奇想英文书世界|美国少年的书单

一本好的小说必有立得起来的人物。这篇小说里有四个主要人物，分别对应着明决，智慧，野性, 与灵性。今天我们来看看他们身上的品格如何在逆境中被放大又会走向哪里。在人格发展上，我们如何平衡各种品质，才能在越来越丛林的社会立足，才能既守住人的底线又能在系统里生存，这本书都会给我们带来很多思考。这也是阅读优秀作品的意义所在。

The main character in this book is Ralph. He is the elected Chief, and he represents leadership. He is attractive, charismatic, responsible, and quite intelligent.Most important of all, he can execute what is right and is not afraid of confronting savagery. He can maintain the common sense of civilization even in the most dangerous situations.

Ralph 是书里第一主角，他最大的特点就是清醒，有勇气承担责任，富有魅力，也能从善如流。故事的开始他被选为首领，布置了主要的工作，还明确了有火有烟是最重要的，因为要想得救必须发出信号，对小孩子们也懂得照顾。与他结成好友和联盟的是Piggy，piggy的性格又怎么样？

Piggy is the intellectual with poor eyesight. He is the most physically weak of all the boys, despite his greater intelligence. Piggy represents the rational world. He wears a pair of spectacles, which is the only tool to ignite fire. Sadly, his glasses get broken, symbolizing the boys of the island throwing away the world of civilization and science.

Piggy, 小猪，是Ralph的忠实盟友，也扮演了 advisor的角色，他是书里最具有智性理性的人，是他一再强调火的重要，强调秩序和协作。但是他为人固执拘泥，不能变通，且完全没有体能和行动能力，时时被群体嘲笑。如果在文明社会他可能会相对容易生存，但是在那样没有秩序保护的荒蛮之地，他最后被Roger抛下的巨石砸死，他的眼镜，书里唯一能点火的工具被砸碎，火，就是人类的文明发端啊。所以说，光光靠明事理是不足以在丛林里生存的。Ralph的长处就在于他不仅能吸取Piggy给予的正确想法，还可以推动实现，并且共情能力也高，是天生的领袖人物。相对于Ralph，另一个Leader型的人 是Jack，他又怎么样呢？

In the beginning, Jack follows the rules and promises to cut trees to build a fire. But gradually he let his instincts run wild by hunting and neglects his responsibilities . As a result, one ship passed the island, which triggers conflict and then a power struggle between Ralph and Jack.

Q：Ralph and Jack are the two older boys and stronger ones. 但他们是非常不一样的。

Stella：Jack represents evil and violence, the dark side of the human nature. His main interest is hunting, an endeavor for meat, and an overwhelming urge to master and kill other living creatures. He is responsible for the deaths of a few boys. At the end of story, he and his tribe even tried to hunt Ralph as the wild pig. Jack has no self control or concern for others. He is ruled by emotion and his animalistic instincts.

Q：在小说里，Ralph开始拥有领导权，安排了几件对大家生活和得救都非常有意义的工作，但是Jack所代表的一群人，由于贪恋打猎有肉吃的快感，逐渐偏离秩序，崇尚武力迷信，大的欺负小的，最后让小岛完全成为Jack弱肉强食的领地。这也反映出了作者对人性的失望。

Stella：There is another important person in the book, Simon. He is very kind and gentle and always takes care of little boys. He is also a loner. He is the one who reveals that the beast the boys are afraid of is actually a dead pilot and his parachute from a air crash. He is the wise person of the novel, with the ability to predict the outcome of their situation

Simon这个人物被描写得有疏离和神秘的气息。作者在他身上赋予了非常多的象征意义，作者给予PIggy一副眼镜这个科学工具让他能看见Truth，说起Simon则是很直接地说他有bright eyes，明亮的眼睛，直接看透人。岛上人心惶惶的怪物的真相是Simon发现的。也是他仿佛预言似的告诉Ralph，“You'll get back to where you came from.”。He represents intuitional artistic and religious vision。 书里他死去的时候安排了一场宏大描写的海葬，蝇王这个名字也是来源于他与想象中猪头的对话，这些都说明作者对他的厚爱。很多文学评论认为Simon身上有基督耶稣的影子。

