawain and the Green Knight，亦作高文爵士。
註三：這是馬洛禮的發行商威廉‧卡克斯頓（William Caxton）所下的標題，事實上全書描述的是亞瑟一生的事蹟，他的殞落僅為其中一小部分。一九三四年，另一份更早的溫徹斯特手稿問世，研究者公認這是更接近馬洛禮原著的版本。此版本經尤金‧文納法（Eugene Vinaver）整理後，定名為《湯瑪斯‧馬洛禮爵士作品集》。
英雄少年時：亞瑟王文學與《石中劍》(2)
《永恆之王》共分四部：《石中劍》記述亞瑟在梅林教導下的成長經歷；《空暗女王》（Queen of Air and Darkness） 寫洛特國王一家與亞瑟的恩怨，到亞瑟受摩高絲王后誘惑生下莫桀；《殘缺騎士》（The Ill-Made Knight）以藍斯洛為主角，描寫圓桌武士的興衰，以及亞瑟王、藍斯洛和關妮薇王后的三角戀情；《風中之燭》（The Candle in the Wind）則是莫桀陰謀推翻亞瑟和卡美洛最後的覆亡。除此之外，懷特又寫了終曲《梅林之書》，讓決戰前夕的亞瑟重回童年時光，然而因為二戰時紙張短缺，一直未能以他理想中的合訂本形式出版。
《永恆之王》是懷特流傳後世的不朽傑作，反映出他複雜而矛盾的人格特質。終其一生，懷特活在孤獨和悲傷之中，卻總能看見生命的喜劇面。此書時而滑稽，時而瀰漫悲劇氣息；既似鬧劇卻又浪漫。他史料考據嚴謹，故事卻極度時空錯亂。懷特將生命完全傾注於書中，鎔鑄成極為殊異的亞瑟王文學閱讀經驗。《石中劍》尤其如此，因為書中描寫的是前所未有的領域：亞瑟的童年。
提倫斯．漢伯瑞．懷特（Terence Hanbury White） 一九○六年出生於印度孟買，自幼雙親不睦。父親長年酗酒，母親則喜怒無常。據他回憶：「……家裡常傳出槍聲。我聽說父親和母親會為了爭奪一把手槍相互扭打，嚷著要射死對方，然後再自殺，但無論如何要先從我下手……我的童年並不安全。」
五歲時，懷特隨母親回英國與外祖父母同住，度過短暫的快樂時光。一九二○年他被送往查頓漢學院（Cheltenham College）就讀，在寄宿學校典型的體罰陋習和高年級學生壓迫之下，是一段極不愉快的求學歷程，也影響了他日後的性格和創作。不過他也在這裡初次讀到了馬洛禮的《亞瑟之死》。
好容易離開查頓漢學院，懷特進入劍橋大學專攻英文，並且大放異彩。他寫詩，主編文學刊物，在週刊上撰寫劍橋專欄，第一年便獲得獎學金；然而翌年卻罹患了當時仍屬絕症的肺結核，以為自己只剩六個月生命。懷特的導師和朋友發起捐款，湊錢讓他前往義大利休養一年。他造訪了那不勒斯、維蘇威等地，並完成第一部小說《異國之冬》（They Winter Abroad）和詩集《受寵的海倫》（Loved Helen）。大學畢業那年，懷特寫了一篇文章討論《亞瑟之死》，提出許多創見，也為日後寫作《永恆之王》埋下契機，只可惜這篇文章今已亡佚。
英雄少年時：亞瑟王文學與《石中劍》(3)
大學畢業後，懷特放棄學術研究，全心投入創作。為維持生計，他先後在雷格和史道威兩所中學任教。一九三六年，懷特辭去教職，租下史道威公學附近的狩獵小屋，專心寫作。一天晚上他把身邊的書都看完了，隨手翻開《亞瑟之死》，把它當作愛德嘉．華勒斯（註四）式的通俗讀物來看。或許正因為全新的觀點，他反倒讀出新的趣味，在給友人的信中讚揚這是「一齣完美的悲劇，開端處便埋下了開頭、中間和結尾的伏筆」，此外「書中人物都是真實的，具有我們能夠預測的正常反應。」
懷特於是萌生為馬洛禮作「序」的念頭，以過去的亞瑟王文學中被忽略的領域--亞瑟的童年，作為主題。中世紀作家為了凸顯英雄的不凡身世，往往強調其誕生時的諸多異象，藉以增添神秘色彩，實際的成長經歷則表過不提。舉《亞瑟之死》為例，馬洛禮僅以一句「艾克特爵士之妻親自為他（亞瑟）哺乳」帶過，便直接寫到繼承王位。懷特的作法不僅首開先例，也正好符合十九世紀末興起的童年書寫傳統，這類作品將童年提升至近乎神話的美好層次，以牧歌的形式歌詠逝去的黃金年代。表面上為兒童讀者所寫，實則是成人的懷舊寄託。
從另一方面來講，亞瑟的身世充滿「成人」情節，在保守的三○年代英國原本就不便講得太過明白，懷特改以其童年為重心，正好轉移讀者的注意力，也得以勾勒出一個懷舊的、浪漫化的中古烏托邦：在那裡，現實與想像的界線模糊，孩童受到妥善照顧，農民勤奮安樂，領主慈愛而統治有方，也沒有飢荒暴政。
小說中的世界建構極為特別。懷特從歷史上擷取他感興趣的細節，創造出想像的中古英國「格美利」（Gramarye）。他一方面鉅細靡遺地描寫中世紀的生活細節，諸如城堡構造、鷹棚裡的擺飾和獵野豬，彌補了馬洛禮幾乎從不寫景的缺憾；另一方面則藉由古今對照達到喜劇的效果，以時空錯置的手法重新詮釋《亞瑟之死》，使當代讀者更能心領神會。
