奇想英文书世界|美国少年的书单

The BFG is a children’s novel by Roald Dahl, who is the same author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that we introduced in last episode （一集节目）. The BFG focuses on a small orphan girl called Sophie and a giant, who she calls the big friendly giant or BFG for short. The BFG brings Sophie to the giant land, where the other giants are twice the size of him and bloodthirsty（嗜血的）. They devise a plan to bring down the other giants once and for all. This story is very sweet and heartwarming（暖心）. I read it when I’m feeling sad or bad about myself. Not only is the humor（幽默）, but the friendship sophie and the BFG develop is extremely heartfelt （动人心弦）and deep. From this story you can learn that friendship happens in unlikely places, and sometimes things will end up better than you hope. In the book, Sophie is an orphan who lives in an orphanage（孤儿院）. The matron is mean and abusive（虐待的）, locking them in cellars sometimes. But at the end of the story, Sophie is living a life happier than any could dream of. She lives in a beautiful little cottage right next to the Queen’s castle. It’s a very imaginative tale and it’s a story that is a part of my childhood.

查理和巧克力工厂里一些童趣又机敏的语言。

“I've heard tell that what you imagine sometimes comes true.“

“So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,

Go throw your TV set away,

And in its place you can install

A lovely bookshelf on the wall.

Then fill the shelves with lots of books.”

"Don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted."

"What happened?"

He lived happily ever after.”

“But there was one other thing that the grown-ups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance is there. The chance had to be there.”

“I am the maker of music, the dreamer of dreams!”

“Rainbow drops - suck them and you can spit in six different colours.”

“We are all a great deal luckier that we realize, we usually get what we want - or near enough.”

“Don’t argue, my dear child, please don’t argue!” cried Mr. Wonka. “It’s such a waste of precious time!”

“You should never, never doubt something that no one is sure of.”

巧克力世界里的匪夷所思，哪有不爱糖果的孩子！这部小说不愧“奇想”二字。

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the book we are speaking about this week. It is a novel by Roald Dahl about a poor boy named Charlie Bucket.

Roald Dahl是英国著名儿童书作家。他出了很多广受好评的儿童书，比如BFG，2016年被斯皮尔伯格搬上银幕，是我们都特别喜欢的电影；比如Matilda，被改编成电影以及Broadway Musical。。。Lindsay选书介绍的时候私心里可能更偏爱BFG。不过，这个巧克力工厂的故事因为太经典了，我们还是挑了它。Let's get back to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Charlie and his family are very poor, living in a small house at the edge of their city. They have one bed and one mattress （床垫）, with four elderly grandparents to take care of. But they all deeply love each other.

这个孩子出身贫穷但有丰富爱的家庭。

Mr. Wonka, a genius（天才） with chocolate and the owner of the chocolate factory, issued（发出） five Golden Tickets, Tickets for the whole world to try to get, hidden in the wrappers（包装纸） of his ordinary chocolate bars, and they are invitations （邀请） for the people who get them to enter his secretly operated（运作） factory. His own agenda（时间表，计划） is to find a successor（继承人） of his factory. And Charlie luckily got the ticket along with other four spoiled （宠坏的）kids.

查理只有钱买一块巧克力但能有幸得到金门票，故事里是自带主角光辉的。

看看人物背景，品质善良令人同情的查理与宠坏了又贪婪的四个其它孩子。我们不难想象故事的结局和最终走向就是善有善报恶有恶报。

Well, it is true. The other four kids end up like these one by one: They get sucked up a pipe, pushed down a garbage chute, blown up into a gigantic（巨大的）blueberry after chewing gum that hasn’t been fully developed, and the last is shrunk by trying to send himself into a television. As a result, they leave the factory before the journey ends. At the end of the day, Charlie is the only one left to accompany Mr. Wonka through the factory. Mr. Wonka reveal at that point he was looking for an heir （接班人）, a heir to take control of the factory. He said that he needs a child’s fresh ideas. Charlie, of course, is that winner.