那么这本书是很多学校的必读书，我们连做了三期，我个人在写稿上也做了很多掩饰阅读。本人也非常偏爱这本书。尤其推荐给家有青少年的去读，在人格发展上，我们如何平衡各种品质，才能在越来越丛林的社会立足，才能既守住人的底线又能在系统里生存，这本书都会给我们带来很多思考。这也是阅读优秀作品的意义所在。

1983年诺贝尔文学奖获得者的文字功夫点燃了后来很多艺术家的灵感，比如U2乐团，比如Stephen King，知道Castle Rock城堡岩这个名字源自哪里？对，小说蝇王。

配乐选用1990年电影蝇王主题曲。Music by, Philippe Sarde

Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us

The thing is - fear can't hurt you any more than a dream.

Towards midnight the rain ceased and the clouds drifted away, so that the sky was scattered once more with the incredible lamps of stars. Then the breeze died too and there was no noise save the drip and tickle of water that ran out of clefts and spilled down, leaf by leaf, to the brown earth of the island. The air was cool, moist, and clear; and presently even the sound of the water was still. The beast lay huddled on the pale beach and the stains spread, inch by inch

“The greatest ideas are the simplest.”

What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?

If faces were different when lit from above or below -- what was a face? What was anything?

The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.

His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.

The mask was a thing on it's own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness

The trouble was, if you were a chief you had to think, you had to be wise.

They walked along, two continents of experience and feeling unable to communicate.

Which is better--to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?

十几岁的男孩子们已经有了一定的生存能力，体力，以及现代教育后的基本认知，但是又并非一个具有成熟理智和自我约束的成年人，而且，不是一个人好像鲁滨孙漂流记单打独斗面临生存艰难，而是一群人，有人的地方就有江湖，这里面就要既有组织又有斗争，男孩子们是如何建立起秩序最终又怎么样呢？全少年小说。荒岛生存里的人性堕落。

S：Lord of the Flies is a novel written in 1954 by Nobel Prize–winning British author William Golding. The book focuses on a group of British boys stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempt to govern themselves.

Q：Strand就是搁浅的意思。Uninhabited就是无人居住的。Govern就是治理理。一帮男孩子因为飞机失事搁浅在一个荒岛，试图在此以一定的社会秩序求生的故事，结局却是灾难性的。Stella， what is the background of the story and who are those boys?

S: The book takes place during a war. In the wartime evacuation, a British airplane crashes on an island in a region of the Pacific Ocean. All those that survive are boys. Most are in their teenage years. There are some younger ones, but they are not the main characters in this book. Except for a choir team, most of the kids had not known each other before the crash.

Q:这篇小说的背景交代的比较模糊，反正就是要把一批大小男孩子送到远离文明的地方求生。这个设置用心良苦，非常关键。十几岁的男孩子们已经有了一定的生存能力，体力，以及现代教育后的基本认知，但是又并非一个具有成熟理智和自我约束的成年人，而且，不是一个人好像鲁滨孙漂流记单打独斗面临生存艰难，而是一群人，有人的地方就有江湖，这里面就要既有组织又有斗争，男孩子们是如何建立起秩序最终又怎么样呢？

S：The result is very sad. They first tried to establish order and leadership. They elected a Chief. They assigned jobs, such as hunting, building shelters, and building fire for smoke which is critical to alert ships  passing for rescuing . But as the situation evolved, unexpected things happened, a power struggle took hold, and they gradually lost their sense of what’s real by believing in a non existent monster. They deteriorated from order by letting a wild instinct overpower a more rational and civilized way of thought. Boys might just be bullies in civilized world, but change into killers when all regulations are gone.

Q: 英文小说经常毫不避讳探讨人性的黑暗。即使是给中学生看的书，不粉饰太平。作者给出的画面不是小岛上的世外桃源和乐土，而是越来越远离文明的残酷和野蛮。这篇小说寓意很深，wikipedia是这样说的，“the central theme is the conflicting human impulses toward civilisation and social organisation—living by rules, peacefully and in harmony—and toward the will to power. Themes include the tension between groupthink and individuality, between rational and emotional reactions, and between morality and immorality.”

