Summary for my reading: 很久沒有坐定長時間去讀書，今天開始讀TTG的第一章，覺得還慢吃力的。詞匯是一方面問題，另一方面是對長難句的分析，花費的時間太長，導致后期疲憊，沒有完成全部十五頁的閱讀。晚上回去再試著讀一讀。
Central question of this chapter: Actually I haven't finished the whole chapter yet. But from what I have read, Lin states the two reasons for the clearness of the mental portrait of Su in his mind, and some brief inductions to Su.
Words and natural expressions:
1. contemporary 平常見這個詞是拿來當形容詞用的，在文中出現了...That is why it is sodifficult usually to judge a contemporary...這里把contemporary當做名詞使用了，叫做同時代的人，同輩。
2. compassion 同情憐憫。只記得passion是激情了，看compassion著實眼熟，卻想它不起來。
3. recess本作為名詞暫停，休會講，比如paliamentart's summer recess. 但是在文章里出現為...we know the recesses of his mind by.....在這里解釋為暫停，休會必然是不通順的，索性詞典上出現了。這樣的解釋the recesses of sth, the inner hidden parts of something 某事物的隱秘（幽深）處:
? the deep recesses of the cave
? 洞穴的深處
? fears hidden away in the darker recesses of her mind
? 隱藏在她內心深處的恐懼
所以這里理解為他思想的深處就比較合理了。
4. imbroglio完全陌生的單詞，雖然使用了Eric的卡片仍然是沒有記下這個單詞。a difficult, embarrassing, or confusing situation, especially in politics or public life〔尤指政治或公務中出現的〕錯綜復雜的局面:
? a political imbroglio
? 政治上錯綜復雜的局面
5. 在文中看到了journal和diary的表達，以前是將兩者通用的，今天發現原來兩者存在細微差別: Journal vs Diary
Diaries and journals have been popular for over centuries and are used for writing and recording information about a specific person. Journals are more personal than diaries; however, both diaries and journals are generally kept private.
6. banishment 和exile都有流放，流亡國外的意思，上大學讀英美文學的時候會經常碰到的詞，久而不用已經生疏。
7. inevitability sth. that is certain to happen.
8. There is a current Chinese saying that? final judgement upon a man is possible only when the cover is nailed on his coffin.
一讀到這個句子，第一個反應就是蓋棺定論。我不知道這個是林語堂自己的翻譯還是固定的翻譯。非常簡練，也和中文的蓋棺定論有很直接的聯系。
9.Su Tungpo was forever young. He was as a character more like Thackeray, in his politics and poetic fame more like Victor Hugo, and he had something of the exciting quality of Dr. Johnson. Somehow Dr. Johnson's gout is exciting to us even today, while Milton's blindness is not. If Johnson were a Gainsborough at the same time, and also a Pope making criticism of current politics in verse, and if he had suffered like Swift, without the growing acidity of Swift, we would have an English parallel.
讀到這里的時候，想起了大學上英美文學的內容，雖然不是全部都涉獵，但是還是立馬和自己已知的東西聯系起來了。然后看見了Eric的筆記，覺得感同身受，所以以下截圖了一部分他的筆記，作為學習。
10. 噢，對了，今天才知道Li Po就是李白。
2017.12.4
Chris .
