Recently I have read the Hunger Games trilogy, and I find the first book, The Hunger Games, the best of all three.
It is about a reality TV show, which takes place in the near future, and where North America is situated now – that will be demolished by war and natural disasters. On its remains sits Panem, with it's Capitol and all 12 districts around it. Twelve boys and twelve girls, 2 from each district, will be drawn at a yearly "reaping" and they will be forced to compete in an event in the Capitol – The Hunger Games. There is only one rule at the Games: Kill or be killed. Winning will make you famous. Losing means certain death. Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, the poorest district, in charge of Coal Mining. One year, at the reaping, her sister gets drawn. She volunteers to replace her, but she sees as a sure death.
The tension running through the book connects pieces that fall together at the end. Unlike most fiction books for pre-teens that include intervals of suspense, The Hunger Games creates a kind of force that attracts you to the book constantly until the end, which happens to make you yearn for the next one. The ending for series of books are actually pretty predictable: either it's like Harry Potter, in which the book ends after a major event, or it just breaks off in the middle of the most exciting part. Both don't fare very well – usually they just lose the reader's interest of the next book. But the Hunger Games ends with the Games ending and Katniss and Peeta, the protagonists returning home. But Katniss has just revealed a big secret that crushes Peeta, which makes the reader want to read on to find out more.
Collins speaks with a distinct, new, fresh voice that grabs your heart and never lets go. You get whipped into the whirlpool of Katniss' world immediately and immerses in it completely. Katniss is not perfect – she has human flaws and weaknesses, as long as being stubborn, headstrong, grumpy, ungrateful, but she is also courageous, strong and independent. She shaped the story to tell of war and tyranny, and to stay alive, she will have to start making choices to weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
I think these are the things that strike me the most about this book – it significantly makes you addicted. And the movie's going to come out in early 2012 – I can hardly wait.
2011年11月16日 星期三
2011年11月13日 星期日
媽媽的笑
剛發現，媽媽臉上掛的笑容，是那樣的特別。
對任何事情，媽媽總是一笑了之。 可那笑容卻包含了千千萬萬種情感。媽媽經常笑臉迎向我，讓我感覺母愛的和藹與温柔。
媽媽笑容，含有包容。
媽媽相信，我若能知錯就一定能改；她的笑容，讓我明白自己的錯誤，讓我悟出下一次該怎样改善。媽媽總是輕輕地一笑，鼓勵我永遠不放棄，繼續努力，奮鬥。在媽媽的鼓勵下，我相信最终有一天，我會成功的。
媽媽笑容，含有無奈。
媽媽無奈於我任性地耍性子，無奈於我天真地不懂事，無奈於我無理地吵鬧。没有辦法，媽媽以她的大愛，盼着我長大。
媽媽笑容，含有體諒。
媽媽知道我一直很節儉，假如我希望擁有某一樣物品時，媽媽立刻爽快地買给我，只不過她也會笑一笑，要我一定想清楚：你真的需要它嗎？它有甚麼實際的作用？你會用它嗎？
這，就是母親的笑。她比春風更温暖，比春水更柔和。如果輕輕一觸，濃濃的母爱就一滴一滴地流淌出来。
母愛是多姿的，在女兒心中，這是一道美麗的彩霞。
對任何事情，媽媽總是一笑了之。 可那笑容卻包含了千千萬萬種情感。媽媽經常笑臉迎向我，讓我感覺母愛的和藹與温柔。
媽媽笑容，含有包容。
媽媽相信，我若能知錯就一定能改；她的笑容，讓我明白自己的錯誤，讓我悟出下一次該怎样改善。媽媽總是輕輕地一笑，鼓勵我永遠不放棄，繼續努力，奮鬥。在媽媽的鼓勵下，我相信最终有一天，我會成功的。
媽媽笑容，含有無奈。
媽媽無奈於我任性地耍性子，無奈於我天真地不懂事，無奈於我無理地吵鬧。没有辦法，媽媽以她的大愛，盼着我長大。
媽媽笑容，含有體諒。
媽媽知道我一直很節儉，假如我希望擁有某一樣物品時，媽媽立刻爽快地買给我，只不過她也會笑一笑，要我一定想清楚：你真的需要它嗎？它有甚麼實際的作用？你會用它嗎？
這，就是母親的笑。她比春風更温暖，比春水更柔和。如果輕輕一觸，濃濃的母爱就一滴一滴地流淌出来。
母愛是多姿的，在女兒心中，這是一道美麗的彩霞。
2011年11月9日 星期三
Suggestion of book “Wolf Brother”
I have just read the book “Wolf Brother” by Michelle Paver. Here is a little summary of the book’s major events:
Six thousand years ago, a great forest covered most of north-west Europe. People then lived in clans, roaming the land. 12-year-old Torak is alone. His father was from the Wolf clan; mother from the Red Deer. His mother died 12 summers ago; his father killed by a demon bear. The story begins with his father’s end. Fa made Torak swear that he would, no matter how, find the Mountain of the World Spirit, or die trying. Then he died. Scavenging for food, he met a cub whose family had been killed by a flash flood. The cub became his guide. Then Torak was captured by the Raven clan. It changed his life forever, for a young girl, Renn, reveals that he is the Listener, the only person who can stop the demon bear – since the demon bear was made, for the sole purpose of killing his father. She decided to help him on his destiny – to get revenge for his father.
This is a wonderfully, beautifully crafted tale of timelessness. The bond between wolf and boy is extraordinarily strong, and so is the friendship between boy and girl. Together they embark on a journey to the unknown, to a place that nobody has ever gone to, to somewhere that may just lead to death. The only clue he has to this mysterious mountain is a generation-long riddle and an old legend. Can Torak kill the bear? Can he arouse the world spirit? These questions swarm in my head, keeping me flipping the pages. This is not only an adventure – it is the evidence of the care, love and respect Wolf and Torak give each other.
I have always thought that wolves were only creatures that were loyal to each other and they live in packs. I also believed that they were brutal and ruthless to creatures that are not familiar to them. They kill unmercifully. But thinking about it now, that is just their way of survival. If they don’t kill, they can’t eat. Aren’t we humans the same? Possibly even worse, since we are making hundreds of species extinct every minute.
I really recommend this book to you. I am not going to tell you what happens next, just so that there is a tint of suspense. But the ending shakes one’s heart, I can promise you. The journey doesn’t end here, it continues till the very end of the series. So next time when you’re not feeling happy, do what Torak does: howl your breath away. If someone responses, you know that you are not alone.
Six thousand years ago, a great forest covered most of north-west Europe. People then lived in clans, roaming the land. 12-year-old Torak is alone. His father was from the Wolf clan; mother from the Red Deer. His mother died 12 summers ago; his father killed by a demon bear. The story begins with his father’s end. Fa made Torak swear that he would, no matter how, find the Mountain of the World Spirit, or die trying. Then he died. Scavenging for food, he met a cub whose family had been killed by a flash flood. The cub became his guide. Then Torak was captured by the Raven clan. It changed his life forever, for a young girl, Renn, reveals that he is the Listener, the only person who can stop the demon bear – since the demon bear was made, for the sole purpose of killing his father. She decided to help him on his destiny – to get revenge for his father.
This is a wonderfully, beautifully crafted tale of timelessness. The bond between wolf and boy is extraordinarily strong, and so is the friendship between boy and girl. Together they embark on a journey to the unknown, to a place that nobody has ever gone to, to somewhere that may just lead to death. The only clue he has to this mysterious mountain is a generation-long riddle and an old legend. Can Torak kill the bear? Can he arouse the world spirit? These questions swarm in my head, keeping me flipping the pages. This is not only an adventure – it is the evidence of the care, love and respect Wolf and Torak give each other.