S：there are four different major roles presented in the story that show the different characteristics of people in extreme situation.

Q: 是的，人物是小说的重点。我们下次谈。谢谢大家收听奇想英文书世界，让我们一起在文学和思想的层面学习英文。下次见

德里高利派克出演的律师父亲是一个真正的英雄。

Stella: To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Alabama （亚拉巴马州）during the Great Depression （大萧条）. Atticus Finch is a single father to Scout and Jem and works as a lawyer. The story is told from the point of view of Scout, a girl who ages from 6 to 9 during the story. It is about a mysterious neighbor who never leaves his house, and a case that accuses（指控） a black man of raping a poor white woman.

Q:这本小说的作者哈珀李把故事布置在美国南方亚拉巴马的三十年代大萧条时期。大家知道美国南方正是种族歧视最厉害的地方，而且，还在经济不好压力最大的时候。小说是从一个大约6-7岁的小姑娘眼睛里叙述出去的，所以虽然涉及的主题都非常严肃比如阶层，歧视，种族歧视，性别歧视，误解，贫穷，不公，但整个语言却能保持温暖以及价值观的纯真。Stella，How does the story end?

S: Atticus believes that Tom Robinson - the accused - is innocent and supported his belief well in court, yet Tom was still pronounced guilty. This was wrong because this happened mainly due to Tom’s skin color. People saw blacks as lower than everyone - including poor white women. Tom then tried to escape from prison and was killed. Scout was devastated. The mysterious man who lived next door saved her and her brother’s lives and proved to be an innocent man, which is contradictory to what she had heard about him.  

Q: 这本小说涉及了两条主线，一个是一件强奸案，黑人男性Tom被指强奸贫穷家庭的白人女性，Scout的父亲Atticus做Tom的辩护律师，Tom最终仍然难逃死去的结局。另一条线是邻居家的一个神秘男人从未进入公众视野，其原因在小镇众说纷纭，最终却是这人救了孩子们的命。这两条线会在结局的时候交汇。在这个保守的小镇，父亲要顶住压力为黑人辩护，孩子全不顾邻里的流言止不住的好奇想了解这个神秘的邻居，都彰显了一种强烈的个人意志。来我们先说说父亲，律师，Atticus。

Stella： As a father, he treats his children as equals, educating them on what is right and answering any questions they raise. 1930s America is racist. People are biased against African Americans and regularly use racial slurs, yet Atticus does not and teaches his children to not do so as well. He believes in doing what is right, not following the crowd.

Q：Stella说到作为父亲他平等对待孩子，回答他们的所有问题，并且教育孩子做正确的事情,而不是去从众。

Stella： He was assigned to defend Tom Robinson, an African American man in court. He knew before he began the case that he would lose due to people’s bias against African Americans. Atticus still went through with the case because he wanted Tom to have the best defense possible and he truly believed Tom was innocent. Atticus believes in defending the innocent, in treating everyone equally even though doing so is against the norm.

Q：作为一个律师，尽管Atticus非常清楚由于整个环境对黑人的歧视他会输掉案子，但是他仍然尽全力在法庭上为汤姆辩护，顶住了来自周围的强烈压力。这些压力，大家可以去仔细看一下书里的细节，不仅涉及他在小镇的名声，更有关他和孩子们的安全，非常的大。他在坚持自己认为正确的事情坚持专业上，显示了非凡勇气。当年大明星德里高利派克演的他。原书里，他对儿子这样说勇气，“when you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what".这个人物，被认为是极具影响力的虚构书中英雄。而且，他还特别低调。

Stella: Jem, Scout’s brother, grew more respect for Atticus once he found out Atticus was a great shooter. Atticus told him that he wanted Jem to know what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that it is a man with a gun. Real courage is doing something even though you know you will fail, and insisting on standing up for your beliefs.

Q:这位文质彬彬的律师父亲是一位神枪手，儿子根本不知道。这位父亲清楚告诉儿子勇气是什么，用我们中国人的话说，虽千万人吾往矣。

S：The books also talked about a few strong women who all taught and influenced Scout positively.

