Hai phút đầu tiên, tôi xin giới thiệu đôi lời về Luhan.

Anh quê ở Bắc Kinh. Tháng tư năm 2012, anh ra mắt với tư cách là thành viên nhóm nhạc mới EXO của SM.
Anh đến Hàn Quốc năm 2008. Hồi ấy, anh mới 18 tuổi.
Năm đó, một sự vụ kinh hoàng ập đến. Trận động đất Vấn Xuyên. Nhân dân ai cũng lo lắng.
Anh quyên góp hết từng đồng trong túi, còn viết một entry lên cyworld (mạng xã hội của Hàn Quốc) như sau:

Thủ tướng Ôn Gia Bảo có câu:
Một bài toán nhỏ, nhân với 1.3 tỉ, trở thành bài toán khó nhằn.
Một phép tính lớn, chia cho 1.3 tỉ, trở thành phép tính đơn giản.
Giờ phút này, nên nói rằng:
Một chút lòng tốt, nhân với 1.3 tỉ, sẽ trở thành một biển tình thương!
Một vấn đề nan giải, chia cho 1.3 tỉ, sẽ trở thành vấn đề vặt vãnh!
Hãy để câu nói này làm khẩu hiệu, cùng san sẻ nỗi đau với những nạn nhân động đất!
Khi chìa tay giúp đỡ những người trong khu vực thiệt hại, xin hãy truyền thông điệp này tới tất cả bạn bè. Chúng ta sẽ cùng nhau đấu tranh!
Cảm ơn các bạn!!

5 năm sau, thảm cảnh kinh hoàng chẳng ai muốn chứng kiến lặp lại, và chàng trai ấy, một lần nữa cố gắng đấu tranh.
Chàng trai năm nào với cái bụng rỗng lo lắng cho Tổ quốc từ một vùng miền xa lạ, giờ đây, vẫn ở nước ngoài, đổi phần mô tả  Weibo của mình thành: Cầu nguyện cho những nạn nhân chịu thiệt hại, mong mọi người được bình an.

Chàng trai tròn 23 tuổi ngày hôm nay, chắc chắn vẫn còn nhiều điều muốn nói.

Phút thứ ba, thứ tư, tôi xin kể về fan hâm mộ của anh.
Trong mắt chúng tôi, Luhan rất xinh trai, dù anh cứ một mực khẳng định mình là đàn ông Bắc Kinh chân chính.
Luhan của chúng tôi mê bóng đá, thích Manchester United nhất. Anh từng nói, “Mười năm bên nhau, mãi là Quỷ Đỏ.”
Anh rất trung thành, thậm chí còn đỏ mặt nếu bạn thổ lộ tình cảm với anh quá to. Anh không biết cách làm hài lòng fan, lúc nào cũng chỉ mang điệp khúc: Bảo trọng, mặc ấm vào, cảm ơn các bạn, tôi yêu các bạn.
Con gái thích anh hàng tá, 10x, 9x, 8x, có khi còn nhiều tuổi hơn.

Hôm nay là sinh nhật anh, một vài fan mới lớn trót ăn nói vạ miệng khiến mọi người phật ý.
Ngay sau đó, các fan nhiều tuổi hơn rất nhanh chóng nói lời xin lỗi.

Chưa hết, chuyện này chắc chẳng ai quan tâm đâu, nhưng tôi vẫn phải nhắc, tất cả các fansite của Luhan đã quyên góp được gần 20000 nhân dân tệ dưới tên anh rồi.
Và hàng trăm fan hoạt động riêng lẻ cũng đã quyên góp 50, 100, thậm chí hàng ngàn nhân dân tệ.
Fan của Luhan biết trời sắp sửa mưa nên đã mua áo mưa gửi tới khu vực thiệt hại từ 4 giờ.
7 giờ, fan Luhan dốc tiền mua vật dụng cứu trợ cho các nạn nhân. Chưa đầy nửa tiếng, họ đã thu được 10000 nhân dân tệ.
Họ mua đồ nhanh nhất cỏ thể để còn gửi tới Nhã An.

Suốt một năm qua, từ trước sinh nhật anh, fan Luhan đã đóng góp hết mình cho các tổ chức từ thiện, cho người già, động vật, người nghèo và trẻ nhỏ.
Họ mua đồ ăn, quần áo cho người già, thậm chí còn hát cho các cụ nghe. Họ gửi chăn gối cho động vật và chơi với chúng. Họ mua bút thước, sách vở cho trẻ em.
Họ đặt chân tới mọi vùng miền trên đất nước, tất cả vì một chàng trai tên Luhan, để trở thành con người có ích hơn.
Chúng tôi là người Trung Quốc, chúng tôi đóng góp sức mình để tạo nên sự đổi thay.

