最近剛看完Robert Harris的Fatherland,故事的背景是設定於如果納粹贏了第二次世界大戰,在1964年的柏林,正值全國準備盛大慶祝希特勒 75歲生日時期,同時美國總統Joseph Kennedy要前來拜訪, 警官Xavier March遇到一件離奇的謀殺案,當他越深入調查,他發現有國家高層官員涉入,並且他的發現將動搖整個國家的根本........
我覺得作者把一些史實編入這部虛構的故事中非常成功,這本小說的最後附上作者的筆記,其中說到故事中的許多人名都是真有其人,只是命運當然不同,而有些書中提到的資料,都是真有其事,看這本書,其實可以比照另一本小說"善心女神",不是同類型小說,可是都把當初納粹的惡劣行徑結合到小說中
這裡是我認為作者在書中所引用的一段很令我印象深刻的話:
However this war may end, we have won the war against you; none of you will be left to bear witness, but even if someone were to survive, the world would not beleive him. There will perhaps be suspicions, discussions, research by historians, but there will be no certainties, because we will destroy the evidence together with you. And even if some proof should remain and some of you survive, people will say that the events you describe are too monstrous to be believed: they will say that they are the exaggerations of Allied propaganda and will believe us, who will deny everything, and not you. We will be the ones to dictate the history of the Lagers. ( SS Officer, quoted in "the Drowned and the Saved " by Primo Levi)
P.S. "SS" 指的是黨衛隊
我看了兩本Robert Harris的書都有一種在看電影的感覺,之前看的是The Ghost Writer,我認為書的結局比電影(譯做:獵殺閃靈寫手)處理得好,Fatherland也有被改編成電影,是HBO的電影,已經是1994年的電影,太舊了,不知道租不租得到就是了
2010年11月30日 星期二
2010年11月25日 星期四
How to improve reading skill in English
I am not really good at reading yet. I have improved a lot since my first English novel, though.
I hope my tips for reading can help those who want to overcome the fear of reading in English.
First, find something you are interested in. I recommed novels. Of course, it's also good to read newspapers or magazines. However, I found it's more frustrating to read them. Why? In newspapers or magazines, every column is written by different people. Everyone has different ways to use words in those articles. Instead, you can learn to get used to the author's tone when you are reading a novel page by page. It's like reading Chinese books. Sometimes you will find that you like someone's books more than others. I think that one of the reasons is because you are used to or like the way that the author describes things. In addition, they often use more difficult words in newspapers. John once told me that some less educated people in America don't even read newspapers. I have to say that words in Newsweek or Times are more difficult than newspapers. If you are a beginner, then don't let them defeat you at the beginning. Then what about magazines, like fashion,science or even gossip magazines ? Actually some of them are not hard to understand but othors are. Sometimes they use a lot of slang in magazines. Knowing the slang is not a bad thing but it is unnecessary. Furthermore, if you don't know the slang they use, it will be difficult for you to understand, right? I believe that everyone has their own interests in novels. There are romatic, mystery, historical or autobiographic novels. When you read something you are really interested in, you will be able to focus on it easily.
Second, find an easy one at the beginning. Don't make yourself miserable while reading a novel. It should be relaxing. As for me, I read the ones with bigger letters and fewer pages at the beginning. My first English novel is Animal Farm by George Orwell. It is a classic story. Because the author wrote it in a fairy tale way, it's easy to understand. I had tried to read one of Dicken's novels, but it didn't turn out so well. Because I wanted to know the ending desperately, I bought the translated version to finish the story. I have to admit that it took me months to read that book. When you need months to finish a book, you won't feel good. So don't do that! Find one that you can understand to start with!
Last, don't look up new vocabularies while reading. Of course, you can look them up when you can't understand the outline of the story without knowing those words. However, most of the time, you can understand the whole story without looking them up. When I don't get the outline of a section at the first time I read it, I'll read it again. It's weird that you will understand more at the second time. It's true! You can try it. Additionally, try to guess the meaning of those new words. If you learn to guess, at the same time you are learning to overcome the fear of reading. Does that make sense to you?
I hope these suggestions can help! Happy reading!
I hope my tips for reading can help those who want to overcome the fear of reading in English.
First, find something you are interested in. I recommed novels. Of course, it's also good to read newspapers or magazines. However, I found it's more frustrating to read them. Why? In newspapers or magazines, every column is written by different people. Everyone has different ways to use words in those articles. Instead, you can learn to get used to the author's tone when you are reading a novel page by page. It's like reading Chinese books. Sometimes you will find that you like someone's books more than others. I think that one of the reasons is because you are used to or like the way that the author describes things. In addition, they often use more difficult words in newspapers. John once told me that some less educated people in America don't even read newspapers. I have to say that words in Newsweek or Times are more difficult than newspapers. If you are a beginner, then don't let them defeat you at the beginning. Then what about magazines, like fashion,science or even gossip magazines ? Actually some of them are not hard to understand but othors are. Sometimes they use a lot of slang in magazines. Knowing the slang is not a bad thing but it is unnecessary. Furthermore, if you don't know the slang they use, it will be difficult for you to understand, right? I believe that everyone has their own interests in novels. There are romatic, mystery, historical or autobiographic novels. When you read something you are really interested in, you will be able to focus on it easily.