Q: 哈珀李是一个女作家，她在书里塑造了好几个温暖又坚强的女性形象，从各个方面给予小姑娘影响。Scout虽然年幼，她的叙述里有显示她正直善良又充满孩子天生的纯真直接。

S：I liked this book. Life was different and not very easy for people back then. We were required to read this book in 8th grade. There were many class discussions.  The book was not boring because there was a lot to discuss.

不同的观点与理想在战场上得到解决。

听麦克阿瑟将军的霸气演说。

密苏里战舰受降仪式上的演说。加粗部分为录音。

We are gathered here, representatives of the major warring powers—to conclude a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored. The issues involving divergent ideals and ideologies, have been determined on the battlefields of the world and hence are not for our discussion or debate. Nor is it for us here to meet, representing as we do a majority of the people of the earth, in a spirit of distrust, malice or hatred. But rather it is for us, both victors and vanquished, to rise to that higher dignity which alone befits the sacred purposes we are about to serve, committing all our people unreservedly to faithful compliance with the obligation they are here formally to assume.

It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past—a world founded upon faith and understanding—a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish—for freedom, tolerance and justice.

（珍珠港事件中被击沉的亚利桑那战舰长眠水下，在它之上建起纪念地，为后人凭吊图片来自网络）

The terms and conditions upon which the surrender of the Japanese Imperial Forces is here to be given and accepted are contained in the Instrument of Surrender now before you.

As Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, I announce it my firm purpose, in the tradition of the countries I represent, to proceed in the discharge of my responsibilities with justice and tolerance, while taking all necessary dispositions to insure that the terms of surrender are fully, promptly and faithfully complied with.

When the assembled representatives of the Allied Powers and of Japan had finished signing the agreements, General MacArthur, MacArthur stated:

Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are closed.

 仪式结束后，MacArthur对美国人民和全世界发表的广播演说。

September 2, 1945; At the conclusion of the Surrender Ceremony, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, broadcast this speech:

“Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The skies no longer rain death -- the seas bear only commerce men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace. The holy mission has been completed. And in reporting this to you, the people, I speak for the thousands of silent lips, forever stilled among the jungles and the beaches and in the deep waters of the Pacific which marked the way. I speak for the unnamed brave millions homeward bound to take up the challenge of that future which they did so much to salvage from the brink of disaster.

As I look back on the long, tortuous trail from those grim days of Bataan and Corregidor, when an entire world lived in fear, when democracy was on the defensive everywhere, when modern civilization trembled in the balance, I thank a merciful God that he has given us the faith, the courage and the power from which to mold victory. We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph, and from both we have learned there can be no turning back. We must go forward to preserve in peace what we won in war.

A new era is upon us. Even the lesson of victory itself brings with it profound concern, both for our future security and the survival of civilization. The destructiveness of the war potential, through progressive advances in scientific discovery, has in fact now reached a point which revises the traditional concepts of war.

Men since the beginning of time have sought peace. Various methods through the ages have attempted to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes between nations. From the very start workable methods were found insofar as individual citizens were concerned, but the mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope have never been successful. Military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. We have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature and all material and cultural developments of the past two thousand years, It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.

We stand in Tokyo today reminiscent of our countryman, Commodore Perry, ninety-two years ago. His purpose was to bring to Japan an era of enlightenment and progress, by lifting the veil of isolation to the friendship, trade, and commerce of the world. But alas the knowledge thereby gained of western science was forged into an instrument of oppression and human enslavement. Freedom of expression, freedom of action, even freedom of thought were denied through appeal to superstition, and through the application of force. We are committed by the Potsdam Declaration of principles to see that the Japanese people are liberated from this condition of slavery. It is my purpose to implement this commitment just as rapidly as the armed forces are demobilized and other essential steps taken to neutralize the war potential.

The energy of the Japanese race, if properly directed, will enable expansion vertically rather than horizontally. If the talents of the race are turned into constructive channels, the county can lift itself from its present deplorable state into a position of dignity.