懷特的博（雜）學多聞肇因於幼年家庭問題所引發的不安全感，致使他一生不斷學習各種技能，藉以「平緩危機意識和自卑感」；他更透過梅林之口，表示「治癒悲傷最好的方法就是學習」。懷特的閱讀量驚人，又能射箭、狩獵、馴鷹、釣魚、駕駛飛機、潛水、織毛線、做木工和砌牆造屋，還通曉中古拉丁文，這些嗜好都出現在書中，為作品更添趣味。
書中的重心自然還是在兒童教育。懷特親身經歷了查頓漢、雷格和史道威三所學校截然不同的教育體制，能細膩捕捉青少年學生的心境，執教者的角色也扮演得恰如其份。他天生的導師魅力自然化作梅林，以開明的方式引導小瓦獨立思考；同時也認同自小缺乏雙親照顧的小瓦。在最初的英國版中，懷特將巨人葛拉帕斯的地牢描寫得有如寄宿學校，充斥體罰、禁閉和暴力壓迫，十足是對查頓漢的嚴厲批判（註五）。
一九三八年《石中劍》於英國出版，懷特親手繪製四十二幅插圖，幽默而精準地傳達出筆下人物和情境。本書隨後入選美國的「每月一書」（Book of the Month） 書友俱樂部，在編輯要求下，懷特刪除了第六章小瓦和凱伊被女巫囚禁的橋段；羅賓漢等人攻擊的對象，也由食人族西西亞人（Scythian）改成摩根勒菲的城堡。二十年後，為了合訂版的《永恆之王》，懷特又從《梅林之書》擷取螞蟻和野雁的章節，併入《石中劍》，同時刪去小瓦變成草蛇的章節，成為我們現在所看到的版本。
《石中劍》讓懷特初嘗名利雙收的滋味，不僅在英美兩地熱賣，迪士尼更買下版權拍成動畫。亞瑟王傳奇的悲劇色彩，在本書看似戲謔的敘事口吻和無拘無束的童年光陰中，似乎還不明顯。小說最後藉由梅林之口，暗示亞瑟一生的苦痛與劫難，才正要登場。
註四：愛德嘉．華勒斯（Edgar Wallace, 1875-1932），英國暢銷小說家，作品橫跨推理、懸疑、奇情冒險等領域。
註五：這段在後來的美國版中遭刪除，因為以英國寄宿學校生活，美國讀者可能不熟悉。
作者 Grayhawk@bbs.ee.ntu.edu.tw (灰鷹流冰火陰謀魂) 看板 Fantasy
標題 [導讀] 英雄少年時：亞瑟王文學與《石中劍》(1)
時間 台大電機 Maxwell BBS (Tue Jun 29 22:44:04 2004)
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英雄少年時：亞瑟王文學與《石中劍》(1)
亞瑟王傳奇（The Arthurian Romance）源於英國，流傳至歐陸各地，逐漸演變為一龐雜繁複的故事群，混雜史實、傳說、民間故事和歌謠，描寫民族領袖率同胞抵禦外侮、圓桌武士的忠勇義行、以及對聖杯完美形象的追尋，又因種族仇恨、血親相殘和悖倫的戀情，導致和平的理想終告崩滅。一千五百多年來，以亞瑟王傳奇為主題的文學作品、繪畫、電影……不計其數，其家喻戶曉的程度，在西方文化中佔有舉足輕重的地位。
歷史上究竟有沒有亞瑟王這個人？這個問題至今眾說紛紜，複雜難解。我們或可參考知名學者喬佛瑞‧艾許（Geoffrey Ashe）的觀點：「亞瑟王傳奇起源為何？又是奠基於哪些事實之上？」（艾許，1995），不須刻意將史實與虛構、歷史與文學分離，亦無須追究所謂的「正統」版本。
亞瑟王傳奇發源於西元五至六世紀的英倫諸島，羅馬軍團撤離不列顛後，原本的蓋爾族（註一）居民屢次遭受撒克遜人侵襲，在這樣混亂的局勢中，民族英雄率兵抵禦撒克遜人的形象逐漸成形。紀達斯（Gildas）在拉丁文獻《不列顛之侵略與征服》中首先提到羅馬後裔安布勞西亞‧奧理略（Ambrosius Aurelianus）率領不列顛人擊敗撒克遜人。「亞瑟」之名則首見於西元八百年左右尼尼奧斯（Nennius）所著之《不列顛史》（Historia Brittonum），亞瑟不具羅馬血統，而是本土的不列顛人，為輔佐安布勞西亞擊潰外敵的重要戰將。
現今世人所熟知的亞瑟王故事，在十二世紀蒙茅斯的喬佛瑞（Geoffrey of Monmouth） 所著《不列顛諸王史》（Historia Regum Brittaniae）中已略見雛形，包括亞瑟的身世、私生子莫桀（Mordred）叛亂，王后關妮薇出軌，亞瑟死後至仙境阿法隆（Avalon）療養等細節（但圓桌武士和藍斯洛尚未出現）。上述文獻多半以拉丁文寫成，最早的英文版本是十二世紀晚期修士萊亞曼（Layaman）譯寫自法文的《布魯特傳奇》（Roman de Brut）。此後兩百年間，亞瑟王文學在法國和德國表現最為傑出，西斯廷‧德‧托瓦（Chretien de Troyes）用古代法語寫成五部亞瑟王傳奇，藍斯洛、帕西法等圓桌武士的事蹟成為重心，亞瑟王反而成了配角。
