恶人谷

最近读小说少, 只有在看Angels and Demons 和老板借给我的The Accidental Tourist. 后者是典型的美国现代写实主义文学, 闷得不行, 又不敢就此扔下, 因为是老板大力推荐的.
Angels and Demons 是The Da Vinci Code的前传, 在图书馆排了好几个月的队才借到, 好抢手. 一开头就笑, 原来这个Dan Brown就只有一把板斧, 情节设计跟大分七密码一个样. 这一回讲的秘密组织不是Knights Templar, 而是叫做Illuminati, 也是跟教廷作对的; 他们的祖师爷不是达分歧, 而是加利略, 哈.
这回明白了, 虽然作者说书中的历史背景和地理描述都是accurate, 其实许多细节和粗节都明显是编出来的, 不可全信.
这一本没有大分歧密码好看, 主要是因为节奏相对慢一些, 最有趣的部分--符号解码symbology--比较少. 而且一上来就搞出一个很可笑的科学理论, 用antimatter做炸弹去炸凡提纲, 还说能量轰炸制造粒子与反粒子的现象可用来解释宇宙起源云云. Lesson: Stick with what you know. 他原不该涉足科学/科幻概念的. 难怪达分歧密码虽然是后传却先红起来, 果然是写得比这本严谨些.
不过最让我看得津津有味的, 也是朋友推荐此书给我的原因(我们去年一起去过意大利), 就是对罗马的描述. 整个故事发生在罗马的各个古教堂里, 让我回想起在罗马的四天, 呵呵, 好象又回到了Pantheon, Vatican City, Colosseum, 数不清的教堂和教堂地下的教堂, 广大的道路和深宅小巷, 街头买的烤栗子, 柳暗花明处的piazza... 唉... 好想念.

搭车，最近看得杂，都不长，先是几篇毕飞宇，新买的袖珍美术图册和旅游画册，半本桑贝，以及笑嘻嘻的一朵花。

我也是觉得头一本写得远不如滴第二本好看。 血腥得多，情节也是stretching the imagination, 但是节奏还是粉不错的。 看来看去这个作家也就是写畅销小说的料，文字潦草经不起细看。

既然JUN提到罗马，我厚着脸皮来求助。罗马、佛罗伦萨和威尼斯你觉得哪些地方最值得去，或者同一行程中重访？你的〈朝圣〉我看了多次，细节还是不够多啊。

Angels and Demons 让我看到早上五点，看完之后想破口大骂，简直说不通嘛。但是看的当时还是挺有追着看的动力的。
Jun简直说出了我的心声。antimatter那部分我刚看的时候还觉得挺说的过去的，然后一想由巨大的能量得对撞产生出来的正反物质，怎么能叫做create from nothing。不过量子物理我很不通，谁来科普一下。到底应该是怎么样的？我看了这段之后，实在想知道正确的是怎么回事。

karen wrote:我也是觉得头一本写得远不如滴第二本好看。 血腥得多，情节也是stretching the imagination, 但是节奏还是粉不错的。 看来看去这个作家也就是写畅销小说的料，文字潦草经不起细看。

太同意了。我坚持看完了打分骑马，这个人的书48会再拿起第二苯了。

个人意见未必适用于各人口味, Karen刚回来, 肯定有她的意见和推荐. Wine aficiandos and museum junkies like me would certainly have different recommendations. It depends a lot on what you like and want to get out of the trip and how much time you have.

如果没有意外, 我打算明年回去Florence呆一周.

I had more time in Rome last year than in Venice and Florence, but really too short in every city; so I can hardly give well-rounded advice.

If you are a history buff, definitely Rome is best. From ancient Rome to Renaissance to modern time, the city is huge, lively, bustling with energy, and provides diverse entertainment. You are never bored. If you are crazy about art, Vatican Museum alone can keep you occupied for weeks.

Venice is my least favorite of the three. Yes, one MUST see Piazzia St. Marco and the basilica, but the island is small and crowded with tourists and tourist shops. It warrants a short trip of just 1-2 days, unless you are going for the Carnival.

Florence is my favorite. It seems to have the best food and the best atmosphere. The old town is small enough to manage on foot, but full of Renaissance arts and history to keep your mind busy.

Venice is 2-hour away from Florence by train, so it would be easy to hop there for a day from Florence.

To me, Rome is like London. You get dazzled, run around till you drop, and collect a lot of cool things to talk about. It is like a fantastic amusement park--you come, you go. All the time it is around you on the outside. Florence, OTOH, feels more like Edinburgh to me. I have an intimate resonance with the place, a secret chemistry, as if I could have been born there or die there, or call it home. They are cities in which I can share a quiet moment with. I have a place *inside* me for them.

<shrug> That's just my personal subjective opinion. Your mileage may vary.

谢谢JUN！:love007:

我们行程已经定好，ROME，FLORENCE，VERONA，VENICE各3-4天。FLORENCE和VERONA主要作为向周边行动的基地，比如SIENNA和LAKE GARDA。我是大俗人，喜欢民居广场多过博物馆，尤喜看本地人的生活（自由市场情结！）。最爱上午逛累了，睡个午觉傍晚再出去散步，然后大吃大喝。This is my idea of an ideal holiday。:lol:

KAREN原来刚回来，写点儿什么吧。

For me the lake district holds no attraction. We had to waste a day and a night at Lake Maggiore with the guided tour. It was pretty, but for pretties mountains and lakes one should go to Austria or Switzerland (so I heard). Never again! Both Rome and Florence should have plenty of charming little neighborhoods and roadside markets. In Rome, you must go to Trastevere across the river for the smaller, quieter and more local flavors and avoid the tourist crowds. Better bring your Italian phrasebook though.

记下啦！
第一次去意大利当游客，所以蜻蜓点水地各处到一到。下回去就拣定一个地方好好住1-2星期。

第一本没有第二本写得抓人. 但是第二本非常的虎头蛇尾, 第一本前面不好看, 结尾部分倒是高潮叠起.

我倒是觉得第一本结尾部分最没有道理，完全说不通。

karen wrote:我也是觉得头一本写得远不如滴第二本好看。 血腥得多，情节也是stretching the imagination, 但是节奏还是粉不错的。 看来看去这个作家也就是写畅销小说的料，文字潦草经不起细看。

同意啊，同意

小白，我困惑地说：是你还是server的问题？为什么你要把话再说一遍。让我几乎以为时光倒流？

Is there online/electronic version for the first one? I have the second one, but could not find the first one.

公共图书馆里一定都有. 我也是排队等来的, 照例只给两星期. 不过这种小说看的时候比较抓人, 一般也就两天翻完.

我随便的在新书架上就抓到了达芬奇密码，都没有别人要借。随便的翻了翻，觉得实在很象三毫子小说。不知道你们怎么都说好，很困惑的说。

他的故事某些说法有趣

没说好啊, 不都说不好吗? 无非是比较抓人的通俗小说而已, 文笔粗糙而且充满了各种漏洞. 只能看一遍, 可这一遍还是满娱乐的.
你们的图书馆真好啊. 我两本书都是排了很久才借到的.

基本上看这两本书不是为了看故事或人物, 而是那些反凡替刚的野史/conspiracy theories/秘密组织好玩, 还有一些cryptology内容也比较有意思. 所谓故事不过是个借口.

达芬奇密码我这里都借不到......想买吧又舍不得那十几个刀，干脆不看了，继续看我的魔戒去~