Myths and Folk Tales of Ireland, by Jeremiah Curtin

Not bad, some are interesting. Much better than the dumb prince/princess fairytale of Andrew Lang.

Published by Dove. ISBN 9780486224305. From my personal collection (a bargain book from Barnes and Noble in order to get free shipping). The paper quality is surprising good, kind of wasting for such a read once book.

War and Peace (Book II-IV), by Leo Tolstoy

Finished the entire book except the last 30-page essay. I like the Books I and II better, probably because I was losing patience when reading the second half. Tolstoy did a great job in describing the court salons, battles, the unforgettable outing event on Christmas eve and hunting game. He is a master of words.
Should reread the book in the future.

Translated by Pevear and Volokhonsky. Published by Alfred A. Knope, New York, 2007. Hardcover. ISBN 9780307266934.

徒步三峡，刘世昭

是一个摄影记者徒步三峡的经历。图片不仅漂亮，而且有生活气息。一张照片捕捉的不是一个瞬间，而是诉说着时间的故事 -- 这就是与普通漂亮的风景照的区别。文字简单，但是和图片配合得好。

京中玉出版。2004年。ISBN 9867672046。

京味儿，崔岱远

很好的书。京味民食和小吃的做法，更动人的是作者儿时的北京皇城根下的回忆。
随风而逝的岁月，残留的温暖记忆。

博雅书屋（台湾）。2010年。ISBN 9789866614743。
书的设计典雅。

四海漫游，北京篇

是“这里是北京”节目组改头换面推出的一档节目。有图有文，文字轻松（因为胡扯占多数），适合出恭时看。价格不菲，图片印刷很差。

华艺出版社。2009年。ISBN 9787802520189。

伶人往事，章诒和

很不错，娓娓道来。又犀利地指出政治和暴民的丑恶。
政治是少数野心家和疯子的工具。人性的本质（至少大部分）是贪婪、自私、残暴的。
从小被红色教育下的人，看一看，不同的视角，有启发。
文革最大的危害，可能不是冤枉死了多少人，而是把中华民族几千年的道德观、人性准则粉碎了。今天的中国，和“倩女幽魂”里的人砍人的乱世越来越像。人人哭诉自己是受害者，控诉着别人，同时在害着别人。

封面上的程砚秋真是倾国倾城，这可不是现代浓妆艳抹的女明星可比的。是气质吧。奇怪的是，程砚秋的男装照一般，且有威武之气。但戏装却为何惊为天人呢？还是气质吧。

时报文化出版企业股份有限公司。2006年。ISBN 9789571345192。台湾的书印得漂亮典雅，倒不很贵。比大陆花里胡哨的风格强多了。

War and Peace (Book I), by Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy deserves his great fame in this book. A master of writing skills.

I told Jia that Tolstoy showed great writing skills in the book - any 3 pages could be used in a textbook as writing samples, but the book may not touch one's heart. Then I claimed that he was talented. Jia corrected me that writing skills made him a master, but it was improper to claim him being talented, which is subjective, but being master is more objective. I agree.

Just finished the Book I. I mostly used the Alfred A. Knope's new translation by Richard Pevear and Larrisa Volokhonsky. This couple did a fine job this time, not like their dull translation of Anna Karinina. I also read some text from Rosemary Edomons' 1957 translation, and Constance Garnett's. My impressions were:

1. Pevear and Volokhonsky's is the most precise one, easiest to read at least for me, whose English is a second language. Among the pages I read from the other two translations, both have places that are confusing or hard to grasp at the first reading, but Pevear and Volokhonsky's translation is very clear.

2. Among the three, Garnett produced the most beautiful English sentences, but she was criticized for inaccuracy. However, I can't forget the power delivered in her Anna Karinina, so I will definitely read her translation some day. Pevear and Volokhonsky's is the least one in terms of English beauty.
3. Edomons' lies in the middle, more smoothly and English-like than Pevear and Volokhonsky's, but some sentences still read confusing.

Translated by Pevear and Volokhonsky. Published by Alfred A. Knope, New York, 2007. Hardcover. ISBN 9780307266934. (The hardcover edition is out-of-print, I regret that I did not buy it, although I already have Everyman's library edition, and Penguin's Anthony Briggs edition both in hardcover and paperback edition.)

