http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122066012828905783.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

'No One's Naked Anymore'

Mr. Theroux, 67, has just written his 43rd book, the melodiously titled "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star," published last month. In it, he follows poignantly in his own footsteps, retracing -- to the extent permitted by political conditions on the ground -- the journey he undertook in 1973, which resulted in his peerless, and much-imitated, "The Great Railway Bazaar."

"Can you imagine, I did that journey back then with no credit cards. I didn't get an Amex card until the early '80s. I didn't have credit. I traveled from London to Tokyo and back just with cash.

"In Iran, in 1973, if you had blue jeans and a watch, people would follow you down the street, saying 'Please, sir, sell me your watch, sell me your jeans.' In Mashhad, I sold a pair of jeans for $15, quite a lot of money, because they were real American blue jeans and everyone wanted American blue jeans. It was cool. Hippies would go, and bring three or four pairs and sell them in Iran, in Afghanistan." All this, he observes, was "pre China and India making clothes. The price of clothes has gone down in the world. Clothes are cheaper everywhere. No one's naked any more."

1 E.B.怀特说，“跟性经历一样，读书活动中，在场的从来不会超过两个人，作者是灌输者，读者是回应者。”

“拖延对于作家来说是很正常的。作家就像一个冲浪者——他会等待时机，等待一个完美浪潮的出现。拖延是他的本能。他等待可以推他向前的波涛。”

2 刚才在北京贝贝特8周年聚会上听周云蓬唱歌，他说有一首是他刚从监狱里采风听来的：大意是，女朋友要块梅花牌手表，我没那么多钞票，只好上街去偷钱包，第一次偷就被警察抓到，女朋友在旁边哈哈笑。在监狱里我好好改造，天天看人民日报，结果我被提前释放了。。

 广西师大北京贝贝特08年秋季的书目上有本书，贝尔纳-亨利·莱维著《美国的迷惘：重寻托克维尔的足迹》，将于9月出版。“2004年，应美国《大西洋月刊》的邀请，法国作家莱维沿着一百多年前托克维尔的足迹对美国进行了为期一年的考察。”

http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i02/02b00601.htm

美国高等教育纪事上评了他的回忆录，Left in Dark Times: A Stand Against The New Barbarism (Random House, September) 

文中有个八卦，Lévy makes no mention of a primal underlying awkwardness — his novelist daughter, Justine Lévy, had her husband stolen a while back by none other than Sarkozy's new wife, Carla Bruni, a tale at the heart of Justine Lévy's novel, Nothing Serious.

张宽的书中也有一个八卦，“前些年一本出自华裔美国学者之手的中国现代小说史在国内常被人提起。作者在那本小说史的成书之前后，相当长一段时期内曾供职于美国加州蒙特利国防语言学院，领取军方的薪俸，课题费也来自军方。那本小说史的蓝本原来是给海军陆战队有关人员编写的文化读本，因此在对作家的取舍和评价上表现出强烈的政治倾向性。”原载读书1993年第9期

3  北京贝贝特出的《许倬云问学记》中有篇文章，人鼠之间——试论文化保守主义

“既得权益阶层中，又可分为生而有之的一类和奋斗而得之的一类。表面看来也许有些奇怪，后者往往比前者更保守，更加起劲于保持已建立的秩序和模式，更不起劲于引进改变。所以，在法国大革命中，我们看见有完全站在平民一边的贵族；而在英国保守党的阵营中，看见最重要的支持者是中等以上的职业人士和企业界人士。这是由于那些奋斗而后得的权益的人经过多年苦斗，发现这一套答案可以保持他得来不易的地位及财产。反之，那些生来就有社会地位的贵胄子弟，对于个中甘苦并没有亲身体会的经验，却有着追求自己理想的热诚。”

http://media.ft.com/cms/495f2b88-79dc-11dd-bb93-000077b07658.jpg

图片 FT

泰晤士报

Philip Pullman's essential reading list

40 favourite books selected for the Waterstone's Writer's Table

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4627683.ece

。。。。。

THE WOMAN IN WHITE 白衣女人

by Wilkie Collins
For sheer plotting genius, Collins had no rival. If you've never read this, I can promise you one of the most gripping stories of all time.