直到十四世紀中葉，英文才有重要詩作《加文爵士與綠騎士》（註二），不過英語的集大成之作，還是十五世紀初英國湯瑪斯‧馬洛禮（Sir Thomas Malory）爵士的《亞瑟之死》 （Le Mort d'Arthur）（註三）。這部作品以散文體寫成，馬洛禮宣稱譯自一部法文作品，但確切書目至今仍不可考，應是編譯整理自諸多相關文獻，其中也包括英格蘭的民間故事。《亞瑟之死》將整個龐雜的亞瑟王傳奇盡皆收錄於其中，包括亞瑟的誕生、與羅馬之戰、藍斯洛、崔斯坦與伊索德、尋找聖杯等。
中世紀後，亞瑟王文學逐漸式微，直到十九世紀才再度成為作家的吟詠對象。桂冠詩人丁尼生寫成《國王之歌》（Idylls of the King），威廉‧莫里士則有《為關妮薇辯護》（The Defence of Guenevere）。進入二十世紀後，亞瑟王與圓桌武士仍令眾多作家神往不已，不過多半傾向從歷史角度詮釋，故事背景於是回歸更蠻荒原始的西元五世紀，那個存在於中世紀文學想像中，充滿騎士精神、宮廷貴婦的世界逐漸退位。懷特的《永恆之王》，即是二十世紀最後一部架構在這個理想年代，重述《亞瑟之死》的鉅構。
註一：Gaels，也就是塞爾特人（Celts）或不列顛人（Britons）。
註二：Sir Gawain and the Green Knight，亦作高文爵士。
註三：這是馬洛禮的發行商威廉‧卡克斯頓（William Caxton）所下的標題，事實上全書描述的是亞瑟一生的事蹟，他的殞落僅為其中一小部分。一九三四年，另一份更早的溫徹斯特手稿問世，研究者公認這是更接近馬洛禮原著的版本。此版本經尤金‧文納法（Eugene Vinaver）整理後，定名為《湯瑪斯‧馬洛禮爵士作品集》。
英雄少年時：亞瑟王文學與《石中劍》(2)
《永恆之王》共分四部：《石中劍》記述亞瑟在梅林教導下的成長經歷；《空暗女王》（Queen of Air and Darkness） 寫洛特國王一家與亞瑟的恩怨，到亞瑟受摩高絲王后誘惑生下莫桀；《殘缺騎士》（The Ill-Made Knight）以藍斯洛為主角，描寫圓桌武士的興衰，以及亞瑟王、藍斯洛和關妮薇王后的三角戀情；《風中之燭》（The Candle in the Wind）則是莫桀陰謀推翻亞瑟和卡美洛最後的覆亡。除此之外，懷特又寫了終曲《梅林之書》，讓決戰前夕的亞瑟重回童年時光，然而因為二戰時紙張短缺，一直未能以他理想中的合訂本形式出版。
《永恆之王》是懷特流傳後世的不朽傑作，反映出他複雜而矛盾的人格特質。終其一生，懷特活在孤獨和悲傷之中，卻總能看見生命的喜劇面。此書時而滑稽，時而瀰漫悲劇氣息；既似鬧劇卻又浪漫。他史料考據嚴謹，故事卻極度時空錯亂。懷特將生命完全傾注於書中，鎔鑄成極為殊異的亞瑟王文學閱讀經驗。《石中劍》尤其如此，因為書中描寫的是前所未有的領域：亞瑟的童年。
提倫斯．漢伯瑞．懷特（Terence Hanbury White） 一九○六年出生於印度孟買，自幼雙親不睦。父親長年酗酒，母親則喜怒無常。據他回憶：「……家裡常傳出槍聲。我聽說父親和母親會為了爭奪一把手槍相互扭打，嚷著要射死對方，然後再自殺，但無論如何要先從我下手……我的童年並不安全。」
五歲時，懷特隨母親回英國與外祖父母同住，度過短暫的快樂時光。一九二○年他被送往查頓漢學院（Cheltenham College）就讀，在寄宿學校典型的體罰陋習和高年級學生壓迫之下，是一段極不愉快的求學歷程，也影響了他日後的性格和創作。不過他也在這裡初次讀到了馬洛禮的《亞瑟之死》。
好容易離開查頓漢學院，懷特進入劍橋大學專攻英文，並且大放異彩。他寫詩，主編文學刊物，在週刊上撰寫劍橋專欄，第一年便獲得獎學金；然而翌年卻罹患了當時仍屬絕症的肺結核，以為自己只剩六個月生命。懷特的導師和朋友發起捐款，湊錢讓他前往義大利休養一年。他造訪了那不勒斯、維蘇威等地，並完成第一部小說《異國之冬》（They Winter Abroad）和詩集《受寵的海倫》（Loved Helen）。大學畢業那年，懷特寫了一篇文章討論《亞瑟之死》，提出許多創見，也為日後寫作《永恆之王》埋下契機，只可惜這篇文章今已亡佚。
英雄少年時：亞瑟王文學與《石中劍》(3)