Translated by Rosemary Edmons. Published by the Folio Society, London, 1978. This is Edmonds' 1957 translation, and she made a revision in 1978, and both were published by Penguin. (This Folio Society edition chose a particular font which looks artistically, but very disturbing when you started reading. I have a bad impression on the Folio Society).

Translated by Constance Garnett. Published by Modern Library, New York, 1994. ISBN 0679600841.

怀旧苏州河，陆元敏/朱全弟

看到这书时以为说的是苏州。但是翻看图片时，觉得像是上海。细读时，果然是上海市区的苏州河 -- 今年春天去上海时逛外滩，那个从纪念塔处流入上海的支流 竟然就是苏州河，古称吴淞江。 （应该说在苏州河在此处从上海汇入。）
这次在上海借出差呆了一个星期。逛了些大街小巷。没有特别喜欢。因为更喜欢北京的开阔、大气和人文气息。上海道路狭窄，高高低低，楼房密集。不过现在想想，偌大的城市，密集交错的建筑，荼蘼的历史，道有些余味。哥哥说北京和上海是给他最强震撼的。
这本书图片不错，文字平庸了些。
摄影：陆元敏, 文字：朱全弟。京中玉国际有限公司，2003年7月。浙江摄影出版社授权。ISBN 9867672038。

京都一年，林文月

十分不错的一本书。林如月文字古朴、优美，和描写的京都古韵配合得很好。写出了个人的感受。
看了林如月翻译的《枕草子》的第一节，文字优美极了。期待明年回家时收购一本她的《枕草子》和《源氏物语》。

三民书局印行。ISBN 9571424218。

A Cat, a Man, and Two Women, by Junichiro Tanizaki

A "lazy, good-for-nothing, weak-willed" man's love in his cat, and his ex-wife, calculating and cunning, changed her hatred t0 the cat to love. The relationship among the those humans are much more complicated.

A very nice story!

The second story is what was described in Tanizaki's Childhood Years.

Translated by Paul McCarthy. Published by Konansha International, Tokyo, 1990. Hardcover. ISBN 0870117556.
From the same publisher, and only two years after Childhood Years, this book uses low-quality paper and binding. Is it because the big inflation just started in Japan?

It looks like I read all the works of Tanizaki, available in English. (I read his The Makioka Sisters in Chinese.)

Childhood Years: A Memoir, by Junichiro Tanizaki

It has some interesting episodes, but it is very dense, containing
numerous names of people and places and other details. I guess Tanizaki just wanted to write down his memory, to live through the old time, without caring too much whether those details are appealing to general readers.

Translated by Paul McCarthy. Published by Konansha International, Tokyo, 1988. Hardcover. ISBN 0870118633.
The book uses very high quality paper, and even after 11 years, it still looks much better than most books published nowadays. It is beautifully bound, similar or even superior to Everyman's library.

In Praise of Shadows, by Junichiro Tanizaki

The disappearing of the beauty of traditional Japanese (Oriental) culture, beauty of shadows, as being invaded by the civilization from the West.

To me, both the Oriental and the West have their beauties, but I understand Tanizaki's feeling of trying to preserve the life and time he went through. I am reading and reading, many times trying to bring back what was lost in life but only stays in memory.

A friend said that what matters is NOW, "the power of now". However, to me, what makes what you are is the memory. Memory is the most valuable thing we really own.

When I read the book, I asked: isn't the Western's stream of consciousness similar to the sensation narration of those Japanese works? Of course, the former has a dimension of time, while the latter is a beauty of being static and tranquil.

Reading this book helps to understand the beauty of Japanese works. Will read it once more before returning it to the library.

Translated by Thomas J. Harper and Edward G. Seidensticker. Published by Vintage Books, London, 2001. ISBN 9780099283577.

Dante's Inferno

The book I read is illustrated by Sandow Birk, with text adapted by Sandow Birk and Marcus Sandes. It is special because modern words are used, and the author even replaced characters, places and events with modern ones at their well. The illustrations are supposed to be the big selling point: all drawings use San Francisco (and sometimes LA?) as background.

When I read the first several chapters, I thought it was very funny. I had read about 14 chapters of Inferno from a normal translation, and had thought it very boring. So I appreciated this funny "adaptation". However, when I kept reading, this book became more and more boring. The repeating of the same funny tricks did not work.