THE MAN WITHOUT QUALITIES  无个性的人
by Robert Musil
The greatest condition-of-Europe novel, but much more than a profound diagnosis - it's enormously funny, apart from anything else. I never tire of it.

THE BEST OF MYLES 
by Flann O'Brien
The best collection of the funniest newspaper columns ever written. It's as simple as that. After this, read hisThe Third Policeman.

THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS
by Elaine Pagels
We live in Gnostic times. This is a clear account of the strange and intoxicating religion that nearly supplanted orthodox Christianity in its earliest years.

THE EMPEROR'S NEW MIND 皇帝新脑
by Roger Penrose
This is an age of great writing about science, and here is some of the finest. Penrose's knowledge is awe-inspiring in its reach and completeness.

THE BOOK OF DISQUIET  不安之书
by Fernando Pessoa 
The very book to read when you wake at 3am and can't get back to sleep - mysteries, misgivings, fears and dreams and wonderment. Like nothing else.

WOLF SOLENT
by John Cowper Powys
Powys evoked the English landscape with an almost sexual intensity. Hardy comes to mind, but a Hardy drunk and feverish with mystical exuberance.

EXERCISES IN STYLE
by Raymond Queneau
A pointless anecdote told in 99 different ways, or a work of genius in a brilliant translation by Barbara Wright. In fact it's both. Endlessly fascinating and very funny.

1  A judge has ordered a woman in Lewiston, Maine, to return to the library two copies of “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health” or face jail time. In a letter, the woman wrote, ““I have been sufficiently horrified of the illustrations….I will not be returning the books.”

一位法官命令一位女士归还图书馆的两本“相当正常：改变身体、成长、性和性健康”，不然就要入狱。这位女士在信中说，我被书中的插图严重地吓到了，我就不还。。

《纽约客》9月8日
为什么要那么严肃？

——古典音乐会的定形

作者 Alex Ross
现代古典音乐演出遵循一个固定的形式。音乐通常在8点过几分钟之后响起，演出分成两个部分，每一个部分长大约45分钟或50分钟。听众在每一个作品的演奏过程中要保持安静。10点左右，听众鼓掌2到3分钟，演奏者鞠躬两三次，之后就都回家了。歌剧的规矩稍微宽松一些，演出时间取决于作曲家的兴致，听众可以偶尔叫好或喝倒彩，但仍弥漫着严肃的气息。很多人都知道这种顺序是近来才确定的，在1900年之前音乐会并无定形。公开的音乐会在1800年之后才流传开来，长度和开始的时间不一。1833年在巴黎有一场音乐会开始于午夜前一刻钟，结束于凌晨1点。英国钢琴家、作家汉弥尔顿在《黄金时代之后》一书中说，李斯特是第一位摆脱混合形式、举行个人音乐会的人。他最喜欢的一个环节是把一个壶搬到台上，听众把纸条投进去，上面写着提议李斯特即兴创作的曲调。有一天李斯特看到一张纸上写着“结婚好还是独身好？”对此他回答说，无论选择哪个，你都会后悔。另一张纸上写着“铁路”，对此他在键盘上用滑奏的痕迹加以展示。

Hamilton, in his deft, sympathetic account of the old-school virtuosos and their gaudy habits, devotes several amusing pages to the antics of the great Franz Liszt, who was the first pianist to break from the miscellany format and give concerts on his own, although the ensuing spectacle resembled “The Ed Sullivan Show” more than the hushed recital of today. In one favorite routine, Liszt brought onstage a large urn into which his listeners had dropped slips of paper, each one inscribed with a suggestion for a tune on which he might improvise. He then drew out the messages one by one, taking delight in those which wandered off topic. Hamilton writes, “On turning out the urn in a concert on March 15, 1838 in Milan, Liszt found a piece of paper with the question ‘Is it better to marry or remain single?’—to which he slickly replied, ‘Whatever course one chooses, one is sure to regret it.’ Written on another scrap he found the words ‘the railroad’—which he illustrated on the keyboard with a swath of glissandi.”