大學畢業後，懷特放棄學術研究，全心投入創作。為維持生計，他先後在雷格和史道威兩所中學任教。一九三六年，懷特辭去教職，租下史道威公學附近的狩獵小屋，專心寫作。一天晚上他把身邊的書都看完了，隨手翻開《亞瑟之死》，把它當作愛德嘉．華勒斯（註四）式的通俗讀物來看。或許正因為全新的觀點，他反倒讀出新的趣味，在給友人的信中讚揚這是「一齣完美的悲劇，開端處便埋下了開頭、中間和結尾的伏筆」，此外「書中人物都是真實的，具有我們能夠預測的正常反應。」
懷特於是萌生為馬洛禮作「序」的念頭，以過去的亞瑟王文學中被忽略的領域--亞瑟的童年，作為主題。中世紀作家為了凸顯英雄的不凡身世，往往強調其誕生時的諸多異象，藉以增添神秘色彩，實際的成長經歷則表過不提。舉《亞瑟之死》為例，馬洛禮僅以一句「艾克特爵士之妻親自為他（亞瑟）哺乳」帶過，便直接寫到繼承王位。懷特的作法不僅首開先例，也正好符合十九世紀末興起的童年書寫傳統，這類作品將童年提升至近乎神話的美好層次，以牧歌的形式歌詠逝去的黃金年代。表面上為兒童讀者所寫，實則是成人的懷舊寄託。
從另一方面來講，亞瑟的身世充滿「成人」情節，在保守的三○年代英國原本就不便講得太過明白，懷特改以其童年為重心，正好轉移讀者的注意力，也得以勾勒出一個懷舊的、浪漫化的中古烏托邦：在那裡，現實與想像的界線模糊，孩童受到妥善照顧，農民勤奮安樂，領主慈愛而統治有方，也沒有飢荒暴政。
小說中的世界建構極為特別。懷特從歷史上擷取他感興趣的細節，創造出想像的中古英國「格美利」（Gramarye）。他一方面鉅細靡遺地描寫中世紀的生活細節，諸如城堡構造、鷹棚裡的擺飾和獵野豬，彌補了馬洛禮幾乎從不寫景的缺憾；另一方面則藉由古今對照達到喜劇的效果，以時空錯置的手法重新詮釋《亞瑟之死》，使當代讀者更能心領神會。
懷特的博（雜）學多聞肇因於幼年家庭問題所引發的不安全感，致使他一生不斷學習各種技能，藉以「平緩危機意識和自卑感」；他更透過梅林之口，表示「治癒悲傷最好的方法就是學習」。懷特的閱讀量驚人，又能射箭、狩獵、馴鷹、釣魚、駕駛飛機、潛水、織毛線、做木工和砌牆造屋，還通曉中古拉丁文，這些嗜好都出現在書中，為作品更添趣味。
書中的重心自然還是在兒童教育。懷特親身經歷了查頓漢、雷格和史道威三所學校截然不同的教育體制，能細膩捕捉青少年學生的心境，執教者的角色也扮演得恰如其份。他天生的導師魅力自然化作梅林，以開明的方式引導小瓦獨立思考；同時也認同自小缺乏雙親照顧的小瓦。在最初的英國版中，懷特將巨人葛拉帕斯的地牢描寫得有如寄宿學校，充斥體罰、禁閉和暴力壓迫，十足是對查頓漢的嚴厲批判（註五）。
一九三八年《石中劍》於英國出版，懷特親手繪製四十二幅插圖，幽默而精準地傳達出筆下人物和情境。本書隨後入選美國的「每月一書」（Book of the Month） 書友俱樂部，在編輯要求下，懷特刪除了第六章小瓦和凱伊被女巫囚禁的橋段；羅賓漢等人攻擊的對象，也由食人族西西亞人（Scythian）改成摩根勒菲的城堡。二十年後，為了合訂版的《永恆之王》，懷特又從《梅林之書》擷取螞蟻和野雁的章節，併入《石中劍》，同時刪去小瓦變成草蛇的章節，成為我們現在所看到的版本。
《石中劍》讓懷特初嘗名利雙收的滋味，不僅在英美兩地熱賣，迪士尼更買下版權拍成動畫。亞瑟王傳奇的悲劇色彩，在本書看似戲謔的敘事口吻和無拘無束的童年光陰中，似乎還不明顯。小說最後藉由梅林之口，暗示亞瑟一生的苦痛與劫難，才正要登場。
註四：愛德嘉．華勒斯（Edgar Wallace, 1875-1932），英國暢銷小說家，作品橫跨推理、懸疑、奇情冒險等領域。
註五：這段在後來的美國版中遭刪除，因為以英國寄宿學校生活，美國讀者可能不熟悉。
星期一, 6月 07, 2004
Now Reading in May & June...
A storm of swords
George R.R. Martin 的冰與火之歌(A Song of Ice and Fire)第三部,終於, 終於, 終於啃完啦啦啦~~~
9xx pages, 花了我3個月才完食(嗚嗚..我的青春啊~~)
看完的感想是--Martin一定是跟田中芳樹學壞了, 砍人不手軟的...
配角--砍, 主角--砍, 路人甲乙丙丁--砍砍砍...
不信? 看看Red Wedding那段砍了多少人就知道...-_-"
整體來說還是看的讓人頗過癮, 壞人終於有壞報, 不過好人到是沒啥好報就是了.
Jon-本來要從私生子繼承Winterfell的, 但是卻被拱成Lord Commander of Night Watch,
接著就要面對傳說中的古老敵人-The Others, 真是多災多難...
