il Giardino Romantico

Move back in time, to when I was still an ignorant teenager, Thoreau was nothing but ‘the crazy dude that went off to live in solitude by some pond’.  It is probably not difficult for people of that age group to think this.   After all, adolescence is all about friends and group fun.  Therefore, I did not scoff at myself for ever thinking of Thoreau as ‘crazy’.  The process of mental and spiritual maturity is extremely interesting.  Now, life in Walden seems to me the ideal life that I would actually attempt to pursue.


American literature had always had less of an attraction to me than English literature.  They are newer and thus often contain less profound and inspiring material.  Yet, Thoreau had not only proved himself a worthy writer, and poet, but embraced the essence of the Romantic spirit thus making him the most inspiring romantic writer from the New World.


Walden consists of three different parts – the factual, the philosophical, and the poetic.  He kept a meticulous record of how he managed to live there economically.  Then he proclaimed his insight on the significance of social issues.  He then also drew poetic sketches of the natural surroundings around him.  Of course, these three overlap at times, but in such a way that they can be woven together to make a wonderful masterpiece. 

Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code had perhaps shocked the world, Christians and non-Christians alike, with its fictitious plot surrounding the hypothesis that not only did Jesus once live, he got married and left a bloodline.  Dan Brown's novel could not have existed without Holy Blood Holy Grail.


Michael Baigent and co-authors Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln are three meticulous researchers that had put together pieces of a puzzle together in a book to share their findings to the world.  Holy Blood and Holy Grail is a history book.  It is well researched and contains extremely intricate details that support their hypothesis.  Jesus was a man.  He got married.  He had a son.  The woman he probably married was Mary Magdalene.  It is most likely that he had never been crucified.


I do not claim to be a Christian.  I had never been baptized.  Yet I cannot deny the impact Christianity and the teachings of Jesus had on me.  Therefore, I believe I can offer a rather objective insight.  Was it so important whether or not Jesus was a divinity?  Does it make him less respectable having been married and having bore a child?  His teachings remained the same.  This discovery may be shocking to Christians who have been taught to respect Jesus as a divinity.  Quite on the contrary, this very same discovery did not, in anyway, diminished the impact of his teaching on me.  In fact, it merely fortified it. 

I own a copy of John Milton’s Paradise Lost with a preface written by the author of the trilogy His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman.  At the time of purchase, and even by the time I had gotten hold of my box set of the trilogy, I had not made the connection between the two works.  What had drawn me into reading the trilogy initially was my inclination towards getting myself familiarized with the plot, the story, the themes, and the characters before watching a film adaptation.  After completing the reading of His Dark Materials, I realized I had gotten more than what I had anticipated for.

The copy of Paradise Lost I had bought upon me an excruciating reading experience.  I could only look at the words, but not comprehend them.  It was not until I got myself an annotated Norton edition of Paradise Lost did I begin to appreciate the masterpiece a little more.  John Milton is one of the greatest English poets.  His Paradise Lost had inspired many, such as Blake and Wordsworth, just to name a few.  The masterpiece continues to inspire other contemporary artists.  Philip Pullman is one of those contemporary artists that have been inspired by this extraordinary work.  The title of the trilogy had been taken directly out of Milton’s words:

基本上只要是小說改編的電影，我對那部電影的興趣就會大增。如果是我有興趣的小說，我會盡量在看電影之前把小說啃一啃。

I've always had a higher interest in movies that were adapted from novels or other works of literature.  If I happen to be interested in the original literary work, I'd always try to read it prior to watching the film version.

為什麼？

Why?

[The Tao of Pooh] [The Te of Piglet]

It is undeniably difficult to write a book that is at least half-decent.  It is ten times more difficult to write a sequel to a book that has reached the first level of decency.   The Tao of Poohwas a success because the analogy between a simple, childish character of Winnie-the-Pooh and the fundamental teachings of Taoism was original, and more importantly, appropriate.  Thus when the opportunity came for the purchasing of The Te of Piglet, I did not hesitate.  The analogy made sense to me even before having read the book.

Using The Tao of Pooh as an introduction to Taoism as a philosophy, this time Benjamin Hoff goes a little deeper into the same subject, but scrutinizing and actually criticizing his society and the whole of the so-called civilized world.  But first of all, let's understand why such a puny little character is chosen.  My question to you is: Why Not?  If Pooh were to represent the masculinity of Taoism, why wouldn't little Piglet represent the femininity of Taoism?  That is to say, Pooh represent the 'yang' 陽 and Piglet the 'ying' 陰.  Pooh is larger in size and popularity, whereas Piglet is small and whose voice and opinion is often ignored or unheard.  This is not to say that Piglet is docile and that Pooh is violent.  They are different.  However, they are not the antithesis of one another.  It is the harmonious combination of their qualities and virtues that makes this Taoist idea complete.  The 'tao' 道 and the 'te' 德 must both be realized, appreciated, and practiced.  The 'te', however, like Piglet, is often ignored or unheard by the majority.  It is understandable for such a small detail to be neglected.  However, paradoxically these neglected small details often are of great importance.

[Piglet throwing out a message in a bottle]

One uneventful evening, while on my way home after an ordinary private tutor session, I was somehow driven towards finding a Sherlock Holmes book to occupy my free times in the mornings.  While I strolled into the Eslite across from National Taiwan University, I was extremely disturbed by the fact that I could not readily find any copy of Holmes.  After some ten-minute search, I finally found a decent copy - The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Modern Man Library. 

記得當天晚上結束家教後回家的路上到台大對面的誠品，試圖想找一本福爾摩斯小說來看。但令人失望的是，找了老半天，才找到一本。原本以為這種經典之作應該很容易找到才是，怎麼花了我幾十分鐘才找到？不過最後終究還是找到了一本包含『探險記』和『回憶錄』的福爾摩斯。

  [Image from Amazon.com]

I have known Holmes since childhood.  But I'm afraid the acquaintance was mediocre.  For those books were abridged, and worse, translated.  Then, of course, I found him again in excerpts in my eighth grade literature book.  After a few years, I began tutoring students with adequate reading abilities to read abridged classics.  I had the pleasure to join in his adventures once again.  Then, a couple of years after dating a very knowledgeable gentleman, I had the opportunity to get to know this reputable detective through the phenomenal performance of Jeremy Brett.