3 巴黎评论，艾柯

Do you think you might have actually enjoyed living in the Middle Ages? 

Well if I did, at my age, I’d already be dead. I suspect that if I lived in the Middle Ages my feelings about the period would be dramatically different. I’d rather just imagine it.

Are you still obsessed with television?

I suspect that there is no serious scholar who doesn’t like to watch television. I’m just the only one who confesses. And then I try to use it as material for my work. But I am not a glutton who swallows everything. I don’t enjoy watching any kind of television. I like the dramatic series and I dislike the trash shows.

Other than that I like CSI, Miami Vice, ER, and most of all, Columbo.

Have you read The Da Vinci Code?

Yes, I am guilty of that too.

NAMOC，蔡国强艺术年表的一个图说

入口的草船借箭“Borrowing Your Enemy's Arrows”

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/22/arts/22cai-slideshow_index.html

纽约时报网站上的照片。。

关于长城，和China Daily

Ever since I was a child I have believed that the only man-made structures visible from space are the Belgian motorway system and the Great Wall of China. Alas, this turns out to be balls. To see the Great Wall of China from the Moon you would have to be able to discern a human hair from two miles away. It’s big, the Great Wall, but not that big. I am afraid the myth was invented in 1754 by the English antiquary William Stukeley. No scientists now accept the claim, though the ever-obliging China Daily still claims it’s possible if you know where to look.

NAMOC，蔡国强艺术年表的一个图说

入口的草船借箭“Borrowing Your Enemy's Arrows”

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/22/arts/22cai-slideshow_index.html

纽约时报网站上的照片。。

1  时代周刊这期有篇书评，评的是朱迪·波伦鲍姆（Judy Polumbaum）著的《China Ink：The Changing Face of Chinese Journalism》。中译书名被定为《中国墨水：中国新闻界的变脸》。

7月26日，多位被采访的记者参加了Party，得到了新书。

附:受访的20位年轻记者名单

http://blog.voc.com.cn/sp1/mindahong/093104493034.shtml

2 《旁观者》：伦敦市长Boris Johnson recalls his recent jaunt to China on the occasion of the Olympic games

关于长城，和China Daily

Ever since I was a child I have believed that the only man-made structures visible from space are the Belgian motorway system and the Great Wall of China. Alas, this turns out to be balls. To see the Great Wall of China from the Moon you would have to be able to discern a human hair from two miles away. It’s big, the Great Wall, but not that big. I am afraid the myth was invented in 1754 by the English antiquary William Stukeley. No scientists now accept the claim, though the ever-obliging China Daily still claims it’s possible if you know where to look.

http://www.skc.ecnu.edu.cn/Html/news/xsjl/2008-6/20/20080620073402.html

复旦大学张汝伦的发言充满激情：熊十力先生文字好，读来有豪杰之气，他的学生在这点上都不如他，他是真人，元气淋漓。我现在每天晚上养成了“读熊”的习惯。他说，我们现在给熊十力以很高的地位，但真正的研究还刚刚起步，还没有登堂入室。他建议以后还可以做熊十力著作的注释本，对真正的大师我们要舍得花时间精力来做研究，他说，熊十力作为具有问题意识和人类意识的大哲学家，“心胸非常开阔，有文化上的大悲大愿。他突破了一家一派的局限，他真的是有豪杰之气、英雄之气。所以熊先生留下的这些东西都是我们宝贵的财富，留给我们一代又一代的人去开发、去研究，去发扬光大。”