Daenerys-一逕東行的龍后, 終於往西走向返家的旅程, 本來以為他就要這樣一路打回去的,
沒想到這位大姐竟然又停下來了! O_o 天啊, 大姐, 照你這樣搞, 等你真的打到
Westeros, 那些"叛國賊"早就老死光光啦~~
Tyrion-悲哀, 本來以為小惡魔當御前首相(The Hands)的下場不會像Eddard Stark那麼悽慘的,
沒想到還是落了個叛國甚至是謀殺血親的罪名, 鋃鐺入獄. 雖然最後被老哥Jaime給救了出來,
可是..可是..天啊~你沒事亂跑去跟你老爸敘啥舊啊, 看吧, 衝動就沒好下場吧.
你是想說當Kinslayer, 正好和Jaime老哥Kingslayer湊一對嗎?!
其餘主角依舊悲慘中..要不然就是被砍了 :P
呃..第四部 A Feast of crows要等到August 2004才要出Hardcover, Mass Market
Paperback和Paperback我看要等到明年年中吧...真是夠慢的=_=
Fool's Errand
Robin Hobb的Tawny man series, Farseer Trilogy的續集, 看了前6章,
感覺作者還在做"前情提要"..=_="
這部好像要開始對於The Wit和Skill之間的關係與衝突有更多著墨了.
Fitz和Nighteye都變老了...(Fitz是還好啦 3x雖還算中年,
Nighteyes已經2x歲...應該算是老狼了吧?)
The Fool好像一點兒都沒變...
目前還不知道這對"活寶"又要去幹啥大事 等看完再來說...XD
Snow White, Blood Red
Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling在1993年選編的Fairy tales for adults.
裡面有許多童話故事原型(archetype)或是經後人改編的fantasy story, 看起來好像跟桐生操的
"令人戰慄的格林童話"差不多, 不過沒有桐生操那本那麼多的主觀意識在裡面.
兩位編輯的前言把Fairy tale的歷史, 從維多利亞時代, 經過19世紀, 到20世紀的演進做了很詳盡的介紹,
值得一看.
目前進度還在第一個故事 "Like a Red, Red Rose"....
A storm of swords
George R.R. Martin 的冰與火之歌(A Song of Ice and Fire)第三部,終於, 終於, 終於啃完啦啦啦~~~
9xx pages, 花了我3個月才完食(嗚嗚..我的青春啊~~)
看完的感想是--Martin一定是跟田中芳樹學壞了, 砍人不手軟的...
配角--砍, 主角--砍, 路人甲乙丙丁--砍砍砍...
不信? 看看Red Wedding那段砍了多少人就知道...-_-"
整體來說還是看的讓人頗過癮, 壞人終於有壞報, 不過好人到是沒啥好報就是了.
Jon-本來要從私生子繼承Winterfell的, 但是卻被拱成Lord Commander of Night Watch,
接著就要面對傳說中的古老敵人-The Others, 真是多災多難...
Daenerys-一逕東行的龍后, 終於往西走向返家的旅程, 本來以為他就要這樣一路打回去的,
沒想到這位大姐竟然又停下來了! O_o 天啊, 大姐, 照你這樣搞, 等你真的打到
Westeros, 那些"叛國賊"早就老死光光啦~~
Tyrion-悲哀, 本來以為小惡魔當御前首相(The Hands)的下場不會像Eddard Stark那麼悽慘的,
沒想到還是落了個叛國甚至是謀殺血親的罪名, 鋃鐺入獄. 雖然最後被老哥Jaime給救了出來,
可是..可是..天啊~你沒事亂跑去跟你老爸敘啥舊啊, 看吧, 衝動就沒好下場吧.
你是想說當Kinslayer, 正好和Jaime老哥Kingslayer湊一對嗎?!
其餘主角依舊悲慘中..要不然就是被砍了 :P
呃..第四部 A Feast of crows要等到August 2004才要出Hardcover, Mass Market
Paperback和Paperback我看要等到明年年中吧...真是夠慢的=_=
Fool's Errand
Robin Hobb的Tawny man series, Farseer Trilogy的續集, 看了前6章,
感覺作者還在做"前情提要"..=_="
這部好像要開始對於The Wit和Skill之間的關係與衝突有更多著墨了.
Fitz和Nighteye都變老了...(Fitz是還好啦 3x雖還算中年,
Nighteyes已經2x歲...應該算是老狼了吧?)
The Fool好像一點兒都沒變...
目前還不知道這對"活寶"又要去幹啥大事 等看完再來說...XD
Snow White, Blood Red
Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling在1993年選編的Fairy tales for adults.
裡面有許多童話故事原型(archetype)或是經後人改編的fantasy story, 看起來好像跟桐生操的
"令人戰慄的格林童話"差不多, 不過沒有桐生操那本那麼多的主觀意識在裡面.
兩位編輯的前言把Fairy tale的歷史, 從維多利亞時代, 經過19世紀, 到20世紀的演進做了很詳盡的介紹,
值得一看.
目前進度還在第一個故事 "Like a Red, Red Rose"....
星期五, 5月 07, 2004
星期一, 5月 03, 2004
有關PKD的一本新書:I Am Alive and You Are Dead: A Journey Into the Mind of Philip K. Dick By Emmanuel Carrère
書評如下...從Economists偷來的 XD
The world according to Dick
Apr 15th 2004
From The Economist print edition
Hollywood's fascination with a long-dead writer of pulp science fiction
ACCORDING to the official website of Philip K. Dick, the films made from his books have generated nearly $700m in worldwide box-office receipts. Not bad for an author who died more than 20 years ago in relative obscurity. Half-a-dozen films have been made from his books, including “Blade Runner”, “Total Recall”, “Minority Report” and, most recently, “Paycheck”. Another of his novels seems likely to have inspired “The Truman Show”, and, say some, his work may have influenced the “Matrix” series of films. And that looks unlikely to be the end of it. Those responsible for his estate say that the film rights to six more of his novels and four of his short stories have either been bought or optioned.