My conclusion is that Dante's work is really really boring. Homer's work is years and years earlier, but is far far better than Dante. Jia said that I have to recognize that fact that Dante wrote in the dark age. Well, this is true, but it can't change the fact that his work is extremely boring.

published by Chronicle Books, San Francisco. 2004. ISBN 0811842134.
The book uses very good quality paper.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy

This is my second time reading this book.

The first time, more than 20 years, in the tiny, quiet, and old library room of my high school. 张谷若 made a wonderful translation, and some scenes have been in my mind ever since: the night, under the stars, Tess and her little brother chatting about the stars -- that is the night misfortune starts; the morning in the dairy house, foggy.

When I started reading the book in its original language, the Chinese translation kept bothering me. 张谷若 had strongly imposed his own style in the translation -- his translation is of strong flavor and emotion, but Hardy's original style is cool, even cold and "indifferent". So the images remained from 20 years ago did not fit well into what I was reading from Hardy's words. Until I finished 1/4 part (the end of the third phase), Hardy's voice was the only one I heard , and images arose clearly out of the book.

I asked Jia whether the Chinese translation was a success or failure. He asked: If you just read the Chinese translation, do you think it good? I said Yes. He said: Then it is a good one.

Modern Library edition, 1998. ISBN 0679603182.
I can't find the cover picture of the book online. So I put here the painting that the book cover uses. At first I did not like the cover picture because Nastassja Kinski's Tess is what Tess is, to me. But when I finished the book, I think it fit Hardy's Tess well. The library does not have everyman's edition, which is what I prefer. I have 3 editions in my personal collection: everyman's library, Frankline library, Heron book, but they are all packed in my moving boxes.

这里是北京 （4）

北京电视台的“这里是北京”的脚本，多是些传闻轶事。图文并茂，读着有趣。因为是我喜欢、怀念的北京。

李欣主编。华夏出版社，2008年。ISBN 9787802520707。

The Time of Love, by Marcel Pagnol

This is the unfinished work of Marcel Pagnol, but still worth reading. Marcel's school life in this book is much better delivered than the hasty writing in the previous book. Also, the story of plague is particularly good.

I feel that this book should exchange its title with the previous book "The Time of Secrete".

Published by Hamish Hamilton, London 1979. Translated by Eileen Ellenbogen. ISBN 0241100097.
DoubleDay should learn from the British Publisher how to print/bind books.

蛤蟆的油，黑泽明著

看过“罗生门”，当时惊诧这么老的片子竟然比很多现代的电影还鲜活，有生命力、冲击力 -- 有过类似感受的还有“伊利亚特”。现在还记得罗生门里武士和女人痛苦、扭曲的悲诉。

“蛤蟆的油”是黑泽明的自传，从儿时写到“罗生门”。在罗生门停笔是因为他也不肯定自己是不是能说真话，在说真话。是啊，谁又能真正看到、面对自己？

很好的一本书。

李正伦的翻译很有味道。

南海公司出版，2006年。ISBN 7544233278。

The Time of Secrets, by Marcel Pagnol

Little Marcel started to have a feeling for girls ...

Translated by Rita Barisse. Published by Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1962. (Doubleday needs to improve its print quality and selects better paper.) The book has no ISBN!

My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle, by Marcel Pagnol

It is the second book of Marcel Pagnol I read. Again, a very delightful reading. I hope to read more of his works, but he did not write a lot -- two more novels to enjoy. Thanks to library's Link+ service that I can request the books.

What a happy and warm memory, but the last two chapters made me so sad, so sad. A chill shivering through my body.

This is what you pay for happiness.

I will be touched more if I read the book 20 or 25 years ago. Nowadays, my heart is coated.

I am thinking to collect Pagnol's works.

Translated by Rita Barisse. A good translation. Published by North Point Press, San Francisco, 1986. ISBN 0865472572.

老铺底子，刘一达著

字大，行疏，图多的消遣读物。是我怀念的北京。

ISBN 7200051594。北京出版社。2004年。

别墅故事 闲话庐山 方方著

方方亲切优美的文字，配上清新的黑白照片，娓娓说着庐山别墅故事。别墅本是避暑、休闲的去处，但是在中国动乱、惨烈的近代历史中，这些别墅的故事又是不一般的味道。

三联书店（香港）有限公司。2004年。ISBN 9620423402。很漂亮、典雅的一本书。

A Hero of Our Time, by Mikhail Lermontov

Before I read the book, I thought the author a poet from Soviet Union who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. However, when I read the story "Princess Mary", the classic narration and psychological description made me doubt it. Checking Wikipedia, I got to know the author lived from 1814 to 1841. This work written at this early age is a triumph!

