ari Female. Auckland, New Zealand

I didn't read the book. The following is heresy mixed with speculation..

Things we love to laugh at: Katie Holmes' and Tom Cruise's acting; Angie's "He's not my son! Give me back my son!" donned in pouting lips in "The Changeling"; and now, Bella Swan, the love-struck-by-a-vampire girl of "The Twilight Saga", who has been "in pain" for 300 pages and counting in "New Moon", "the hole in [her] chest" which has doubled into "holes" since Jacob's leave, and her world of "beautiful" beus, where Edward's (the vampire) skin is "beautiful", and Jacob's hair is also "beautiful". And I thought "Twilight" was unbearable (I abandoned the book 2/3 through). The movie did an awesome job by comparison!

Oscar Wilde's mordant wit and sharp observation about (high) society & manners still ring true in our own social worlds - an indication of Wilde's satirical genius, or that human society & behaviours haven't changed all that much..

Plenty of lines that we'll still find funny today. Just to quote a few:

Act One:
Gwendolen: Ah, that is clearly a metaphysical speculation, and like most metaphysical speculations has very little reference at all to the actual facts of real life, as we know them.

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Jack: I am sick too death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can’t go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we have a few fools left.

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Act Three
Lady Bracknell: Never speak disrespectfully of society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.

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Lady Bracknell: I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.

希律王弒兄奪其婦希羅底亞，希羅底亞美麗的女兒莎樂美愛上了被補的先知施洗者約翰Jokanaan，約翰卻不睬她──”Daughter of Babylon/巴比倫之女”，他只願這麼稱她；被愛情焚燒的莎樂美在癲狂之際，為希律王獻舞，君心大悅的希律王遂許她一願，而沙樂美討了約翰的人頭…

王爾德的版本中，故事發生於一個晚上，在希律王宴請羅馬皇帝使者宴廳的露臺上。沙樂美很美，美得不祥，她出場未久，就已因擅令士兵提約翰來見她，而致使年輕的敘里亞人伏劍自盡。但如果莎樂美是惡魔的化身，邪惡卻愛上了潔身嚴苛如僧侶般的先知約翰，為什麼莎樂美愛上了約翰，我們不知道；不需要知道。我們只知，莎樂美像著魔般愛上約翰，從聽聞、目睹約翰後，莎樂美就只能想著他，喃喃重複著那句：Let me kiss thy mouth。

但其實那晚，不只莎樂美被迷惑，那一晚似乎所有人都被某種迷魅人心的力量所攫：年輕的士兵們為莎樂美著迷，甚連希律王都為莎樂美的美貌所懾：他目不轉睛地注目於莎樂美；他要莎樂美為他跳一支舞。

為什麼那一晚眾人似乎都著了魔呢？哦因為約翰的預言嗎？「在那日太陽要變黑，月亮要變血色」，眾人都著了魔，連莎樂美也不例外。如果惡魔本身也能被迷惑，那又是什麼樣的景象？只能為牠他她所戀慕之物招來毀滅是吧。所以我們說莎樂美之舞，是死亡之舞；莎樂美之吻，是死亡之吻…

無論希律王怎麼以宮中所珍藏的鑽石美玉、稀世珍寶誘之，要莎樂美收回所求，莎樂美仍不為所動，只執拗地喃喃地：Give me the head of Jokanaan。莎樂美最終終於得到盛在銀盤上約翰的頭顱了，嘗到了死亡之吻：

“Ah! I have kissed thy mouth, Jokanaan. I have kissed thy mouth. There was a bitter taste on thy lips. Was it the taste of blood…? But perchance it was the taste of love…They say that love hath a bitter taste…but what of that? What of that? I have kissed thy mouth, Jokanaan.”

莎樂美的死亡之吻，不只為約翰，也為她自己，招致殺身之禍，驚懾又悸怖於擁吻死屍頭顱的莎樂美，希律王決定莎樂美是妖女魔婦，迷惑了他，又屠噬了先知約翰；希律乃下令要士兵攫住莎樂美，殺了她…

砍頭挑起的閹割情結就不說了(太浮濫了)，但王爾德不愧是以頹敗縱樂著名，他的版本，既淒美、又詭譎，復又帶褚紅鮮血的濃腥氣…挾帶瘋魔毀滅力量、玉石俱焚的狂情…

讀董橋《白描》中一篇講楊絳的文，才連到這本書來，切一段過來...

董橋在〈不全是為了享福〉篇中記載了張者和楊絳的問答，張者問：你們當年咋不走哇，楊絳答曰：「很多外國人不理解我們，認為愛國是政客的口號。政客的口號和我們老百姓的愛國心是兩回事。我們愛中國的文化，我們是文化人。」後來張者又問了：國內歷來的政治讓你們吃了不少苦，現在後悔嗎？楊答曰：「沒有什麼後悔的，人活著不一定全是為了享福。」董註曰：這才是人話。我讀著，也默默心中ditto。

要像楊絳這樣持守堅認一種文化血脈，需要他們那樣的風骨，孤山巍峨，又帶點傲岸，這點自負是要的，沒這點自尊，熬不過那些煉火冰霜的年頭。像我這等昏懦但求平逸之輩，就做不來了。即便喜歡看這些老文人的掌故，但這件事上，還比較能認同格雷安葛林《哈瓦那特派員》中美麗的探員Beatrice說的：

“I don’t think even my country means all that much. There are many countries in our blood, aren’t there, but only one person.”

那時我心底想的就是這事：我們體內有這樣多重不同文化的薰陶；must I be loyal to one only?葛林的書，體惜的是冷熱戰爭，同盟對峙，意識形態拉扯下的小人物，Mr. Wormold想殺了Carter，為的不是女王或union Jack，而是因警告他而喪命的Dr. Hasselbacher，可說到這又得岔出去講葛林和約翰勒卡雷，勒卡雷的東西是血淚泣下的史詩，而葛林，以如此帶詼諧荒謬喜劇的novella格局，竟也可以披露一樣的東西，大師手筆，是這樣了。

葛林和勒卡雷都想講，在抽象的冷面如看不見全貌的巨大機器的國家無意惡鬥下，被壓碎的個人，兩個人都對國家、意識形態這部大機器，產生了懷疑不信任。《哈瓦那特派員》有趣，吸塵器推銷員特務的Mr. Wormold寫的(偽)情報，電報發著發著卻假裡真作，有了真實的反作力，這就有至少兩層意義了；文學分析上，是作家自嘲的meta：Mr Wormold翻電話簿編撰下線探員姓名，或躺在浴缸中苦斯怎麼了結虛構的探員性命，不也就是作家在找靈感麼？再來自是諷刺所謂冷戰情報戰爭這事的兒戲：情報局把Wormold以吸塵器構造起草的古巴秘密武器藍圖信以為真，鄭重其事地商討，有比這更好笑的嗎？

老話了，但真有本事的作家才不為meta而meta，為論述而論述呢。論述，總是載於生命這個容器中，不是因為生命只是徒具儲物功能的虛殼，而是，任何理論，總也是佐著生命，從對生命的觀察化演來的…