Chinese idiom again
恍如隔世
huǎng rú gé shì
恍 Almost always used in two words, 恍惚 and 恍然. 恍惚 means "in a trance" or "faraway", and the 恍 in it means "blurred", "disquieted". 恍然 means "seem" or "suddenly" (there's another idiom 恍然大悟), and the 恍 in it means essentially the same. In this idiom, the 恍 should have the former meaning.
如 Means "as", "like". Personlly I think it's just a prettier way to say 像.
隔 Normally means "separated", "block up". Here it should means "another". I think this meaning came from the "separated" one.
世 世 in 世界 means "the world", 世 in 世纪 means "century", 世 in 世代 means "generation", 世 in 世交 or 世仇 means "family", and 世 in 今生今世 or 来世 means "life". You'd know which one is the one in this particular one idiom later.
恍如隔世
As if being cut off from the outside world for ages; become like an old remembrance, or feel like something (someone) was another world away. Or, as if being in another life away from something (someone).
That's the dictionary talking. Below is my version.
I'm graduating now. And I'm packing. Stuffing books into big boxes. Some books I have loved fiercely, but completely forgot them later and haven't touched anyone of them for at least two years. So I saw them and sat down, began to re-read, and thinking about those days in which I loved those books with a passion and loved something else whole-heartily too. And now the "something else" didn't even left a souvenir because I bought books but didn't write diaries.
A lifetime away.
That's what 恍如隔世 means.