Vì trận động đất ở Nhã An, chúng tôi không ngừng refresh timeline để giúp liên lạc và tìm người.
Nhưng có vẻ như mấy người chẳng đếm xỉa tới điều đó. Mấy người bắt bẻ những fan mới lớn còn nông nổi bồng bột và phớt lờ một bộ phận đông đảo chúng tôi đang khóc thương cho các nạn nhân, đang san sẻ nỗi đau với họ.

Chúng tôi muốn cùng nhau nắm tay, cùng nhau đoàn kết.
Chúng tôi cũng là những đứa con yêu nước, xin đừng xa lánh chúng tôi.

Phút cuối cùng, để tôi kể cho các bạn nghe một câu chuyện.
Gần chỗ một chú nai ở, mọc lên đám rau dại và nấm độc.
Rồi cơn lũ kéo tới, cuốn trôi hết thức ăn. Người ta đến, thấy lũ nấm độc bắt mắt quá, bèn ôm hết đi.

Sau khi người ta bị ngộ độc, mọi người đổ xô đi tìm chú nai.
Mọi người rẻ mạt, mắng mỏ và đổ lỗi cho chú.

Nhưng chú nai không thể mở miệng nói. Chú chỉ có thể nhìn họ bằng ánh mắt hiền lành.
Đám rau dại yêu thầm chú nai, thế là chúng ép mình nhỏ những giọt sương lấp lánh để thu hút sự chú ý của mọi người.
Ăn chúng tôi đi, ăn chúng tôi đi, rau sạch cả đấy.

-
Vì tình yêu, chúng tôi vẫn cho đi bất chấp tất cả mọi thứ.
Fan với thần tượng cũng như nước với cá.
Cá biết ơn nước vì đã cho nó được sống, và cùng nó trưởng thành.
Nước chỉ đáp lại bằng những gợn sóng lăn tăn, “Vì tớ yêu đằng ấy mà.”

Lại nói nhảm rồi.
Cảm ơn vì đã đọc.

Ya An cố lên. Trung Quốc cố lên.
Một lần nữa, tôi chân thành xin lỗi vì những comment ấu trĩ của một vài fan thiếu suy nghĩ.

Dĩ nhiên, lời xin lỗi này không dành cho những kẻ hắt nước theo mưa, lên án nhau mà chẳng hiểu rõ sự tình.
A dua không đáng sợ. Cái đáng sợ là nói năng thiếu tình người.

tác giả: 八宝-雅安加油

e-trans: @exonyeoshidae

v-trans: mình

http://voile.gensokyo.org/res/51304.html

#1 ☺Nurtured by Love: Translated from the Original Japanese Text Book Reviews 2013

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Book Description : For Nurtured by Love: Translated from the Original Japanese Text

Now in a new translation, this book is legendary pedagogue Shin’ichi Suzuki’s exploration of the concepts of his Talent Education philosophy through a personal narrative of discovery and experiences. Taken from the original Japanese directly into English, this new work provides fascinating insight into the mind of the master. Both the original Nurtured by Love and Nurtured by Love Revised Edition are a must for any teacher, player, or devotee of Dr. Suzuki’s teachings, and promise to inspire new generations.

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#1 ☺Nurtured by Love: Translated from the Original Japanese Text Book Reviews 2013

Books up to 50% Off: And read review about the Nurtured by Love: Translated from the Original Japanese Text I have been doing research on online stores worldwide, and the facts say you can buy a Nurtured by Love: Translated from the Original Japanese Text with a very cheap price only here.

Book Description : For Nurtured by Love: Translated from the Original Japanese Text

Now in a new translation, this book is legendary pedagogue Shin’ichi Suzuki’s exploration of the concepts of his Talent Education philosophy through a personal narrative of discovery and experiences. Taken from the original Japanese directly into English, this new work provides fascinating insight into the mind of the master. Both the original Nurtured by Love and Nurtured by Love Revised Edition are a must for any teacher, player, or devotee of Dr. Suzuki’s teachings, and promise to inspire new generations.