I liked the first half, adventurous, exotic, of beautiful prose. However, the most important story in the book, "Princess Mary", is not my favorite, although I admit that it was well written and it best delivered the author's message. I was just not interested in such a plot and length psychological narration was boring.

From how differently the stores are narrated in the first and second half, I can see the writer's skills. Only about 170 pages, but the character Pechorin stands out. After putting down the thin book, I felt what I read was much more than 170 pages.

Translated by Vladimir Nabokov in collaboration with Dmitri Nabokov. I have to admit that Nabokov did an excellent translation. However, I still do not like him because of his sharp attacks to others, especially to Constance Garnett. How many books you Vladimir translated, and how many works tireless Garnett translated? You do not have a right to say the dirty words to her!

Everyman's library. ISBN 0679413278.

The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger

"It is very well-written," I said.
"What make you think so?" Jia asked.
"Well, it precisely described what a teenage think -- and I share some of them, and the people and events described are typically ..."
"Is that enough?"
"Well, this is a typically issue of an American novel, well written, author of some talent, but it lacks something to make it great."
"okay, probably you can say that the book is not bad".

The American society makes a pattern of what a successful man and attractive woman should be, and then many people make a show in daily lives in order to fit the pattern.

Hardcover. Published by Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316769533.

The Sound of Waves, by Yukio Mishima

The beautiful scenes in "Spring Snow" floats in my mind now an then, and so I would like to read more books from Yukio Mishima. Here it is. A nice story, but not as beautiful as the "Spring Snow" -- the text is fluent, but it lacks the unique beauty of Japanese Literature, not sure because of translation.

Published by Alfred A Knopf 1956. Translated by Meredith Weatherby.

黄金时代，王小波著

第一个中篇“黄金时代”与众不同、令人耳目一新，是一个杰作。“我的阴阳两界”也不错，但手法和“黄金时代”类似。其他的作品就逊色不少，比较乱。

社会（众人）的荒谬，个体的孤单，和孤立个体间的温馨。

花城出版社，1999年。ISBN 7536025084.

Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami

Not bad as I expected. Clean writing, with some seriousness added in, and the "taste" the young people enjoy. But definitely, it is not in the same level as Junichiro Tanizaki.

Translated by Jay Rubin. Published by Vintage Books, 2000. ISBN 0375704027.

The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins

What a story-teller! I enjoyed it tremendously.
Just like cooking, the right amount of spices, not overwhelming, but irresistible taste!
I read his "The Woman in White" in high school, but did not enjoy it very much. It is time to try it again.
Time changed a lot of things ...

I am glad that the Moonstone finally gets back to the Indians. The ending of the three Indians shows how ridiculously the religion is, or the ones who make it are. (Ridiculous to the outsider, but it makes perfect sense to themselves.)

In Broadview Literary Texts, published by Broadview Press, 1999. ISBN 978-1551112435.

荒人手记，朱天文著

文笔出色。与众不同。
但是过多的引用。
过多地强调要说的“理”，忽略了“故事”。近代、当代的“大作”很多都有这样的问题。
也许以后会再看一遍，也许不会。

山东画报出版社。2009年5月出版。ISBN 078-7-80713-788-7.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

A delightful reading. This is something you read to have a fun and easy time.
It looks like the three contemporary authors' books, "The History of Love", "The Thirteenth Tale" and this one, are all written by female book lovers. The latter two are both big fans of Bronte sisters. Do know whether it is a good news.

Published by The Dial Press, 2008. Hardcover. ISBN 978-0-385-34099-1.

The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx

Powerful writing, a master of words!
Floating of imagines, powerful, creative, and beautiful!
But, hard to read, and it takes tremendous effort to finish it. Worth the time and effort though.

Cold Newfoundland, but warmth in hearts. Missing here in sunny California.

Scribner Paperback Fiction. Published by Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0743225422. Start with the hardback several months ago, and end with the paperback.