Dick yearned for literary acclaim, but in his lifetime he was known mainly as a prolific writer of pulp science fiction. He wrote more than 50 novels and over 100 short stories—work that was mostly fuelled by amphetamines and a cocktail of prescription drugs. He started psychoanalysis at the age of 14 and became so familiar with it that he used it to toy with his friends, his readers and even his shrinks, as a cat would with a mouse.
Reading his work has been described as falling through a series of trap doors. Before the LSD revolution in California, his adopted home, Dick was writing books that explored how the brain is a filtering mechanism that enables reality to be seen from many different perspectives. He gained a cult reputation as an LSD author, but took the drug only once and hated it.
Emmanuel Carrère's account of Dick's life focuses on the mind of a man who spent his time playing with other people's minds. Dick was obsessed with the unreal nature of reality, and the question of what is real. The sense of looking at something familiar and seeing it as if for the first time, or radically differently, was a central theme in his disturbed life.
The book traces many of his influences, from the death of his twin sister shortly after she was born to a succession of failed relationships. Dick lashed himself to women like a drowning man to a rock in a storm. Successively, though, his paranoia, craziness and pill-popping sent them running. Mr Carrère shows how Dick's tumultuous life story leaked on to the pages of his science-fiction novels.
But why is a strange, drugged-out and paranoid bygone of such interest to modern-day filmmakers? Partly because today's revolution in the biosciences, in particular in neuroscience, makes the questions he was asking particularly relevant. What is real if we can take drugs that alter our moods, or if we can tinker with our own memories? These issues were the flesh and bones of Dick's books, all those years ago.
He anticipated the terrible attractions of a technology that erases memory. People would simply have their painful memories removed. In the most recent film of his work, “Paycheck”, Ben Affleck rather unconvincingly plays a reverse engineer who routinely has his memory erased after he does a job of work, as part of commercial non-disclosure agreements. The character comes to believe that erasing the dull bits of his life is a good idea. All he is left with are the highlights.
“The stuff you erase doesn't matter,” says Mr Affleck's character. Of course, as the film progresses, we see how wrong he is: we are the sum of all our experiences—anything we erase makes us less than who we are. Although Dick's delight in twisting reality may be illuminating for us today, he paid a heavy price for his unique vision. Accepting no single personal version of reality, with all its incumbent flaws, he had little grip on any world whatsoever.
書評如下...從Economists偷來的 XD
The world according to Dick
Apr 15th 2004
From The Economist print edition
Hollywood's fascination with a long-dead writer of pulp science fiction
ACCORDING to the official website of Philip K. Dick, the films made from his books have generated nearly $700m in worldwide box-office receipts. Not bad for an author who died more than 20 years ago in relative obscurity. Half-a-dozen films have been made from his books, including “Blade Runner”, “Total Recall”, “Minority Report” and, most recently, “Paycheck”. Another of his novels seems likely to have inspired “The Truman Show”, and, say some, his work may have influenced the “Matrix” series of films. And that looks unlikely to be the end of it. Those responsible for his estate say that the film rights to six more of his novels and four of his short stories have either been bought or optioned.
Dick yearned for literary acclaim, but in his lifetime he was known mainly as a prolific writer of pulp science fiction. He wrote more than 50 novels and over 100 short stories—work that was mostly fuelled by amphetamines and a cocktail of prescription drugs. He started psychoanalysis at the age of 14 and became so familiar with it that he used it to toy with his friends, his readers and even his shrinks, as a cat would with a mouse.
Reading his work has been described as falling through a series of trap doors. Before the LSD revolution in California, his adopted home, Dick was writing books that explored how the brain is a filtering mechanism that enables reality to be seen from many different perspectives. He gained a cult reputation as an LSD author, but took the drug only once and hated it.
Emmanuel Carrère's account of Dick's life focuses on the mind of a man who spent his time playing with other people's minds. Dick was obsessed with the unreal nature of reality, and the question of what is real. The sense of looking at something familiar and seeing it as if for the first time, or radically differently, was a central theme in his disturbed life.
The book traces many of his influences, from the death of his twin sister shortly after she was born to a succession of failed relationships. Dick lashed himself to women like a drowning man to a rock in a storm. Successively, though, his paranoia, craziness and pill-popping sent them running. Mr Carrère shows how Dick's tumultuous life story leaked on to the pages of his science-fiction novels.
But why is a strange, drugged-out and paranoid bygone of such interest to modern-day filmmakers? Partly because today's revolution in the biosciences, in particular in neuroscience, makes the questions he was asking particularly relevant. What is real if we can take drugs that alter our moods, or if we can tinker with our own memories? These issues were the flesh and bones of Dick's books, all those years ago.
He anticipated the terrible attractions of a technology that erases memory. People would simply have their painful memories removed. In the most recent film of his work, “Paycheck”, Ben Affleck rather unconvincingly plays a reverse engineer who routinely has his memory erased after he does a job of work, as part of commercial non-disclosure agreements. The character comes to believe that erasing the dull bits of his life is a good idea. All he is left with are the highlights.
“The stuff you erase doesn't matter,” says Mr Affleck's character. Of course, as the film progresses, we see how wrong he is: we are the sum of all our experiences—anything we erase makes us less than who we are. Although Dick's delight in twisting reality may be illuminating for us today, he paid a heavy price for his unique vision. Accepting no single personal version of reality, with all its incumbent flaws, he had little grip on any world whatsoever.