To the Pacific basin has come the vista of a new emancipated world. Today, freedom is on the offensive, democracy is on the march. Today, in Asia as well as in Europe, unshackled peoples are tasting the full sweetness of liberty, the relief from fear.

In the Philippines, America has evolved a model for this new free world of Asia. In the Philippines, America has demonstrated that peoples of the East and peoples of the West may walk side by side in mutual respect and with mutual benefit. The history of our sovereignty there has now the full confidence of the East.

And so, my fellow countrymen, today I report to you that your sons and daughters have served you well and faithfully with the calm, deliberated determined fighting spirit of the American soldier, based upon a tradition of historical truth as against the fanaticism of an enemy supported only by mythological fiction. Their spiritual strength and power has brought us through to victory. They are homeward bound—take care of them.”

书迷们点赞最高的句子。来看看。

Katniss, Sagittarius, Archer, 人马座？

还有Mocking Jay? 

“You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.”

“I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.”

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”

“Stupid people are dangerous.”

“Katniss, the girl who was on fire!”

“Kind people have a way of working their way inside me and rooting there.”

“For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.”

“You’re not leaving me here alone,” I say. Because if he dies, I’ll never go home, not really. I’ll spend the rest of my life in this arena, trying to think my way out.”

Only I keep wishing I could think of a way...to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games.”

“Some walks you have to take alone.”

“I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now and live in it forever.”

“I always channel my emotions into my work. That way, I don't hurt anyone but myself.”

“Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!”

Q

“It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”

“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.”

谢谢Lindsay的朗读，是不是对这篇的文字和气氛有些微的感受？

最后，我讲一下女主人翁的名字Katniss Everdeen名字的来源。Her name comes from a plant with edible tubers called Sagittaria (katniss), from Sagittarius the Archer, whose name means He that throws arrows in Latin. 这个名字是她爸爸给起的，大家看一下文稿。

还有第三部书，饥饿鸟，MockingJay, 是不存在的鸟, 小说赋予了它很多象征意义，是反抗的标识，现实里倒是有一种真实的鸟，叫 Mockingbird，下次我们要讲的小说就是

To Kill a Mockingbird，杀死一只知更鸟。请继续关注。

考试就是作文，作文就是分数。。。基本这样。。。作文靠什么，阅读！读什么，请听。。。

（小声说，文法偶尔考考）。

S：hello, ximalaya! I am Stella, I will be explaining what English class is like from Elementary school（小学） to High school.

Q：那么你先给我们一个简单介绍 A simple introduction？

S：English class is primarily taught through reading various books. The English teacher provides a book list that he/she picked of 4-6 books for whole school year. That’s our reading material. We need to write essays （作文）based on the books we read.

Q: 老师指定本学年的读书单子，学生还要对读过的书按要求进行各种类型的写作。Do teachers decide book list on their own?

S: Each teacher chooses books at a similar difficulty level to reflect（反应）the grade level requirement, but the reading list still varies slightly（些微）from teacher to teacher.

Q: 老师决定书单，书单当然要反应该年纪的难度要求，一个学校一个年级的学生都会有不同的书单。

S: In elementary school, the class was divided into different groups based on ability. In middle school, everyone in the class has the same reading material. In high school, there are two types of English classes: Honors（荣誉）, or Regular. Honors is more challenging （挑战性）than the regular class and reads different books.

Q: 美国小学，不鼓励跳级超前，孩子还小，跟同龄的孩子一起，这样情感上会觉得更有安全感。但是，在阅读能力上超前的会给超前难度的书分到超前小组，这样既有特殊关注也保证不受孤立。中学是读同水平的书，到了高中就开始分荣誉班和普通班直接划开程度区别了。Can you tell us what you read in 9th grade（12年级制中相当于中国初三，但在有些校区已归入高中）?

S: We read 1984 by George Orwell, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, Caesar by Shakespeare, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. They were good books.

Q: Stella9年级时读的五本书有深度反应人性与制度黑暗的1984，乔治奥维尔写的，我作为成年人都觉得读起来很沉重，颇具挑战性的经典人鼠之间，还有莎士比亚古英语的凯撒，莎士比亚是经典中的经典，每一个在文学上有追求的都应该读上几篇。 Do you need to finish the book from beginning to the end?

