Reading Note: Life of Pi (2)

Done with the book. Pretty good story for a casual read!

Does the author want to convey some meaning about life? Apparently. You only believe what you  see. This is from the scene at the ending of the book, when Mexican custom officers interrogated Pi of the cause of shipwreck. Neither of the officers believed Pi's story of survival on a life boat with an adult Bengal tiger for ~220 days, of the zebra, the orangutan, and the hyena, of the carnivorous island, of the blind Frenchman who got devoured by Richard Parker. Ironically, when Pi told them a second story that's metaphorically close the real one but "without animals", the officers found it disgusting and horrible, and had to admit that the first one was more interesting.

If I have to contrive some deeper meanings for the story, I will relate to the starting of the book, when Pi was a pious boy--pious to the God, not to a specific religion. The thing that kept popping up through Pi's torment was Vishna, St. Mary, Salvation, and Hallelujah. He always had a grateful heart. Even when they made it to the bank of Mexico, Pi was murmuring in his gratefulness toward Richard Parker, who had been a life threat throughout the trip and was leaving him unceremoniously, that he wouldn't have survived without R.P. being around.  

tl;dr: grateful heart, and open-mindedness. One may well start exploring how this is relevant to the current refugee crisis and terrorism, but enough is enough. I don't think the author expected shoulder such a heavy political burden when he wrote the book.

箫的哀婉，笛的跳脱，琵琶的铿锵：听《青空》

谭宝硕是我很喜欢的笛箫演奏者。《青空》是其于日本留学时创作的钢琴，琵琶及笛箫的合奏曲，具体背景可参见所附链接。

开篇此曲以箫声铺下一个哀婉空廓的背景，不带凄迷，而是纯粹的不加掩饰的哀，而箫的声质本身所带有的旷远将这种哀情愈加渲染升华。间，箫以一个短音结尾，同时琵琶一声裂帛，《十面埋伏》的排兵布阵感炸裂般弥漫，铿锵的节奏感瞬间敲击人的神经。笛声介入，灵活的吐音，跳跃的节奏，一洗开篇的哀情。这一段很有些北派笛爽朗明快的感觉。

私自认为若是末尾高潮处能以琵琶引领全曲，或许能仿《埋伏》，令听者心惊肉跳，只是不知是否会符合作者的初衷？

Reading Note: Life of Pi (1)

Having just finished reading half of the book LIfe of Pi, I am writing some random notes (I hope to force myself to scribble something other than codes every now and then):

It was a quite an interesting read. I wouldn't say it was a great book, something at the same level as say, War and Peace, but for casual book reapers it is a good appetizer. Other than the well known plot of the book, famed by its movie, about an Indian guy managed to coexist with an adult Bengal tiger after a ship wrack on the Pacific ocean, another pearl from the book is the author's control of the language, straightforward and humorous. He never tried to decorate profusely some intricate philosophy of  religion, but each word conveyed some meaning that was really easy to grasp. 

Talking about humor, one scene I liked was when the priests (or someone equivalent in other religions) of Christianity/Muslim/Hinduism caught the boy Pi while he was on a walk with his parents. All of the priests thought Pi was a pious worshipper of his own religion, never realizing that he actually converted to all three religions, at the same time. Apparently, a bicker broke out between three priests, and when they interrogate, essentially, which religion Pi was really into, Pi, innocently, said:"I just want to love god!" Three priests smiled, unnaturally, and turned away. I just couldn't stop laughing reading this piece, which was somewhat intentionally sarcastic? More related revealing are probably coming in the next half, so next time.

记一位远游的好友

她回眸，一束仲春的阳光划过西雅图浓厚的云朵，恰好洒落在笑靥上，转眼间随着她的笑意，温暖地扩散开来。先是从眼睛生发出光芒，而后是嘴，连鼻子也调皮地皱起来，而空气感染了笑意，也变得明媚柔和。我眨眨眼睛，想将她的笑脸摄入心底，可她却融化在阳光下，消散在风里了。

她竟这样消散在风里了！

我回想，从破碎的记忆中想挽救一些我们共同的回忆，却只是徒劳。想起的，是你的只言片语，傻傻的笑容，及那分离时不经意的蹙起的眉，可我竟无法在脑海中勾画出你的完整的图像。是了，何尝是你消失在风中？是我，是我将远去离别，将一切的回忆抛弃。

消散在风中的，其实是我呀！



（熬夜调试代码着实累人，胡诌几笔）