I suffers from both eczema and asthma. It would be a good news if the scientists find a cure to both of them.
Monthly Archives: June 2009
偵探伽利略 – 東野圭吾
早前我看《神探伽利略》的電影版有點被騙的感覺﹐電影與影評中描述電視版的風格有點不同。電視版以科學方法解開謎團﹐反觀電影版則只是用傳統推理手法破案。我想感受下《神探伽利略》的日劇魅力﹐又不想花十多小時追看整套劇集﹐折衷辨法便是看原著小說《偵探伽利略》。當然其實我可以只看一兩集﹐不過自問沒有足夠定力扺受日劇的引誘﹐開了頭看第一集恐怕不看完結局不會罷休。
電視版改篇自三本原著小說﹐我便選擇了第一本小說來開始看。一本小說有五個中篇故事﹐每個故事大約是電視一集的內容。看完後才發現小說與日劇完全不同﹐唯一相同的地方只是案件謎題的結構﹐再一次有被騙的感覺。女警柴咲幸在小說甚至沒有出場﹐更枉論與福山雅治發展成一對歡喜冤家。或許我看了電影版先入為主﹐認定伽利略等同福山雅治﹐看不慣在小說版中他沒有那些招牌小動作。小說的故事佈局簡單直接﹐篇幅集中在故事骨幹的案件推理上﹐人物特別是主角的描寫點到即止。若果把小說搬字過紙拍成劇集﹐恐怕角色流於表面欠缺立體感﹐不用十五分鐘便把故事說完。
平心以論這本小說其實也很好看﹐故事情節很有創意﹐有別於一般的推理小說。伽利略有別與於其他偵探小說的主角﹐他的推理並不是要揪出犯人﹐而是運用科學知識和頭腦﹐去解釋案發經過的謎團。五個故事也是兇殺案﹐其中三個故事要破解離奇的殺人方法﹐餘下兩個則是解釋不合常理的證據。對於理科出身的讀者﹐謎底倒看起來合情合理﹐至少沒有違反科學常識。不過我懷疑科學常識不足的讀者﹐有多少人懂得欣賞謎題設計的巧妙﹐會不會伽利略解說完依然是一頭霧水。當然伽利略解謎前會做個小實驗﹐模疑事件發生的過程。不過如果作者有心杜撰相關的科學理論﹐恐怕一般讀者也很難識穿吧。只是小說中的科學殺人法實在太匪夷所思﹐那有人會這麼大費周章地殺人﹐不過這也是閱讀這本小說的樂趣之一。
除了故事本身寫得好看外﹐負責翻譯的出版社特別值得一讚。這本書沒有邀請一大堆著名閒人﹐為此書寫些不相干的序言硬銷推介﹐反而在前頭加插導讀章節﹐介紹作者東野圭吾的生平和作品﹐讓讀者認識這位大器晚成的作家。正文後面附有一篇解說小說的文章﹐替讀者分析故事內容和推理﹐讓讀者可以從另一個角度再欣賞小說。不是解說說明我也不知道﹐作者在小說中探討日本要面對的社會問題﹐隱晦地批評日本社會的精神面貌。
只用了個多小時把小說讀完﹐雖然不是我想找的東西﹐但也有另外一種意外驚喜。不過現在我有一個兩難題﹐還要不要看《神探伽利略》電視版呢﹖
Tulaip Casino
This weekend we went to visit my cousin’s baby girl in Seattle. Other than seeing the baby, we also spent the afternoon in the Seattle Premium Outlets. Tulaip Casino is right next to the outlet mall and it offers a pretty good buffet brunch and the price is very reasonable. It was a fine Sunday afternoon with nice weather and sun shines outside. We have to go through the gambling floor to go to the restaurant. I am surprised by the number of people in the casino. I wonder who would want to waste a fine afternoon inside a casino sitting in front of the slot machines. I always thought gambling in the casino is something to do after dark when everywhere else is closed.
Slot machine is probably the most boring gambling in the casino. It lacks the human interaction at the card or dice table. Slot machine is controlled by computer and it is guarantee the gambler will lose in a long run. In fact many slot machine even have fine prints about its odds written somewhere. Usually it is worse than 0.98, which means on average you will lose your bet after playing 50 times. All the gamblers I saw in the casino are overweight, it is pretty obvious that keep pressing the same button mindlessly and then watching the LCD showing some repetitively graphics won’t burns much calories.. Looking at those oversize gamblers, I can’t help but wondering does intelligence have a negative correlation with obesity. The fatter you are, the dumber you are. I guess I should not criticize but thank them instead, they subsidize my buffer brunch after all.
The ungovernable state
California is a textbook case when democracy falls flat on its face, yet it is still considerably better than places with no democracy.