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Pantheon Books, 2011, originally published in Sweden in 1999, published in the UK as The Blinded Man

Source: library

I picked up Misterioso because I tend to read lots of Swedish crime novels. I’ve also seen plenty of talk online about the BBC series which won’t be aired here for some time. Since I tend to believe books are better than their adaptations, I dove in.

Misterioso introduces Paul Hjelm, a police officer in crisis after defusing a hostage crisis at an immigration office. He believes his career is in jeopardy because of the ensuing Internal Affairs investigation, but abruptly he is recruited to join the A-Unit, a newly formed division of the National Criminal Police charged with investigating a serial killer who is targeting capitalist bigwigs.

This was a serial killer book that I really, really liked, and I think it was because it involved a whole investigative unit instead of a profiler or one sole detective versus a serial killer. The A-Unit is made up of six highly capable investigators and their boss, former soccer star Jan-Olov Hultin. The book goes into everyone’s backstories to a degree, but there’s plenty to cover in subsequent books.

The plotting is brisk, with a few slow spots but that’s because the investigation covers the span of two months and there are some dead ends the investigators pursue. There’s also lots of discussion of politics, the economy at the end of the 1990s, and sociology, and it doesn’t slow the story down because it’s so integral to the world in which the A-unit works. Maybe the speeches didn’t bother me because Dahl also uses plenty of humor during the course of the investigation, which I much appreciated.

Highly recommended.

The next book in the Intercrime series is Bad Blood, and it’s going to be published in the U.S. in August 2013. Harvill Secker purchased two additional books in the series recently.

For other reviews, see International Noir Fiction, Yet Another Crime Fiction Blog, and The Game’s Afoot.

Title/Author: A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

Genre: Adult Fiction, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism

Published: 1982 in Japan

Hardcover, 299 pages

How I Got This Book: Checked it out from the library

Why I Picked It Up?: Many of my co-workers love Murakami. Last year, I read his most recent (and longest) work, 1Q84 (my review here). I really enjoyed his writing style, so I decided to go back to the beginning and work my way through his novels.

Book Jacket Blurb:  “With the publication of A Wild Sheep Chase, readers in the West will be introduced to the prodigious talents of Haruki Murakami, the leading novelist of modern Japan…

The Time is now. The setting is Japan–minus the kimono and the impenetrable mystique of an exotic, distant culture. The narrator, identified only by a pronoun, is on principle an ordinary fellow. Thirty years old, he has more intelligence than an overachieving businessman, but no ambition and little purpose. Enter into his lackluster life a young woman, apparently ordinary as well but with ears so gorgeous that all conversation stops in the presence of their unveiling; a right-wing boss with a golfball-sized blood cyst in his brain who’s unaccountably been spared standing trial as a Class A war criminal; a sinister, all-efficient lieutenant with beautiful hands and a degree from Stanford; and a brilliant professor permanently sidetracked by an animal experience that in forty-two years has not dimmed in significance.

Inexorably, all are impelled into the bizarre pursuit of a dream-induced sheep. But this is no ordinary sheep. With a star on its back, eyes as clear as spring water, and a near-irresistible spiritual allure, the sheep embodies a perverse Nietzschean will to absolute power. The pursuit of this fantastic supersheep beings in the urban haunts of Tokyo, continues at a garish suburban estate, and culminates in the lonely mountainous snow country of Hokkaido.

Here, in Haruki Murakami’s dazzling debut in the West, is a feat of the imagination, a tale–not easily forgotten–of enchantment, suspense, and human mystery.”

My Review of this Work:

I know what you are thinking: “Hmmm, that title is really interesting. I wonder what metaphorical symbolism the wild sheep chase is?

But no, no. This book is literally about chasing a wild sheep. A special kind of sheep. A magical sheep.

Sound bizarre yet? Good. That’s the way Murakami likes it.

I know what else you are thinking: “I just read that blurb. What?”

Here’s the deal with Haruki Murakami: you read his books because he wrote them, not necessarily because the blurb sounds fantastic! For example, this past week Murakami’s newest book hit the stores in Japan. The catch? No information was even released about this book! Only the title and when it was being released! And yet, hundreds of people lined up to buy this mysterious book at midnight. There is such a respect for his level of writing that many citizens of Japan have Murakami on their “Autobuy” lists!

From the blurb, we get a lot of details about….some story. the blurb is quite verbose and a little overwhelming and not very informative of the overall story arc. So I will give you the skinny: The story itself is not anything wow-worthy. In fact, it is rather ordinary and mundane.