Second, find an easy one at the beginning. Don't make yourself miserable while reading a novel. It should be relaxing. As for me, I read the ones with bigger letters and fewer pages at the beginning. My first English novel is Animal Farm by George Orwell. It is a classic story. Because the author wrote it in a fairy tale way, it's easy to understand. I had tried to read one of Dicken's novels, but it didn't turn out so well. Because I wanted to know the ending desperately, I bought the translated version to finish the story. I have to admit that it took me months to read that book. When you need months to finish a book, you won't feel good. So don't do that! Find one that you can understand to start with!
Last, don't look up new vocabularies while reading. Of course, you can look them up when you can't understand the outline of the story without knowing those words. However, most of the time, you can understand the whole story without looking them up. When I don't get the outline of a section at the first time I read it, I'll read it again. It's weird that you will understand more at the second time. It's true! You can try it. Additionally, try to guess the meaning of those new words. If you learn to guess, at the same time you are learning to overcome the fear of reading. Does that make sense to you?
I hope these suggestions can help! Happy reading!
2010年11月23日 星期二
The office
"The office" 是美國NBC的comedy TV series,我超愛這部戲,現在正在播的是第七季了,原來整個劇的原創是英國BBC的The office,這部戲特別的地方在於他拍得很像是紀錄片,就是中間會穿插訪問,戲中人物不時會看著鏡頭做一些無奈的表情,這家公司是屬於一家賣紙公司在Scranton的分部,分部經理也是主要角色是Michael Scott,他雖然貴為一個經理,卻是整齣戲中我覺得最智障的一個,另外是一直想當Assistant reginal manager 但是Michael指定他只是Assistant to the reginal manager的Dwight Schrute,他這個角色最爆笑,看起來精明,但是每次都會被他同事Jim整,每次整齣戲最好笑的部分都是他們兩個的互動
我認為劇中角色感覺比較像正常人的就是Jim和Pam(之前是receptionist),Jim一開始就很喜歡Pam,雖然是喜劇,但是這當中也是有愛情故事,所以我就不透露太多
我認為看這齣戲最重要要知道的一句話就是 "That's what she said " 其實這有點.....,這是Michael的經典名句,什麼時候他會說這句話呢?
舉個例: I need two men on this. That's what she said!
You already did me. That's what she said !
That's why you screwed me?That's what she said!
不管是任何場合,Michael只要發現可以接這句話,他一定會說,幾乎每一集他都會說,至於笑點為何?因為有點dirty,請自行體會吧! Haha
上NBC的網站可以看最新一季的video,是full episode喔!
我認為劇中角色感覺比較像正常人的就是Jim和Pam(之前是receptionist),Jim一開始就很喜歡Pam,雖然是喜劇,但是這當中也是有愛情故事,所以我就不透露太多
我認為看這齣戲最重要要知道的一句話就是 "That's what she said " 其實這有點.....,這是Michael的經典名句,什麼時候他會說這句話呢?
舉個例: I need two men on this. That's what she said!
You already did me. That's what she said !
That's why you screwed me?That's what she said!
不管是任何場合,Michael只要發現可以接這句話,他一定會說,幾乎每一集他都會說,至於笑點為何?因為有點dirty,請自行體會吧! Haha
上NBC的網站可以看最新一季的video,是full episode喔!
2010年11月22日 星期一
有關English idioms
之前看到網路上一篇文章說到他買了很多有關idiom的工具書,他說熟記這些idioms對於和美國人溝通非常的重要
說實在話,我有點不知道什麼是idiom, 前幾天我聽到"The car cost me an arm and a leg" ,我問John:這算是idiom嗎?
他突然開始說教,他說在美國沒有人知道什麼是idiom,就只是一種expression的方式,而且他說不需要刻意去記那些所謂的idioms,而且有些話是區域性的,如果用在錯的時間與地點,真的會很奇怪,我想他說的沒錯,之後我要注意多聽別人怎麼說話,學習這邊的人怎麼說話應該比死記英文書來的有用
說實在話,我有點不知道什麼是idiom, 前幾天我聽到"The car cost me an arm and a leg" ,我問John:這算是idiom嗎?
他突然開始說教,他說在美國沒有人知道什麼是idiom,就只是一種expression的方式,而且他說不需要刻意去記那些所謂的idioms,而且有些話是區域性的,如果用在錯的時間與地點,真的會很奇怪,我想他說的沒錯,之後我要注意多聽別人怎麼說話,學習這邊的人怎麼說話應該比死記英文書來的有用
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