I have always thought that wolves were only creatures that were loyal to each other and they live in packs. I also believed that they were brutal and ruthless to creatures that are not familiar to them. They kill unmercifully. But thinking about it now, that is just their way of survival. If they don’t kill, they can’t eat. Aren’t we humans the same? Possibly even worse, since we are making hundreds of species extinct every minute.
I really recommend this book to you. I am not going to tell you what happens next, just so that there is a tint of suspense. But the ending shakes one’s heart, I can promise you. The journey doesn’t end here, it continues till the very end of the series. So next time when you’re not feeling happy, do what Torak does: howl your breath away. If someone responses, you know that you are not alone.
2011年11月1日 星期二
The Ultimate Lifetime Experience
In this five-day journey into the wilderness of my self-learning zone, I have indeed thoroughly understood the meaning of the old Kenyan proverb, “Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable”. This was indeed a great test of my mental strength, my trust of my friends and self-control.
Standing on a wobbly line in mid-air and only holding onto a flimsy wooden plank. That isn’t my idea of fun. At all. But I only realized that when I was in the middle of the challenge. The ground seemed so far away. I pictured myself falling, screaming in mid-air, and the dull thump of a body hitting the rough pebbly ground. But I thought if I fall, my friends would definitely catch me, and so I put all my trust in my friends and summoned up my courage. I would never have believed that I would have accomplished such a feat, without the help and comfort offered by the presence of my friends. But what I didn’t know, was that there would be more challenges, both physical and psychological, to come.
I’m okay with physical challenges, just so as long as they don’t involve heights or bugs. But I’m really not so good at the psychological part. In the stress of the environment, I become very irritated at simple things, especially when people are required to work together. Quarrels happen.
I didn’t think rafting would be that stressful. We just had to tie a couple of barrels to a few sticks, and then paddle along. What’s hard with that? But I was wrong. In the heat of the sun, trying to hold the raft together, everybody was arguing. Whether this knot would hold, whether the raft would sink, whether it would get stuck in the mud… We wouldn’t have done so badly if it wasn’t for the weariness and wariness that was tiring us all out. But the nightmare had just begun. When we started paddling, the raft wouldn’t move. People on opposite sides started blaming each other for not paddling properly, which resulted in people falling in and getting crushed. I yelled inside my head, “People, stop fussing – it’s just making things worse!” Thinking back about it now, I realize that if only we had worked together as a team and had better peer communication, all our problems would have been solved much quicker than we did.
Aesop said that in union there is strength. This short yet simple piece of ancient wisdom has been passed on for hundreds of generations, and I believe the reason for its popularity is its usefulness – which I have just learnt from this five-day trip – teamwork and sportsmanship is the key to overcoming challenges.
Standing on a wobbly line in mid-air and only holding onto a flimsy wooden plank. That isn’t my idea of fun. At all. But I only realized that when I was in the middle of the challenge. The ground seemed so far away. I pictured myself falling, screaming in mid-air, and the dull thump of a body hitting the rough pebbly ground. But I thought if I fall, my friends would definitely catch me, and so I put all my trust in my friends and summoned up my courage. I would never have believed that I would have accomplished such a feat, without the help and comfort offered by the presence of my friends. But what I didn’t know, was that there would be more challenges, both physical and psychological, to come.
I’m okay with physical challenges, just so as long as they don’t involve heights or bugs. But I’m really not so good at the psychological part. In the stress of the environment, I become very irritated at simple things, especially when people are required to work together. Quarrels happen.
I didn’t think rafting would be that stressful. We just had to tie a couple of barrels to a few sticks, and then paddle along. What’s hard with that? But I was wrong. In the heat of the sun, trying to hold the raft together, everybody was arguing. Whether this knot would hold, whether the raft would sink, whether it would get stuck in the mud… We wouldn’t have done so badly if it wasn’t for the weariness and wariness that was tiring us all out. But the nightmare had just begun. When we started paddling, the raft wouldn’t move. People on opposite sides started blaming each other for not paddling properly, which resulted in people falling in and getting crushed. I yelled inside my head, “People, stop fussing – it’s just making things worse!” Thinking back about it now, I realize that if only we had worked together as a team and had better peer communication, all our problems would have been solved much quicker than we did.
