3/27/2007

重返Middle-earth:倒數21日


我實在太後知後覺了,今天看報紙,才知道J.R.R. Tolkien的新書The Children of Hurin將於下個月出版。

猶記得當年看Lord of the Rings小說看到結尾時,很心酸,因為捨不得那故事完結,捨不得從中土世界抽離。

後來看了The Hobbit,但始終無法延續那份情懷。接著又買了The SilmarillionUnfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth,以及四大本History of Middle Earth,但一直都未有時間細看。

但今天發現Tolkien有新書時,依然感動。發現此書由他兒子Christopher Tolkien所編,Alan Lee 繪畫插圖時,一股久違了的興奮直湧上心頭。

於是我仿如回到當年沉迷Lord of the Rings的歲月,懷著興奮的心情上網搜尋資料。

Over the past 30 years, several volumes of Hurin segments have been published, but to read through them was an ordeal that rivaled the heroes' own epic quest. "There were all these pieces and different versions of the story that didn't agree with each other," says Michael Drout, Prentice associate professor of English at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts.

This version, however, is a definitive, coherent text. Credited as the book's editor, the force behind the volume is Tolkien's son Christopher, who spent the last 30 years collecting and synthesizing the fragments and binding them into a seamless narrative, one that will make Hurin accessible both to casual readers and to those who speak Elvish in their sleep. Christopher Tolkien has long been a caretaker and editor of his father's work. Exceedingly close to his father growing up, he became the keeper of all things hobbit upon J.R.R.'s death in 1973.


單看成書過程的簡介,已教人動容。


根據Amazon的資料,這本The Children of Hurin由Houghton Mifflin出版,分硬皮版(上圖)及豪華版(右圖),售價分別是15.60美元及44.99美元。

Amazon說,此書會由四月十七日起發售,不知道香港會否同步推出?那豪華版美得令我眼泛淚光!但我連買硬皮版也很肉赤~


The Children of Hurin的資料:
Harper Collins's Book Description

TIME: The Return of the King

The Independent: Tolkien's son completes father's unfinished epic

Wikipedia: The Children of Húrin

3/14/2007

「每日一hae」十:買

原來已個多月沒有寫blog了。不過,每天都是上班下班,其實也沒有甚麼好寫。

不知道是不是上班上瘋了,明明家裡未看的書書碟碟已經多得我失業一年也看不完,我昨天又發神經,買了一大堆回家。仿佛只要買了,我的人生便並非只有上班。

昨天買的其中一隻VCD,是一部叫《Stay》(彌留空間)的電影。對此片聞所未聞,但劇情簡介頗吸引,希望可以早日有空看吧。

患有心理病的藝術系高材生亨利,為了仿效一位畫家偶像,決意於自己21歲生日那天(即3日後)親自了結自己的生命,得悉此事後,他的心理醫生森誓要制止悲劇的發生。
在女友協助下,森得以將埋藏於亨利內心的秘密逐層逐層揭開。然而連串怪異現象陸續出現,森身邊的事竟然不斷重複發生、已死去的人卻再次出現這個世界,他更多番被誤認作亨利……。疑幻似真的一切,是虛假幻象,是另一異度空間,還是心理作祟?!



其實,昨天我除了買書買碟,還買了六合彩。可惜一個字也不中,今天還是繼續上班,未看的書書碟碟亦繼續堆積如山。


同場加映:
今天在公司跟友人msn,談到沒有時間看書但又繼續買書的問題。
友:我唔理,照買。
我:我尋日都係,好似癲左咁狂買。
友:"我尋日都係,好似癲左咁狂買。"<--齋睇呢句,仲以為你講緊買手袋。
我:我都覺得自己好似d LV阿姐咁,悶悶不樂就走去買野發洩。
友:但人地買o個d可以揹上身。
我:咁你都可以揹袋書上身。

說到這裡,我又在公司陰陰嘴笑。

雖然只是仿佛,但也至少暫時緩和我的恍惚。