尽管情节总结起来似乎并无新意，但是通篇故事里的描写想象丰富，叙述生动。尤其，对于儿童来讲，这巧克力工厂的种种细节匪夷所思，太好玩了，哪里有不爱糖果的孩子呢。

I love this book because of all the candies inside! Roald Dahl is a very descriptive（描写性） writer and makes you feel how it must be like to go through this factory. The factory even has a large beautiful boat made out of a pink hard candy that has been hollowed out. This candy boat sails on a chocolate river that is fed by a chocolate waterfall（瀑布）. They also visit a really cool candy inventory lab （发明实验室）. And Oompa-Loompas, Mr. wonka’s workers, also add a very imaginative（想像性） sense to the story. It feels so magical! I would love to have this experience.

是啊，如果你看过Johnny Depp主演的这部电影，那些眼花缭乱的场景都是源自作者的想象。孩子们的想象力最为丰富，也难怪这部1964年的小说时至今日仍然备受喜爱。想象力与描述力是我认为这部书最值得推崇的地方。

Charlie will go from a poor boy with barely anything to eat to a boy living in the most wonderful place ever exists.  I love how Charlie goes from rags-to-riches （由穷变富）, and his lifestyle improves from this wondrous place.

Lindsay的这种想法就是大众的想法，我们都喜欢看见穷人变富有生活瞬间改变的魔幻故事。坚守自己的善良，有希望有期待, dreams do come true。我们下次见。

曼哈顿洛克菲勒中心这两座雕塑是哪两位神？你知道吗？皮尔斯布鲁斯南出演Percy Jackson的老师，为啥是半人半马的设定？

L: Percy Jackson and Olympians have five books. The sequel series is The Heroes of Olympus, it contains five books too. This series deals with conflicts between Greek and  Roman demigods, While the Percy Jackson series only covers issues within  Greek Gods.

Q: 希腊诸神，罗马诸神，还有半神，这样混战起来，怕是要闹不明白了。

L：It is a little bit confusing because both systems have similar titles for gods but with different names. Zeus in Greece is similar to Jupiter in Rome. It takes some time to really know who they are in their own mythology systems.

Q: 因為希臘神話故事裡有其實很多沈重的內容比如屠城，戰爭，亂倫，所以給小朋友們介紹這樣的故事也的依循他們的心理慢慢來。在西方世界，有種說法，三大經典，一個是聖經，一個是莎士比亞，一個是希臘神話故事。幾乎後來所有涉及人文的都會多少在這三部书里寻到踪迹。尤其這神話故事的影响可不僅僅是神話那麼簡單.

L：It’s important for people in the western culture to understand the influence of Greek and Roman mythology.  The Eagle of America is related to the Roman god Jupiter’s symbol, the eagle. Jupiter is the God of Sky and Thunder and the King of Gods.

Q: 現在是不是更能理解鷹为什么会这么频繁地出现在西方国家的各种Icon里。The eagle is considered "king of the skies" and messenger of the highest gods. Eagle became a symbol of power and strength in Ancient Rome.

L: In many of the US government buildings, Greek murals are on display, painted on the ceilings, walls, and even floors. Many architectures resemble the Greek temples, Statues from Greek mythology, such as the Titan Prometheus and Atlas in the Rockefeller Center. Western world adopts Greek concepts in its decoration to show respect to Athens where democracy originated.

Q: LIndsay這裏舉例說明了希臘作為民主起源地，它的文化對西方世界的廣泛影響。其中她说到的洛克非勒中心有普罗米修斯和阿特拉斯的塑像。有机会到洛克菲勒一游，你要知道这两位大神背后的故事，这为金身的普罗米修斯给人类送下火种，而铜像阿特拉斯是扛起地球的大力神。他俩还是兄弟俩啊。

