林语堂小说《奇岛》论

<奇岛>描绘了一个乌托邦,一个以古希腊文明和中国道家文化为灵魂的智慧、快乐、闲适、风雅、自然、近情的理想共和国,同时对现代物质主义漠视和戕贼人的事实,对现代艺术、哲学及其他人文学问脱离人和歪曲人的荒谬,给予了痛快淋漓的抨击.小说要人们尊重人性,先弄清人是什么、人需要什么、人生为着什么以及什么才使人真正快乐,然后再去确定文化的目标和方向,再去确定什么是真正的社会发展和进步.

Comments on "Qi Dao" by Lin Yu- tang

Ideal Island" describes a Utopia: an ideal republic of wisdom, joy, leisure, elegancy, nature and reasonableness with the soul of Old Greek civilization and Chinese Taoist culture. It thoroughly attacks the fact that modern arts, philosophy and other humanities depart from and misrepresent the nature of human beings. The novel urges people to respect human nature, not to define the purpose and the direction of culture and not to define what social development and progress is before being clear about what human beings are, what human beings need, why people feel happy and what makes for true happiness.