S: It depends（看情况）. Usually, we do, but for Caesar, there was not enough time to finish the whole book. The Illustrated Man contains（包括）many short stories and we didn’t read every short story.

Q: 老师的要求有时是读指定部分，有些是读全本. What is your typical English class like?

S: The English teacher reads out loud, stopping to discuss various themes（主题）, analyze symbols（象征符号）, and make connections（联系）. We write paragraphs reflecting on a certain passage and also write essays after being given a question about a central idea from the book.  

Q：老师会朗读重点部分，分析讨论，理解书里的象征意义，以及作者背景，作品前后一些联系。除了读小说文学性质的书，你们还读别的书吗？ （book types）

S: We mostly read fictional books. In high school, most of our books are classics or cover serious topics. We occasionally read poems or articles.

Q: Fiction就是虚构类，高中主要读经典，严肃的书，偶尔读诗或者其它文章。Is there any test? 考试评分系统是怎样的？ （Test Grading)

S: There are tests. Our essays are graded as tests. We also get reading quizzes to make sure we are up to date （跟上进度）on the book. We had one grammar test last year. We have a midterm（期中） and a final（期末）which are essays that require you to connect an article to a book we read in class.

Peeta的自我审视与Katniss的爱。无论任何困境，总有生而为人的坚持。 

Q： 上一期我们谈了饥饿游戏的大致情节，游戏规则，这一期我们接着聊。我们这档节目虽然是一档面向青少年和他们家长的英文节目，但是我们希望，在语言学习之外，挖掘文学意义，和英文世界青少年的精神世界。回头说这本书，如何在死亡游戏里求生存，这很残酷。尤其是对孩子而言。

L: in the arena, it is hard for victors to keep their moral values. They have to kill other children, while they are still children, just for the slightest chance to survive.  That really takes a toll on a child, and it can give them nightmares for the rest of their lives. The games are a wicked, twisted form of entertainment for the Capitol. The children tossed into the arena know that their only chance to survive is to kill, so they kill. In doing so, they are doing exactly what the Capitol wants.

Q：小说设计的背景就是这样一个以杀戮求生存的游戏规则，人将不得不放下所有人的道义。即使是胜者，一辈子也会被噩梦缠绕。而这个游戏却是为了取乐于Capitol，孩子们就像骰子一样扔进游戏场，遵循着被Powerful Capitol决定的规则，渺小的弱者不得不顺从，小说需要冲突，每本有意思的小说，都有那么一两个不一样的人物。女主人公Katniss与和她同属一个区的Peeta身上彰显的自我，独立，与叛逆在这个舞台上开始熠熠生辉。

L：Peeta Mellark, Katniss’ love interest and fellow victor, was one of the only kids to question whether they were being morally correct. He said that if he died, he wanted to die as himself. He wanted to die showing that he was “more than a piece in their Games.” Most competitors don’t give a second thought about their moral code, going in with weapons blazing. Peeta took the moments before going into the Games to really think about maintaining his purity of self and mind. Nobody comes out of the arena the same they were going into it.

Q：除了Lindsay这里提到的Peeta，当之无愧的第一女主角弓箭手Katni ss身上不仅有坚持的自我，还有温暖对他人对弱者的爱。

L： This book shows a story of many different types of love. For example, Katniss’ love for her sister, Prim. She volunteered to go into the Hunger Games to save her sister. Even in the arena, she protected a young girl named Rue who was a competitor from another district. Peeta’s apparent love for Katniss and Katniss’ feelings towards Gale, an old friend from her district, were also forms of love. She loves her family and people in her hometown, and doesn’t want them to die or go through pain as heir children go through the Games. She decided to rebel although she herself lived a luxurious life as a victor after winning the hunger games.  

Q:在面对强权的斗争里成长出来的少年英雄，往往都是最开始于朴素的对亲人的爱。Lindsay，A final question, how do you like the writing style of this series?