Aesop said that in union there is strength. This short yet simple piece of ancient wisdom has been passed on for hundreds of generations, and I believe the reason for its popularity is its usefulness – which I have just learnt from this five-day trip – teamwork and sportsmanship is the key to overcoming challenges.
2011年10月30日 星期日
金錢暗藏的誘惑
看畢<洛克菲勒孫子的零用錢>全文，我久久不能平靜。一位億萬富翁，可以對自己和兒子在節儉這美德上要求這麼嚴格；再加上他對兒子在公益事業、儲蓄這方面有這麼高的要求，實在是非常難得。
從小，父親訓練他把所有支出和收入在本子裡記下，培養他對自己金錢的珍惜。他讓小約翰的零用為每星期＄1.50 美元，讓他懂得節儉。他要讓他明白，把自己的錢省起，總比花光的好。社會上多少青年必須明白這道理啊！
其實，如果仔細想想，也可以聯想到我們現實世界裡的例子:世界各地，多少青年荒廢學業，向被貧窮困擾的父母一次又一次地取錢，把他們辛苦賺回來的錢在黑暗的遊戲室裡狂燒；更不要說做慈善，儲蓄了。他們的父母通常可歸類成兩種：
一、他們是“打工仔”，常常晚上很晚才回家，無暇理會子女。
二、他們想讓子女改邪歸正，可子女卻又不聽勸告，又不肯改變，讓父母很煩惱。
很多有錢人家的子女，從小都像溫室裡的花朵般被寵愛。走出社會時，以為大家都會像僕人般服務自己，讓人生厭。可是，文中的父親儘管很忙，家境富有，小約翰卻沒有走上錯誤的人生道路父親勤勞，儉樸，是一個很好的模範，給小約翰作出了榜樣。
讓我們不要做上一代的包袱，共同高喊：“我不要做被溺愛的孩子，我不要做倚賴的兒童，我要自己管理自己的生活！”
從小，父親訓練他把所有支出和收入在本子裡記下，培養他對自己金錢的珍惜。他讓小約翰的零用為每星期＄1.50 美元，讓他懂得節儉。他要讓他明白，把自己的錢省起，總比花光的好。社會上多少青年必須明白這道理啊！
其實，如果仔細想想，也可以聯想到我們現實世界裡的例子:世界各地，多少青年荒廢學業，向被貧窮困擾的父母一次又一次地取錢，把他們辛苦賺回來的錢在黑暗的遊戲室裡狂燒；更不要說做慈善，儲蓄了。他們的父母通常可歸類成兩種：
一、他們是“打工仔”，常常晚上很晚才回家，無暇理會子女。
二、他們想讓子女改邪歸正，可子女卻又不聽勸告，又不肯改變，讓父母很煩惱。
很多有錢人家的子女，從小都像溫室裡的花朵般被寵愛。走出社會時，以為大家都會像僕人般服務自己，讓人生厭。可是，文中的父親儘管很忙，家境富有，小約翰卻沒有走上錯誤的人生道路父親勤勞，儉樸，是一個很好的模範，給小約翰作出了榜樣。
讓我們不要做上一代的包袱，共同高喊：“我不要做被溺愛的孩子，我不要做倚賴的兒童，我要自己管理自己的生活！”
2011年10月13日 星期四
2011年10月8日 星期六