星期日, 5月 02, 2004
星期四, 4月 29, 2004
The End Of The World
Sylvia Dee / Arthur Kent
Why does the sun go on shining?
Why does the sea rush to shore?
Don't they know it's the end of the world,
`cause you don't love me anymore?
Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do the stars glow above?
Don't they know it's the end of the world?
It ended when I lost your love.
I wake up in the morning and I wonder why ev'rything's the same as it was.
I can't understand, no I can't understand, how life goes on the way it does!
Why does my heart go on beating?
Why do these eyes of mine cry?
Don't they know it's the end of the world?
It ended when you said good-bye.
Sylvia Dee / Arthur Kent
Why does the sun go on shining?
Why does the sea rush to shore?
Don't they know it's the end of the world,
`cause you don't love me anymore?
Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do the stars glow above?
Don't they know it's the end of the world?
It ended when I lost your love.
I wake up in the morning and I wonder why ev'rything's the same as it was.
I can't understand, no I can't understand, how life goes on the way it does!
Why does my heart go on beating?
Why do these eyes of mine cry?
Don't they know it's the end of the world?
It ended when you said good-bye.
星期二, 4月 13, 2004
銀の竜の背に乗って
作詞: 中島みゆき
作曲: 中島みゆき
あの蒼ざめた海の彼方で 今まさに誰かが傷んでいる
まだ飛べない雛たちみたいに 僕はこの非力を嘆いている
急げ悲しみ 翼に変われ
急げ傷跡 羅針盤になれ
まだ飛べない雛たちみたいに 僕はこの非力を嘆いている
夢が迎えに来てくれるまで 震えて待ってるだけだった昨日
明日 僕は龍の足元へ 崖を登り 呼ぶよ「さあ、行こうぜ」
銀の龍の背に乗って 届けに行こう 命の砂漠へ
銀の龍の背に乗って 運んで行こう 雨雲の渦を
失うものさえ失ってなお 人はまだ誰かの指にすがる
柔らかな皮膚しかない理由は 人が人の傷みを聴くためだった
急げ悲しみ 翼に変われ
急げ傷跡 羅針盤になれ
まだ飛べない雛たちみたいに 僕はこの非力を嘆いている
わたボコリみたいな翼でも 木の芽みたいな頼りない爪でも
明日 僕は龍の足元へ 崖を登り 呼ぶよ「さあ、行こうぜ」
銀の龍の背に乗って 届けに行こう 命の砂漠へ
銀の龍の背に乗って 運んで行こう 雨雲の渦を
銀の龍の背に乗って 運んで行こう 雨雲の渦を
銀の龍の背に乗って
銀の龍の背に乗って
作詞: 中島みゆき
作曲: 中島みゆき
あの蒼ざめた海の彼方で 今まさに誰かが傷んでいる
まだ飛べない雛たちみたいに 僕はこの非力を嘆いている
急げ悲しみ 翼に変われ
急げ傷跡 羅針盤になれ
まだ飛べない雛たちみたいに 僕はこの非力を嘆いている
夢が迎えに来てくれるまで 震えて待ってるだけだった昨日
明日 僕は龍の足元へ 崖を登り 呼ぶよ「さあ、行こうぜ」
銀の龍の背に乗って 届けに行こう 命の砂漠へ
銀の龍の背に乗って 運んで行こう 雨雲の渦を
失うものさえ失ってなお 人はまだ誰かの指にすがる
柔らかな皮膚しかない理由は 人が人の傷みを聴くためだった
急げ悲しみ 翼に変われ
急げ傷跡 羅針盤になれ
まだ飛べない雛たちみたいに 僕はこの非力を嘆いている
わたボコリみたいな翼でも 木の芽みたいな頼りない爪でも
明日 僕は龍の足元へ 崖を登り 呼ぶよ「さあ、行こうぜ」
銀の龍の背に乗って 届けに行こう 命の砂漠へ
銀の龍の背に乗って 運んで行こう 雨雲の渦を
銀の龍の背に乗って 運んで行こう 雨雲の渦を
銀の龍の背に乗って
銀の龍の背に乗って
星期六, 4月 10, 2004
月迷風影
月影をどこまでも 虚海はひろがる
銀色のやさしさに 今は眠ろう
記憶の中で 探しつづけた
人のぬくもり 孤独の雨に
この体朽ちても きっと走りとおす
あの世界の果ての 虹にとどくまでは
時の砂かぞえてた 何も知らずに
偽りの夢の中 言葉うしなう
揺れる眼差し 炎のなかで
誓う心は いついつまでも
この祈りとどけよ 深い轍こえて
この世界の果ての 誓い守りとおす
この体朽ちても きっと走りとおす
あの世界の果ての 虹にとどくまでは
この祈りとどけよ 深い轍こえて
この世界の果ての 誓い守りとおす
偲芳歌
Artist:桑島法子
わたしの可愛い人形
素敵な着物きせましょう
キラキラ金のかんざし
幸せをあげる
わたしの可愛い人形
綺麗な帶もあげましょう
茜の珊瑚かざった
美しい帶よ
惠み多き豊かな国 花が溢れ
街角に
ほら聞こえる
喜び歌う声が
わたしの可愛い人形
優しく抱いてあげましょう
紅色の唇
褪せないように
惠み多き豊かな国
風はそよぎ
街角に
聞こえる歌
永久に誓う幸せを
永久に誓う幸せを
月影をどこまでも 虚海はひろがる
銀色のやさしさに 今は眠ろう
記憶の中で 探しつづけた
人のぬくもり 孤独の雨に
この体朽ちても きっと走りとおす
あの世界の果ての 虹にとどくまでは
時の砂かぞえてた 何も知らずに
偽りの夢の中 言葉うしなう
揺れる眼差し 炎のなかで
誓う心は いついつまでも
この祈りとどけよ 深い轍こえて
この世界の果ての 誓い守りとおす
この体朽ちても きっと走りとおす
あの世界の果ての 虹にとどくまでは
この祈りとどけよ 深い轍こえて
この世界の果ての 誓い守りとおす
偲芳歌
Artist:桑島法子
わたしの可愛い人形
素敵な着物きせましょう
キラキラ金のかんざし
幸せをあげる
わたしの可愛い人形
綺麗な帶もあげましょう
茜の珊瑚かざった
美しい帶よ
惠み多き豊かな国 花が溢れ
街角に
ほら聞こえる
喜び歌う声が
わたしの可愛い人形
優しく抱いてあげましょう
紅色の唇
褪せないように
惠み多き豊かな国
風はそよぎ
街角に
聞こえる歌
永久に誓う幸せを
永久に誓う幸せを
星期三, 3月 31, 2004
Could I Have This Dance
Artist(Band):Anne Murray
I'll always remember the song they were playing,
The first time we danced and I knew.
