昨天费了九牛二虎之力终于在“校内网”上注册了个帐号，不过我的努力没有白费，到晚上就找到了几个小学的同学。八年了。八年我没能跟他们说上一句话。我简直不敢相信我真的在和他们聊天！
跟柳碧涛，齐文正，莫瑞方，张天娇都聊了些，虽然很激动很兴奋，但是有种千言万语不知从何说起的感觉。虽然只是那短短的几句话，可是包含了我这些年的思念之情。跟安政说的最多，没想到他跑到美国去了，本来还想今年过年能见见他。他和张天娇的恋情也是扑朔迷离（我不太清楚，可是感觉上可以写一本书了），祝这两个“高个子”在美国幸福。
我兴奋的昨晚一夜都没睡好。真希望今天晚上能再遇见多几个老同学。
not sure how to start on this thing. i'm feeling lost and weird. the scope of life suddenly changed angle and lead me to a new place. the bmt bunk, the jungles in tekong, the parade square. things that i thought i have forgotten were back on my mind. i have not seen him since, and although it was a long period ago, it was not easy to forget him.
he was older than most of us, and being so was much more matured in handling that fact that we were enlisted in the army. there is always a competition going around to see who's the last person not to report/fall sick, and he was the last few standing. he was the one who called me muhammad liuyun. and only few days before pop i realised that we were from the same secondary school.
that was the last time i saw him, and just as we are all going to ord in 2 weeks time, he is involved in a motorbike accident. the kind of feeling you get is just overwhelming, and it was particularly so when alex broke the news to me. just like that, a person, with a dream and plan after ns, is gone, as if wind has blown away his life when the words were spoken finished.
may you rest in peace, mustafa.
这个题目用在一部巨作上似乎有点太俗了，但与其绞尽脑汁来想一个花俏的名字，我还是最好不要班门弄斧在这种地方花心思。
《红楼梦》和《西游记》、《水浒传》、《三国演义》被统称为四大名著，所以它的名字是妇孺皆知的。但往细节里看，《红楼梦》对我们来说是陌生的，因为里面没有一个章节是家喻户晓的。我们茶前饭后所听到的、看到的和谈到的，也少有《红楼梦》的影子，可见它的民间影响也就远不及其它三部了。
《西游记》有大闹天宫、三打白骨精，《水浒传》有一百单八将、武松打虎，《三国演义》就更不用说了，什么桃园结义、三顾茅庐、草船借箭等等更是无人不知；以其为背景的电脑游戏和电影也数不胜数。你能说出一个《红楼梦》里出名的故事吗？我看很难。比较出名的还是一个歇后语：刘姥姥进大观园——眼花缭乱。然而偏偏就是这么一本书，却被共认为最优秀的古典文学，比任何一部文学作品都要好。为什么呢？我怀着这个问题把这本“空前绝后”的书读了一遍。
几个月后...
我无法用任何文学的眼光去鉴赏，只把它当成一本故事书侧重看情节。
书里的故事和人物关系十分错综复杂，很像无数个家庭琐事的流水帐，虽然有一个总的路线，但发展十分缓慢。为了衬托出女性主人公的特色，贾家的男人被描写成了典型的纨绔子弟，奸淫、内斗、在外采花问柳，挥霍无度，对祖上的名声业绩也一概不顾，伤风败俗的事干了一箩筐。最让我佩服的是作者花费了大量笔墨来描写人物之间的对话，动作和思想，也许就是因为如此，《红楼梦》的人物形象特别的明显。虽然有七百多人登场，贾宝玉，林黛玉，薛宝钗，王熙凤四个主角的个性被塑造的十分鲜明，其他配角也很突出。
然而我所不能理解的是书里的人的身体十分不好，被主子说几句或者受一点凉、累就能一卧不起，病上好几个月甚至把命搭上。总的来说作者通过对家庭生活细心的描写把清朝社会官宦世家活生生的印在了纸上。
《红楼梦》可以说是一个故事性的“百科全书”，其中包含了许多中华文化像中医，建筑，膳食，服饰等，文学价值十分高。里面的诗词更是绝顶。十二金钗于宝玉他们中秋打的字谜，和“海棠社”里的诗句了，就够我受的，虽然不是完全不懂，可是根本分不出优劣。宝玉的文学修养还数不着，但他写给晴雯写的祭词也是深奥无比。
但是有一点我是十分肯定的，那就是最后一部（我看的版本被分成四部，一部三十回）明显是出于另外一个人的手笔，语句的连贯性和措词都大大不如前三部，诗词也只出现了一两次，可见高鹗的为学造诣和曹雪芹还差的多呢。
说了这么多，我还是不能回答我在前面提出的问题，可见我对《红楼梦》还是一头雾水。没办法只好参考了些网上的资料，又听了几集“百家讲坛”关于解读红楼梦的讲座，总算对些地方是明白了些。红楼梦的伟大之处在于作者在文字上伏笔千里，给整本书增加了无穷的魅力，可以说是让人越读越有味。这可以从他用谐音给人物取名看的出来，比如书一开头介绍了两个和故事不太相干的人物“贾雨村”和“甄士隐”，他两个人的谐音概括了整本书的纲要“假语存”和“真事隐”（贾府=假府，元春、迎春、探春、惜春=原应叹息，贾政、贾敬=假正经，贾王薛史=家亡血史，等等）。
还有就是贾宝玉，林黛在“道义规矩”的扼杀人之本性天性的封建文明中出现是一个奇迹，作者借此对封建礼教的蔑视与批判，体现了人性的真实。然而《红楼梦》的成书过程是一气呵成的，而其它三部的章届早已在民间流传，以不同的艺术方式出现，到明朝被人总结为一部部长篇小说，所以《红楼梦》民间影响不大。你们明白了吗？
我不敢相信我糊里糊涂的写了这么长，其实三个字就可以概括了：没看懂。
I have read a myriad of great novels without bothering to write down anything. I feel it is a great loss to me as the kind of feeling or thought these writings evoked when I was reading are not easily replicated in any other situation. Now that I have completed Dickens's Oliver Twist, it may be the time that I start writing something, and hopefully it will be the the beginning.
His vocabulary just cannot be matched. He can use very formal words to describe the lives people in higher class, and use street and gang slang for the criminal and lower society. Such descriptions blend so well that this work can be called nothing but a masterpiece. He is also very good at describing the inner feeling of the characters, and I can relate to such feelings when I was in a similar situation. One of the examples is his descriptions of young Oliver's thoughts before he slept, and his journey to London. Another example was his narration of Fagin's despondent last day in the cell and his thoughts. In addition, he is very good at painting a grim and filthy picture of neighbourhood and workhouse. London in the 19th century has come alive with the elegance of his language. It is not as hard to understand as those written in the 18th century such as Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travel, though.
Nevertheless, it is easy to point out the faults in the story. Firstly, Oliver is way too lucky. When he first went to the street to pickpocket (he was unaware), he ran into his father's old friend, Mr Brownlow. And in his next adventure to rob a house (against his will), he ran into his kind aunt, Rose Maylie, although in both instance he did not know his relationship with them yet. Secondly, the treatment of Fagin and his gang were too harsh at the end. The whole city seemed to boil with anger at the murder of Nancy for no other apparent reason, and Fagin was sentenced to death for his mostly petty crimes. Thirdly, in Book the Third, Oliver is hardly featured at all. All the happenings were for him instead of by him.
All these things are nothing as I'm absorbed into the world of Oliver Twist. Just love it.