好了，今天呢，以Percy Jackson 为引，我们实际上讲了西方文化里非常重要的一部分希腊神话。它对西方文化的影响力，你在这里生活得越久你会体会得越深。包括时下的流行文化，上次我们在饥饿游戏的系列里讲到了作者创意正是来源于希腊神话里米诺斯的迷宫故事，时下大热的漫威英雄系列里的那位天神Thor 锤子哥，原型则出自挪威德国神话体系， 也是雷电天空之神。哈利波特里的centaur 半人半马角色Firenze，后来在Hogwarts 魔法学校做教授，救过Harry的命，为什么安排他做教授安排他救命，希腊故事里就有一位外表半人半马的神是很多著名希腊英雄的老师，并且为救他人付出自己的永生。你看看，要搞创作不说了，就是做一个有点素质的读者，这里头有多少可挖的背景。Percy Jackson系列里的诸神套上现代人的服饰粉墨登场，仔细看过去，他们也确实在今天的生活里若隐若现。

今天我们话题扯得散，周末了，大家开心。

Percy Jackson，哈利波特之后最著名的青少年系列小说。宙斯穿西装，战神骑摩托。。。让古希腊诸神穿越于现代美国大地。

L: My favorite book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians! It is a  pentalogy of fantasyadventure

Q: 在美国，如果家有7-17岁的孩子，你必定知道Percy Jackson的大名。在青少年中，Harry Potter系列Percy Jackson系列以及Twilight 暮光之城系列恐怕得排上影响力最大的几部。Pentalogy 就是五部曲的意思，词头是Penta- 就代表五，比如Pentagon五角大楼。Fantasy是小說分類中的玄幻奇想類。Lindsay, What makes Percy Jackson Series so unique?

L: The book is based on Percy Jackson,  a Greek demigod, the son of a mortal （凡人，有寿命的）mother and a Greek god. Demi means part. Just like his background, the book combines Greek myths （神话）and the modern life of a city boy. The author Rick Riordan does a good job on putting a modern spin （旋转）on the myths. After read this series, we got extremely familiar with the classic gods and goddess, although the  story settings are largely based on normal everyday settings.

Q: As a hero, Percy must have some special gift, what is it? And what also makes him a normal boy?

L：Percy is the son of Poseidon（海神波塞冬）, the God of Ocean. He can get more powerful when he is in the water, and he can heal （治愈）himself in water even when he is injured. This special talent saves him many times in his adventures. In normal life, he is a 11 year old boy with ADHD who is constantly in all sorts of trouble at school.

Q:ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, 注意力缺陷和多动症（少年儿童多发症）。作者本人原是一个历史老师，儿子有同样的病，他经常讲希腊神话故事给儿子听，所有的故事都讲完了就开始编排诸神，自己编故事，编到后来，儿子说可以出一本书啊。书写好了先给自己的学生看，学生们都很喜欢，才拿去发表。你看，从一个好父亲到畅销书作家仿佛水到渠成。

L: Not only Percy has both sides of the superpower and a normal school boy, The Greek gods themselves take on modern looks too. Zeus（宙斯）, lord of the sky and thunder, wears a business suit（商务西装）. Poseidon, god of the ocean, wears a Bermuda shirt （夏天穿的一种男士花短袖衬衣）and shorts. Ares, god of the war, rides on a Harley Davidson（哈雷戴维森摩托）motorcycle. Can you imagine these serious gods appearing the same as anyone we meet? These details are all blended perfectly together, the touches of normality, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art（大都会博物馆）, and New York City itself, make the ancient myths refreshing.

Q: 这个系列之所以如此成功，必须归功于作者经典翻新的能力。好了，下次我们接着说这部书。

情诗情话如何说？听“魅影”Erik的表白。什么是情到深处无怨尤，为什么这部美女与野兽的又一版本会如此长盛不衰。来看看：

“If I am the phantom, it is because man’s hatred has made me so. If I am to be saved, it is because your love has redeemed me.”

“All I wanted was to be loved for myself.”

“He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar.”

“Tonight I gave you my soul, and I am dead.”

“Our lives are one masked ball.”

“There is some music that is so terrible that it consumes all those who approach it.”

“Why do you condemn a man you have never seen, whom no one knows about and whom you yourself know nothing?”

“May one ask at least to what darkness are you returning? …. For what hell are you leaving, mysterious lady….or for what paradise?”

“No one will ever be a Parisian without learning to put a mask of joy over his sorrows and a mask of sadness, boredom, or indifference over his inner joy.”