But remember what I told you: Murakami is a great writer and story-teller. He can take a rather mundane-sounding story and transform it into something you don’t want to stop reading! Simply through his style of writing! This is truly a bizarre story. And yet, there is something so innately intriguing to this story that you just can’t help but keep reading.

Even though he is quite advanced with his style of writing, I find myself giggling out loud while I am reading this novel. I find that Murakami has a quirky sense of humor that he infuses his story with, and I really appreciate it. It makes such a strange read more enjoyable when you can see the author’s sense of humor shine through his writing.

None of the characters have real names. They are either referred to as pronouns, job titles (Chauffeur, partner) or by animalistic nick-names (The Rat, The Sheep professor). So actually, when the chauffeur names the cat Kipper, that is quite a significant moment because the cat is the only character that Murakami allows to be named. I think that the unnamed theme lends itself further to the complete ordinariness of this story. These characters could be anyone. He could be you. She could be someone you know. The anonymity of this story creates part of the intrigue that keeps you reading more.

While I loved loved the development of this story and the attention to detail, when it got to the pennicle moment of this novel, things fell flat with me. I feel like he rushed through the end of this literary journey so much that the end of this novel simply lost the impact that it could have potentially had with me. But I found myself at a loss for exactly what was going on, exactly how he knew things, and then it was over. The end. I just feel like, for all of the grand efforts Murakami takes with the entire progression of this bizarre little story, the ending felt like a rush to come in under 300 pages. This did not necessarily take away from my whole reading experience, but it definitely impacted my overall liking of this novel.

After reading his most recent work, going back and reading one of his earlier works proves to me one thing–Murakami is an extremely talented writer and deserves all of the praise that he gets. He has a way with language that is unmatched by many; he intrigues his readers from start to finish. I will be reading more Murakami novels in the future, so be on the lookout. I feel like I will find one I am 100% in love with to share with you soon.  In the mean time, if nothing else, keep this man on your reading radar.

My Bookshelf Rating:

A Middle Shelf Book.

Such a bizarre story, and yet I couldn’t stop reading it. That is how great a writer Haruki Murakami is–he can make even the most mundane story invigorating. In a world full of magical realism and sheep, one simply gets lost in this mundane and anonymous story. Murakami is a fantastic story-teller, there is no doubt about that. And this story was actually quite intriguing until the last 50 pages, where the story got strange and trippy and kind of rushed. With all the build up, the end was kind of a let down, which is why this book only ended up with 3 stars. The ending is definitely not the most important part of the story, so it is still enjoyable. I just don’t really understand what happened, that’s all. But then again, that’s kind of how I felt with 1Q84 as well.

Love and Elementary,
Jennifer

ORIGINAL FORM IN ROMANIAN: Această tristeţe nu este a mea by Doina Ioanid

Această tristeţe nu este a mea. E a bătrînilor care nu mai pot urca scările, a copilului care nu poate vorbi, a bărbatului furios de propria-i neputinţă, a acestei primăveri tîmpe ce se hrăneşte cu morţii mei, a femeii care nu-şi mai poate seduce bărbatul, a zilelor ce nu reuşesc să rămînă, a fetei devorate de lumina nordului. Această tristeţe nu este a mea şi cu toate astea nu pot să scap de ea.

TRANSLATED FORM IN ENGLISH: This sadness is not mine

NEW TITLE: A VICTIMLESS CRIME

a coast, trust anew in me. and bats won’t care my pot or scars, an eclipse cares a new faith for me, barbarians furious about their repellent properties, accept your primary time, honest, a victimless crime, a female care, my truelove knot is seducing the barbarians, sailor flashes, it’s raining, war cry, a clash dissolves the north light. a coast, trust anew in me, see how cute is the new girl with pot and scars, at the sea.

a.aime

Many of you know how much I enjoyed and admired Keigo Higashino’s The Devotion of Suspect X which I read last year. In the interim, a drama series based on his short stories, Higashino Keigo Mysteries, aired in Japan and I watched with glee as he deconstructed the various mystery tropes that make up the successful crime writer’s arsenal.

And so I couldn’t wait to read Salvation of a Saint which once again featured the maverick and eccentric Detective Galileo aka phyics Professor Manabu Yukawa of the fictional Teito University in Tokyo who is invaluable in assisting the police investigations of his college friend, Detective Kusanagi. I was also delighted to see the appearance of Kusanagi’s deputy, Detective Kaoru Utsumi, who is one of the main characters in the tv series Galileo which aired in Japan in 2007 and which was my first introduction to Higashino’s mysteries.