上海社科院陈克艰则说“熊先生救过我的命”，说曾通过读熊十力的书治好了自己的心病和抑郁症，所以他曾在《新唯识论》书后写了 “生命之再造” 几个字。

————————————————

翻出冯友兰《中国现代哲学史》，说熊氏自己说，体用论一书既成，新唯识论两本俱废弃，无保存之必要。。

能救命的大概是这样的文字：“熊十力认识到，寂静之中即是生机流行，生机流行毕竟寂静。我们不要闻空宗之说，以为一切都空，却要于生生化化流行不息之机，认识性体。不要以为性体只是寂静的，却须于流行识寂静，方是见体。”

刚刚重读了毛姆的《刀锋》，主人公拉里大战时是一名飞行员，战友为了救他牺牲了自己，这事使他有种人生无常和痛苦感。。战争结束后，他不愿意参加工作，整天晃膀子，看书，想搞清楚世间为何有恶、灵魂是否不灭等问题。他在俱乐部的阅览室认认真真地看威廉·詹姆斯的《心理学原理》，后来又跑到巴黎去求学，读斯宾诺莎，“我不敢说我已经十分懂得，可是感到非常振奋。就像乘一架飞机降落在巍峨群山中的一片高原上。四围万籁俱寂，而且空气非常清新，像佳酿一样沁人心脾；自己感觉到像个百万富翁。”还读柏拉图，笛卡尔，非常熟悉古希腊悲剧。。后来又在德国一家修道院待了三个月，然后又去印度过了几年，学习佛教的教义。

毛姆和伊莎贝儿谈论拉里：

毛姆：他是在寻求一种哲学，也可能是一种宗教，一种可以使他身心都获得安宁的人生准则。

贝儿：一个伊利诺斯州麻汾镇的乡下孩子会有这样的想法？

——路得·伯班克出生在马萨诸塞州的农场，会种出一种无核的橘子，亨利·福特出生在密执安州的一个农场，会发明一种小汽车，拉里并不比他们更奇怪。

——可是，那些都是实用的东西。是在美国传统之内的。

——世界上还有什么比学会生活得最好更实用的吗？

自我牺牲是压倒一切的情感，连淫欲和饥饿跟它比起来都微不足道。它使人对自己的人格做出最高评价，驱使人走向毁灭。没有一种酒这样令人陶醉，没有一种爱这样摧毁人，没有一种罪恶使人这样抵御不了。

我不但是我的灵魂，也是我的身体。拜伦不是因为碰巧生了一只畸形的脚会是拜伦吗？陀思妥耶夫斯基不是因为碰巧有羊癫疯会是陀思妥耶夫斯基吗？

克服肉体欲望的最好办法往往就是让它得到满足。

从前有一个时候，败家子是从英国送到美洲去的；现在的败家子显然是从美国送到欧洲来了。

美国女人指望她们的丈夫十全十美，就同美国女人指望她们的男管家一样。

许多人都患恐惧病，怕死亡，或者更糟糕的，怕生命。他们往往看上去非常之健康，生活富裕，一点心事也没有，却被恐惧折磨着。

比安松医生对巴尔扎克是那样真实的一个人物，以至于巴尔扎克临死时还说，只有比安松医生能够救我。

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/08/11/080811fa_fact_hessler

美国长跑爱好者都是有钱人。。

Since 1972, there has been no shortage of American runners. In the old days, the sport attracted primarily oddballs and obsessives, but that changed steadily in the nineteen-seventies and eighties. Kenneth Cooper, the man behind the VO2 max tests of élite athletes, coined the term “aerobics,” and he published books that emphasized the benefits of exercising for health. People became more likely to run for rational reasons, and they trained accordingly; the hard-core competitiveness of my father’s generation slipped away. Mileage dropped for high-school and college runners, because of fear of injury and burnout.

