20171208-TGG-Chap 5 Father and Sons

Reading of :

The Gay Genius 苏东坡传

20171208-TGG-Chap 5 Father and Sons

Summary 小结

Assured as the official careers of the Sus' family, the father and two brothers went on their journey to the capital city. They moved and Su Tongpu never went back to his hometown ever since. They took the track of Yangtze River instead of going by land. There is great scenery of the vast country, gorges of the river, the wide mother river of the nation which runs through the center of the country. Manifest as the scene was, the Sus' family were surprised and pleased by the sightseeing tour all the way up.

This journey is an end of Su Tongpo's youth, and the end of his childhood and andulensece under the wings of his passed mother and aging father. It is the prelude of his career and the start of his literature succesess.

Words 字词

Emulate

v. to try to be like 

If we now emulate his example, we shall be able to show that their personal weaknesses were easily outweighted by the great things that they accomplished , and we shall have a record that the future ggenerations may regard as honest and reliable.

She emulates  the leading actress's poses and heads to the middle of the ball.

Gloss over 

to treat or describe as if it were not important

Su Shun took the view as that this was strictly a historian's job and a historian should not gloss over the faults even of one's ancestors.

John glosses over his dishonesty in the name of his volunrability.

Indulge

v. to allow to have or do even though it may not be proper, healthy, approciate

It would have been slightly embarrassing if the  baby had been born a year earlier, for it would have meant that the young poet had indulged himself during the first year of mourning for his mother.

After winning the bitcoin business, he indulged himself in the pleasure of entertainment and company of young actresses.

Uninhabited

adj. not lived in by people (vs. uninhabitable, adj. not suitable to be lived in)

Naturally, these regions were uninhabited and uninhabitable.

The Grand Cayon covers a vast area of uninhabited land and moore.

Thoughts 感想

山水怡情，不管是顺境，逆境，总是在山水中可以找回志趣。亡母之痛，考取之乐，天伦愉悦，也不过在山水之间。

写传记，写历史，忠于事实是一种态度。作者并没有太多写父子的日常，花费了大篇幅的笔墨写三峡险峻、雄奇，其中带着人对于自然的尊重敬畏。苏东坡的诗文，得天地之灵，悲悯，又少有宿命论的悲观郁结。在为母居丧之后的壮游，三苏获得了一次心灵和身体的涤荡之旅，乐于山水，志怀高远，这些都在旅途中买埋下了种子。