As we swayed to the music and held to each other,
I fell in love with you.
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Would you be my partner, then every night?
When we're together it feels so right,
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
I'll always remember that magic moment,
When I held you close to me.
As we moved together, I knew, forever,
You're all I'll ever need.
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Would you be my partner every night?
When we're together it feels so right,
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Would you be my partner every night?
When we're together it feels so right,
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Artist(Band):Anne Murray
I'll always remember the song they were playing,
The first time we danced and I knew.
As we swayed to the music and held to each other,
I fell in love with you.
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Would you be my partner, then every night?
When we're together it feels so right,
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
I'll always remember that magic moment,
When I held you close to me.
As we moved together, I knew, forever,
You're all I'll ever need.
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Would you be my partner every night?
When we're together it feels so right,
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Would you be my partner every night?
When we're together it feels so right,
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
星期日, 3月 07, 2004
台北市買外文Fantasy Fiction的地方...
1. 禮筑 http://www.silexbooks.com.tw/root/Frameset.htm
在金華街和和平東路各有一間。書賣的不算貴，USD6.99的書他賣NT250 。不過裡面多是童書和奇幻科幻小說。
訂書的話，快則數週，大盤商沒書的話，從外國訂的話就可能要兩個月了。
之前跟她們訂A Song of Ice and Fire的第二輯A Clash of Kings就花了兩個月....><
2. PageOne
位於台北101 4F，新加坡書商，英文書多的跟鬼一樣，竟然有整套的Stephen King
和Star War，第一次進去還迷了路....@@
價格還好，大該是美金售價X37=台幣售價。
不過跟他訂書也是夠慢，二月初跟他訂Garth Nix的Lirael和Abhorsen (Sabriel的第二第三輯) 結果也是到現在還沒消沒息的...
3. 紀伊國屋 Kinokuniya
微風B1。裡面的日文書是我在台灣看過最多種類的，從漫畫到小說文庫本都有。
不過定價有點高，幾乎是日幣除以二就等於台幣售價。一本900 yen的小說定價NT4XX....@@
好像也可以跟他們訂書，不過我沒嘗試過，所以不知道實際情況怎樣。
4. yesasia.com http://global.yesasia.com/b5/Chinese/Books.aspx
香港網路書店，裡面從DVD到書都有賣。售價也很nice，USD7.00的書他賣NT232，
是比上面都便宜的售價，不過如果再加上運費和處理費就不一定了。我都是挑他
免運費的書或DVD來買，運送時間也頗快，一般運送從下訂單到真正拿到書通常是
一個禮拜以內。不過有一次我買了一張DVD，他隔兩天就送到我手上，著實嚇了我一跳。
1. 禮筑 http://www.silexbooks.com.tw/root/Frameset.htm
在金華街和和平東路各有一間。書賣的不算貴，USD6.99的書他賣NT250 。不過裡面多是童書和奇幻科幻小說。
訂書的話，快則數週，大盤商沒書的話，從外國訂的話就可能要兩個月了。
之前跟她們訂A Song of Ice and Fire的第二輯A Clash of Kings就花了兩個月....><
2. PageOne
位於台北101 4F，新加坡書商，英文書多的跟鬼一樣，竟然有整套的Stephen King
和Star War，第一次進去還迷了路....@@
價格還好，大該是美金售價X37=台幣售價。
不過跟他訂書也是夠慢，二月初跟他訂Garth Nix的Lirael和Abhorsen (Sabriel的第二第三輯) 結果也是到現在還沒消沒息的...
3. 紀伊國屋 Kinokuniya
微風B1。裡面的日文書是我在台灣看過最多種類的，從漫畫到小說文庫本都有。
不過定價有點高，幾乎是日幣除以二就等於台幣售價。一本900 yen的小說定價NT4XX....@@
好像也可以跟他們訂書，不過我沒嘗試過，所以不知道實際情況怎樣。
4. yesasia.com http://global.yesasia.com/b5/Chinese/Books.aspx
香港網路書店，裡面從DVD到書都有賣。售價也很nice，USD7.00的書他賣NT232，
是比上面都便宜的售價，不過如果再加上運費和處理費就不一定了。我都是挑他
免運費的書或DVD來買，運送時間也頗快，一般運送從下訂單到真正拿到書通常是
一個禮拜以內。不過有一次我買了一張DVD，他隔兩天就送到我手上，著實嚇了我一跳。
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