A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books

Charles Dickens; edited with an introduction and notes by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
online access from SuperStar Digital Library (Chinese)
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A Christmas Carol has gripped the public imagination since it was first published in 1843, and it is now as much a part of the holiday season as is mistletoe or Santa's reindeer. Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future--it is impossible to go anywhere during the month of December and not hear these names, time and again.

Now comes a wonderful new collection of Dickens' Christmas stories, graced with many of the original drawings that appeared in the first edition. Pride of place goes to A Christmas Carol, of course, but the book also includes four other marvelous tales: The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man. All five stories show Dickens at his unpredictable best, jumbling together comedy and melodrama, genial romance and urgent social satire, in pursuit of his aim "to awaken some loving and forbearing thoughts, never out of season in a Christian land." The volume also features an excellent introduction by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, who offers invaluable background to the Christmas stories, illuminating the social questions they set out to address, outlining their reception and the enduring popularity of A Christmas Carol, and highlighting how their style and themes resonate in more complex ways in his major fictions. In addition, the book includes two appendices containing Dickens's article, "What Christmas Is As We Grow Older," and facsimile pages from Dickens's reading version of A Christmas Carol.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

尋找心中那把尺

熊秉元 著
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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「我們應該想辦法讓每一個人心中的那把尺的『品質』愈高愈好，即使每個人的「心中之尺」有不同的刻度和長短」。本書為經濟學者的散文集，內容在介紹一個「經濟學的世界觀」。

作者以經濟學的基本觀念分析人類行為的各個面相，用以解釋一個正常人生活呼吸的世界裡的各種面貌。這些觀察和分析不在於顯現作者個人的想法，而在說明一件事可以「怎麼去想」：可以由正面來看，可以由反面來看，可以由正面的反面來看，也可以由反面的反面來看，更可以由不正不反的角度來看……

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)　

Making the Good Life Last: Four Keys to Sustainable Living

Michael A. Schuler
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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The Sustainable Life Is the Good Life

In our materialist culture, the idea of "the good life"--fancy cars, designer clothes, once-in-a-lifetime vacations--leaves even those few who can afford it feeling anxious, empty, and dissatisfied. Michael Schuler deconstructs the assumption that consumption and constant stimulation equal happiness. He shows how, by applying the principles of sustainability to our personal lives, we can discover treasures of perennial value: a beautiful and healthy earth home, enduring relationships, strong communities, work that contributes to the common good, and play that restores our bodies and lifts our souls.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

我負丹靑: 吳冠中自傳

online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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早已名聞遐邇，近年更像巨星般受到全世界藝壇矚目的吳冠中，一點一滴，一筆一劃將自己八十多年來的經歷、思考和感悟，毫無保留地交給讀者。

全書分三部份：第一部份是〈生命之流〉；主要記載畫家思想感情的成長、發展、 轉變和興衰，「這生命之流如繪了一幅《清明上河圖》，著力於長河的全貌與主要轉折，而許多局部細節須用放大鏡觀察。」第二部份〈此情此景〉；便是局部放大圖，這裡包括有關生活的、文藝觀的，其中還有不少引起過強烈反響和爭議的文章。第三部份是畫家親定的年表。

作者用誠懇真摯、發自內心的筆觸，帶領讀者走過他對比強烈、色彩斑斕的一生。

書中配上代表作和生活照，既可賞心悅目又能啟迪思索。

(摘錄自香港書城)

Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision

David duChemin
online access from iRead eBook (Chinese)
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Within the Frame is a book about finding and expressing your photographic vision, specifically where people, places, and cultures are concerned. A personal book full of real-world wisdom and incredible images, author David duChemin (of pixelatedimage.com) shows you both the how and the why of finding, chasing, and expressing your vision with a camera to your eye. Vision leads to passion, and passion is a cornerstone of great photography. With it, photographs draw the eye in and create an emotional experience. Without it, a photograph is often not worth—and can’t capture—a viewer’s attention.