“Close your eyes and let the music set you free.”

“He would commit murder for me.”

歌剧魅影长盛不衰，百老汇音乐剧功不可没，但是原著小说奉献了经典流行元素浪漫，悬疑，哥特式恐怖，探案追踪。。。并且塑造了“魅影”这一扭曲人物和他最后为爱而赴死的悲情。来读一下并欣赏最著名的乐段“ All I ask of you". 

L：The Phantom of the Opera is an old French story written by Gaston Leroux. It is a sad story about a singer, her love, and a ghost. In Paris during the 1880s, a famous opera house is believed to be haunted by the Phantom of the Opera, or the Opera Ghost.This book is a novel of mystery, music, Gothic horror, and romance.

Q：等一下。这里好几个大词儿，都跟文学分类有关。Mystery神秘，Gothic指18世纪流行起来的哥特小说，是恐怖小说的鼻祖，Romance就是浪漫，也是小说类型的一种。我们知道这个小说讲了被以为的魅影和女歌者Christine 间的感情，但是关于神秘和恐怖，还请Lindsay多说几句。

L：Mystery focuses on who the ghost is, and how he just seemingly pops out of nowhere in the huge Paris Opera House，from the ceiling to the water pipes underground.  Gothic horror is centered around ghosts, superstition, and although the Phantom is just a disfigured man, he does have violent qualities and a ghostlike manner. He abducts Christine to his underground lair and tries to force her to marry him and stay faithful to him.

Q：这本书的主角是神秘人 Erik，他因为脸部严重变形一生不能见人不被人爱，但他具有极高的音乐天赋，因为女主角克莉丝汀歌喉美妙，他暗地里给美丽的女主授课让她成为明星并且爱上了她，最终强迫她嫁给他忠于他。

L：Erik is the dark, dangerous, and ugly forbidden love. Christine views Erik as her Angel of Music, and pities him because of his loneliness. But she doesn’t really love him. Her love is somebody different, a young man from her childhood. There is a love triangle between Raoul, Christine, and Erik.

Q: Erik心里极度扭曲，渴望被爱，但他并不懂得如何爱如何赢得爱。这也真不能怪他，他的身世是很令人同情的。

L：But Erik eventually sacrificed himself for Christine’s love and future.

Q: 正因为如此，这本小说才有了长久的生命力。多少人为了Erik泪洒剧院。连Lindsay小小年纪看着小说的结局都唏嘘不已捶胸顿足。圣经说love is kind。。。，It does not envy。。。It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered，Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth  Erik的选择会让你更好的理解爱的真谛。

L：I love this book because the plot is well-developed, as if the ghost case is a real investigation pulled from a real life newspaper articles. It makes the story delightful to read. The descriptions the author made were very emotional.  

Q: 作者曾经是个记者，喜欢侦探故事，所以他的情节发展模仿了报章新闻以及探案类的写法，让故事读起来更有趣味。

如果你不曾看过这本书，至少听一下同名舞台剧里的一些著名歌曲乐段吧。

美国学校里，每一年都会重新学生分班，每一科目的同学组合也不一样，各科老师也重新换过。第一天，照例是新老师同学见面讲课程安排以及要求。英文课，老师给出的书单是什么？

Fever 1983 中文翻作黄热病

Giver 中文翻作记忆传承人

2014年梅丽尔斯特里普在电影The Giver中

Lindsay：My English teacher gave us a book list for us that we will read together in class. They are Fever 1793, The Outsiders, and The Giver.

这几本书我附上了封面图。搜索了一下，其中有两部都已经搬上了银幕。卡斯也很强大，大家看见海报上梅姨了？ 如果Lindsay喜欢这些书，以后我们的节目就会提到它们。

Q: what else will you do through this year in English class?

Lindsay: We will be writing poetry, as well as reading it. Many people don’t like that unit but I enjoy it. We will also be creating our own superheroes and supervillains, and making long backstories for them. Later on in the year we will write short stories, which is something I’m looking forward to. Writing is something that I really like doing.