春夏秋冬的排序
從前，在很遠很遠的地方，春、夏、秋、冬四個季節是没有分次序的，亂七八糟，貧瘠的大地上是乾枯的，没有植物，没有生氣，没有繁華，因為天氣總是變来變去，農夫们不知道什麼時候下種子，天氣報道员没有話說⋯⋯ 總之，世界很亂。人們覺得自己受够了，就跑上天庭告状。
“天帝呀天帝，求求您就管制一下那些季節吧，咱們好苦呀！”然後就跟天帝如實地哭訴了春夏秋冬的罪行。
天帝摸摸鬍子，招手派人来。“你给我现在告诉那四個⋯⋯傢伙，他们得跟我好好排一排次序，要不这些人可要给我麻煩了。”
春夏秋冬接到了電報，於是就立刻坐在一起討論了起来。
冬：这怎麼辦 呀？我們季節家族一直都是這樣的呀！咱們不能改變祖先的原意啊！
春：但是“天命難為”，我們總不可以不聽他的呀！天帝所想的，肯定有益於民吧。
夏：（拍桌子）不行！祖先說的就是祖先說的，怎能扭曲其意？
秋：嗯⋯我們就定個次序罷了！现在最大的問题是次序，怎樣排呢？
冬：唉！我是寒氣逼人的，所謂“寒风刺骨”、“银装素裹”，我是迷人的，又是绝望的。
春：那麼说，我是活力充沛的，所謂“萬物复蘇”、“柳绿花红”，我是明媚的，又是多情的
。
夏：嘿，我是熱情似火的，所謂“夏樹蒼翠”、“赤日炎炎”，我是金黄的，又是赤红的。
秋：當然，我就是天高雲淡的，所謂“秋高氣爽”、“玉露生寒”，我是喜人的，又是悲傷的。
就是這樣，大家覺得，春天必须排在冬天的後面，在绝望以後，增添一抹色彩。秋天排在冬天前面会更合適吧，因为深秋已開始寒冷了，是一個很好的轉折。而夏天呢，则排在春天和秋天间吧，乍暖還寒、秋風瑟瑟間，和冬天起了一個鲜明的對比。
自此以後，春夏秋冬各自用自己的方法，對大自然媽媽做出貢獻，在繁華的世界裏，形成了一個變化多端的節氣。
“天帝呀天帝，求求您就管制一下那些季節吧，咱們好苦呀！”然後就跟天帝如實地哭訴了春夏秋冬的罪行。
天帝摸摸鬍子，招手派人来。“你给我现在告诉那四個⋯⋯傢伙，他们得跟我好好排一排次序，要不这些人可要给我麻煩了。”
春夏秋冬接到了電報，於是就立刻坐在一起討論了起来。
冬：这怎麼辦 呀？我們季節家族一直都是這樣的呀！咱們不能改變祖先的原意啊！
春：但是“天命難為”，我們總不可以不聽他的呀！天帝所想的，肯定有益於民吧。
夏：（拍桌子）不行！祖先說的就是祖先說的，怎能扭曲其意？
秋：嗯⋯我們就定個次序罷了！现在最大的問题是次序，怎樣排呢？
冬：唉！我是寒氣逼人的，所謂“寒风刺骨”、“银装素裹”，我是迷人的，又是绝望的。
春：那麼说，我是活力充沛的，所謂“萬物复蘇”、“柳绿花红”，我是明媚的，又是多情的
。
夏：嘿，我是熱情似火的，所謂“夏樹蒼翠”、“赤日炎炎”，我是金黄的，又是赤红的。
秋：當然，我就是天高雲淡的，所謂“秋高氣爽”、“玉露生寒”，我是喜人的，又是悲傷的。
就是這樣，大家覺得，春天必须排在冬天的後面，在绝望以後，增添一抹色彩。秋天排在冬天前面会更合適吧，因为深秋已開始寒冷了，是一個很好的轉折。而夏天呢，则排在春天和秋天间吧，乍暖還寒、秋風瑟瑟間，和冬天起了一個鲜明的對比。
自此以後，春夏秋冬各自用自己的方法，對大自然媽媽做出貢獻，在繁華的世界裏，形成了一個變化多端的節氣。
訂閱：
文章 (Atom)