Both instructional and inspirational, Within the Frame helps you on your photographic journey to make better images of the places and people you love, whether they are around the world or in your own backyard. duChemin covers how to tell stories, and the technology and tools we have at our disposal in order to tell those narratives. Most importantly, he stresses the crucial theme of vision when it comes to photographing people, places, and cultures—and he helps you cultivate and find your own vision, and then fit it within the frame.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

梵谷傳 (Lust for Life: The Story of Vincent Van Gogh)

伊爾文.史東 (Irving Stone) ; 余光中 譯
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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梵谷用畫寫人生，史東以小說還原梵谷破畫而出的生命故事，余光中典雅的譯筆感動半世紀來的藝術心靈。

從告別初戀，告別倫敦開始，到荷蘭奧為結束悲苦狂熱的一生，作者細繪梵谷在宗教，藝術，愛情中熊熊燃燒的靈魂。

身為牧師之子的梵谷，二十歲時在倫敦的古伯畫店當店員，向房東的女兒愛修拉求婚遭拒，自此開始一生坎坷的情路：妓女，表姊，鄉村女孩，他們是梵谷與旅程中的過客，也是他繪畫中的光影。

愛情受挫，傳道之路也因與礦工打成一片被開除。然而宗教的狂熱卻造就他筆下卑微人物的臉譜。

史東藉由梵谷與弟弟西奧往來的三卷書信，考證藝術史，寫出藝術家的心靈吶喊。 並並勾勒出當時印象派與後期印象派的主要畫家：羅特列克、高敢、秀拉、賽尚、盧梭……等。畫家們的聚會熱鬧非凡：盧梭高興地報告收到畫迷小姐來信；塞拉又想到新理論，正把塞尚困在窗前；一會笑聽高敢講的黃色笑話；一會又陪盧梭猜他那女朋友是誰；一會又和羅特列爭論……而梵谷與高敢兩大畫家的故事，更令人動容：高敢個性外傾，自負而專橫，常挖苦梵谷。梵谷性情內向，不擅言詞，他把高敢當作師兄來請教，卻也堅持自己的信念，據理力爭。

才如江海命如絲，梵谷一生受盡貧困、病痛、屈辱、孤寂，但追求完美藝術的意志從不動搖。他的畫，生前沒人看得起，死後沒人買得起。梵谷一生失意，全靠弟弟西奧對他不離不棄，照顧他資助他，不斷地鼓勵他。

全書可見梵谷對宗教與創作的狂熱，與十八世紀巴黎名畫家的往來的景況，精彩繽紛。梵谷從教會的傳道者變成藝術的傳道者，最後慷慨成仁，做了藝術的殉道者。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Concerning the Spiritual in Art

By Wassily Kandinsky
online access from SuperStar Digital Library (Chinese)
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A pioneering work in the movement to free art from its traditional bonds to material reality, this book is one of the most important documents in the history of modern art. Written by the famous nonobjective painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), it explains Kandinsky's own theory of painting and crystalizes the ideas that were influencing many other modern artists of the period. Along with his own ground-breaking paintings, this book had a tremendous impact on the development of modern art.

(Excerpt from books.google.com)



藝術的故事 (The Story of Art)

宮布利希 (E.H. Gombrich)) 著
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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《藝術的故事》出版以來，以三十種語言發行五百多萬冊，是討論藝術的著作中最知名也最暢銷的一本。四十五年來，其地位依舊無可取代，成為世界藝術史的最佳入門書，涵蓋的範圍，始自史前的洞穴繪畫以至當代的實驗藝術。

全世界的讀者，不論年齡與背景都會發現宮布利希教授是一位真正的大師，他結合了知識、智慧與特殊的天份，將讀者直接帶入他所描繪的藝術世界之中。《藝術的故事》之備受推崇，在於其直接、簡潔的語言與明確的敘述。宮布利希教授清晰地闡釋了藝術潮流與藝術概念，他讓我們看到藝術史是在傳統中不斷重組與變化的過程，每一件作品都與過去相關，又涉及未來，這一個生生不息的傳承仍然連結著當代世界與金字塔。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)