L: The writing style was straightforward but with dark undertones that sent shivers down my spine. It really conveyed a struggle against hunger and a torturous government. The main character has flaws and strengths like a real person does. The words used really showed Katniss’ struggle against her nightmares from the Games and her fight against the Capitol. The writing is descriptive and the world is well thought out. The words the author used created an intense atmosphere when there was a climax in the plot. The plot itself was very interesting, but there is a lot of blood and war. Be prepared to say goodbye to your favorite characters

Q:谢谢Lindsay为我们深度分享的系列书饥饿游戏。下次我们要朗读饥饿游戏里的精彩句子，以及女主名字和饥饿鸟Mockingjay这两个名字的来历。嗯，有意思的小花絮。

暴力，叛逆，别人的规则和自我，以及人类独有的爱。你从饥饿游戏里读到了什么？

Q：大家好，这一辑我们来说说大热的系列书，饥饿游戏。The Hunger Games is a trilogy of young adultdystopian novels written by American novelist Suzanne Collins. Trilogy 就是三部曲，Dystopian 反乌托邦。估计不少人至少看过电影，大表姐Jenniffer Lawrence 凭其主演的主角Katnis Everdeen 成为大众偶像。那么在流行的背后，我们来听听马上七年级的美国中学生Lindsay怎么看这部书的。

L：Hello everyone, it’s Lindsay again. I highly recommend the Hunger Games series. In fact, I loved them so much that I have read all three books again and again, and all of the movies that were based on them.

Q: What does this series talk about?

L: The Hunger Games universe is set in the future, in a country consisting of the wealthy Capitol and 12 districts in poverty. Every year, children from the districts are selected to participate in a televised death match required by law, called The Hunger Games. The purpose of the  so-called game is to provide entertainment to the powerful Capitol and to remind the citizens that if they try to rebel, that’s the torture they will face if they fail. The heroine Katniss is the survivor and victor of the Hunger Game. The book series is about how she faces the survival challenge and how she evolves from a normal girl to a symbol of rebellion.  

Q: 血淋淋你你死我活的战斗，被电视转播，供权利层娱乐消遣，这个灵感，据作者说来源与古罗马角斗士。选择青少年去厮杀去牺牲，则来自于古希腊故事Greek Mythology，雅典人Athens必须每年送七对童男女到米诺斯的迷宫Minos Labyrinth去供奉怪物以避免瘟疫降临全城。一个流行小说里，是有相当多的古典背景早早孕育在作者心里为未来发力。另外，作者当时特别喜欢电视真人秀，当下的爱好与读过的书一起激发了她的灵感创作了这么一个极为成功的系列书。作为一个像Lindsay这样的中学生，是否能够面对这故事里那么多的暴力和血腥呢？

L: There was a lot of violence in the Hunger Games. In each book there is death, blood, and weapons. I read it when I was in elementary school but was relatively unaffected. I didn’t have nightmares from reading it. When I read the bloody parts I didn’t really feel anything. The author didn’t describe the violent parts in great detail so it really wasn’t that bad. Personally, I didn’t find it bloody enough to merit nightmares.

Q: Lindsay个人觉得在小说里因为暴力血腥部分的描写其实并没有那么细节，所以不觉得很可怕。她第一次读的时候还是个小学生呢。不过这里提醒一下，每个孩子的接受度不同，家长们还是应该留意一下的。随着年龄渐长，青少年对于人性与道德的探讨也逐渐深入，这部小说之所以大受欢迎，饥饿游戏的角斗场提供了独特的背景来探讨复杂的有关内心冲突的情节。那些生存的硬道理与做人的道义间如何选择，青梅竹马的情与直面生死相濡以沫的义间微妙的感受，遵守游戏规则与打破禁忌做自己间如何决断，无一不是青少年们在成长里会开始思考的问题。为什么说未成年人读物会是美国读书市场上一个重要组成部分，正在于它们提供了从低幼儿童简单的美丑是非观念到成年人复杂世界的一座桥梁。饥饿游戏系列书在此提供了良好范本，我们下次接着聊饥饿游戏更多的内容。

希望你们喜欢我们的这个系列。如果有什么书是你们感兴趣的，留言告诉我们。