Unlike in The Devotion of Suspect X, Professor Yukawa only makes an appearance from Chapter 9. The action is focused more on the police investigation into the murder of Yoshitaka Mashiba, a wealthy businessman with a beautiful wife, Ayane, who is a successful patchwork artist and teacher and a much younger lover, Hiromi Wakayama, who also happens to be his wife’s apprentice. But on that fateful weekend, Ayane was in Sapporo visiting her aging parents and Mashiba was supposedly alone. Told in flashbacks, the back story of the characters are slowly revealed in tandem with the progression of the investigation. When Utsumi suspects that her superior, Kusanagi, is being emotionally swayed by the captivatingly tragic Ayane, she calls upon Yukawa for his assistance. For the detectives are baffled at the inexplicable manner of Mashiba’s death and are unable to find any clues.

Unlike a conventional crime thriller, we are given a small number of suspects right from the beginning who are then slowly narrowed down as the police uncover clues. Higashino seems more interested in fleshing out the motives of each character through their interaction with the victim and unraveling the final trick with which the murder, if it can be proved, was carried out. Like with The Devotion of Suspect X, the mechanism of this trick is deceptively clever, if not slightly simpler as is the story itself which is a straightforward crime passionel.

This is a quiet book where the violence has already happened and the characters are dealing with the aftermath, all the while fending off prying questions by the police. There are no conflicts that are about to erupt. Everything is kept in check by the suspects. But this, contrarily ratchets up the tension because you aren’t exactly sure how the characters are going respond. Will they continue to put up a brave face or will they crack?

The mystery and the characters were satisfying but I am still unsure about the narrative structure and whether the flashbacks provided a cohesive plot. In some ways, I would have preferred if Higashino had embedded the characters’ pasts into the general narrative instead of giving us chunks in between which would have provided a more seamless reading experience.

The other thing of which I would have liked a little more explanation was the rift in Yukawa and Kusanagi’s relationship which I am suspecting happened in the previous book but which I seem to have forgotten.

Although I preferred The Devotion of Suspect X because of its sheer, shocking ingenuity, Salvation of a Saint is a solid crime novel providing you with a glimpse of affluent Tokyo and flawless houses that hide seething emotions just below the surface. Keigo Higashino’s work is hugely popular in Japan with a second series of Galileo and a film set to be released this year so I’m excited to see his novels featuring Prof. Yukawa appearing in English. I can’t wait to read more!

I would like to thank the lovely people at Little Brown who kindly sent me copy of Salvation of a Saint to review.

Hãy rời xa tôi…
Vì bầu trời kia không cho phép hai ta chung bước
Vì tình yêu đó sẽ làm con tim xinh đẹp của người tổn thương…

Đã chẳng còn gì để đôi ta cùng nhìn về chung một hướng…
Cũng là vì, con đường ta đi cùng người quá ngắn đó thôi…

Ta không thể giữ lấy được nữa, tình yêu dành cho người 
Mong rằng người hãy dang rộng đôi cánh màu xanh ấy và bay thật cao
Vì ta luôn ở nơi ánh mắt người có thể chạm đến…

Đi đi… Hãy đi đi… Hãy rời khỏi ta…
Cứ đi đi… Cứ rời xa ta… Rồi sẽ ổn cả thôi mà…

Hãy rời xa ta… vì người ta sẽ cố ngăn cản chúng ta đến với nhau
Vì tình yêu ấy đang cố quay lưng lại với những gì người có…

Đã chẳng còn gì để đôi ta cùng nhìn về chung một hướng…
Cũng là vì, con đường ta đi cùng người quá ngắn đó thôi…

Giờ thì, có lẽ ta nên để người ra đi
Mong người có thể đến một thế giới rộng lớn hơn nữa
Bởi ta luôn ở những nơi hơi thở của người còn lưu lại
Đi đi, đi đi, hãy rời xa ta…

Mong rằng người sẽ dang rộng đôi cánh màu xanh để bay cao hơn nữa
Mong rằng rời xa ta rồi, người sẽ đến được với thế giới rộng lớn bên ngoài kia
Vì ta luôn ở nơi ánh mắt người chạm được đến…

Đi đi… Cứ đi đi… Rồi sẽ ổn thôi mà…
Đi đi… Hãy rời xa ta…

Ta… yêu người…

.

.

.

_____

For Woonie, who lives by receiving pain…