These days, recreational runners tend to be educated people with good jobs. The average participant in the ING New York City Marathon has an annual household income of a hundred and thirty thousand dollars. The people who read Runner’s World have a median income virtually the same as that of the readers of Forbes. When I talked to Cliff Bosley, the director of the Bolder Boulder, one of the largest road races in America, he said, “Running has demographics that are comparable to golf.”

——————————————————

Americans Dathan Ritzenhein and Ryan Hall finished ninth and 10th, respectively

_____

同一期纽约客上的诗歌，名人自杀的方式。。

Trouble

by Matthew Dickman 

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/09/01/080901fa_fact_lane?printable=true

http://sznews.com/tech/content/2008-08/26/content_3208301_3.htm

The best thing about the shot put was the cars. After the shot landed, and the distance had been measured, the precious sphere would be retrieved by an official and placed in the cockpit of an automobile: two feet long, bright red, with a tail fin—in short, the idealized vehicle that I drew during chemistry lessons when I was nine years old. Now it exists, for real, and there are two Chinese fellows with the best job in the world, who get to steer it back to the shot-putting circle by remote control. (It can also bring a hammer, or even a javelin, which slots neatly into the fin.) I followed the gaze of the spectators around me, and realized that most of them had entirely lost interest in what was happening on the track, so urgently were they tracing the progress of the cars, and so hastily were they revising their list of what they want for Christmas. One question, though, will linger after the Games are done. The red supercars are equipped with windshields, but why? Who needs to see out? Are there tiny drivers tucked in there, bred specially for the event?

铅球比赛最好玩的是小车。铅球被投掷出去、距离量好之后，一位官员会把球捡起来，放到一个两英尺长、后面有个翘起的尾巴的红色小车里。这是我梦想中的小车呀，我9岁的时候在化学课上画的就是这样的。现在真有了这样的车，两个哥们有着世界上最爽的工作，他们用遥控器把车开回投掷圈。它还可以运送链球和标枪，放上去正合适。观众们都注视着这个小车，他们对比赛反而没什么兴趣了，都在盯着这辆车，修改他们圣诞节的礼品单。问题是，这辆车干吗要装挡风玻璃？难道还专门为此塞入了微型驾驶员？

 “The Olympic victor, I said, is deemed happy in receiving a part only of the blessedness which is secured to our citizens, who have won a more glorious victory and have a more complete maintenance at the public cost. For the victory which they have won is the salvation of the whole State.” Thus Socrates says to Glaucon, in the fifth book of the Republic. Plato, one of the great wrestling philosophers, could be describing the official Chinese attitude to these Games, wherein the individual is swallowed up by the team performance of a nation

苏格拉底在理想国第五卷对格老孔说。。。

他们将彻底摆脱这一切，如入极乐世界，生活得比最幸福的奥林匹克胜
利者还要幸福。
    格：怎么会的？
    苏：他们得到的比奥林匹克胜利者还要多。他们的胜利更光荣，他们受到的公众奉
养更全面。他们赢得的胜利是全国的资助。他们得到的报酬是他们以及他们的儿女都由
公家供养。
    他们所需要的一切，都由公家配给。活着为全国公民所敬重，死后受哀荣备至的葬
礼。

《泰晤士报》上刊登的一位航空业专家的文章说：“不用担心，马德里空难不会重演。统计显示，这类事件短期内不会再次发生。迄今飞机仍是最安全的交通手段。终身乘坐飞机旅行，遇难的几率是250万分之一。乘坐火车的话就会降低为5万分之一，在公路上是200分之一。我们在狭窄的乡村公路上在不知别的司机会干什么的条件下以95公里的时速相向而行，飞机之间至少会有1.6公里的距离，机组人员每半年就接受一次处理紧急状况的训练，飞机的每个部件都经过测试。二十年前，每100万次飞行出三起事故，今天已经降到了每100万次0.65起事故。飞行事故通常都是多个因素造成的。也许机长早上离家前跟家人吵了一架，脾气很差，副驾驶不想让他更加心烦意乱。”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4582811.ece