Words and Phrases
impeccable: ADJ.
原文:The police brought the somewhat contrite young men and the dead couple’s five-year-old orphan boy before my grandfather, who was a highly regarded judge and a man of impassable reputation.
1). having no flaws, perfect.
2). not capable of sinning, or not liable to sin
harbor V.
原文:After all, didn’t all fathers in their secret hearts harbor a desire to kill their sons?
1). to give a shelter to: harbor refugees; harbor a fugitive
2). to provide a place, home, or habitat for: a basement that harbors a maze of pipes; streams that harbor trout and bass.
3). to entertain or nourish (a specified though or feeling): harbor a grudge
选择这个词是认为这里用harbor用的很巧妙,因为harbor本身有港湾的意思,所以这里把这种desire深藏而不外露的感觉写了出来。
hunker V.
原文:On his way out, Rahim Khan hunkered before me and handed me my story and another folded piece of paper.
1). to squat close to the ground; crouch. usually used with down: hunked down to avoid the ice wind
2). to take shelter, settle in, or hide out. usually with down: hunkered down in the cabin during the blizzard.
3). to hold stubbornly to a position. usually with down: “As the Whit House hunkered down, G.O.P. congressional unity started crumbling."
hone V.
原文:It is now your duty to hone that talent, because a person who wastes his God-given talents is a donkey.
1). to sharpen on a fine,grained whetstone.
2). to perfect or make more intense or effective: a speaker who honed her delivery by long practice.
看到这个词时会想为什么不用practice,或train,drill之类。
Sentences
这部小说让我感受最深的就是细节描写特别多,使得整个故事画面感特别强,读的过程脑海中像电影一样一帧帧闪过,也展示了作者的写作功底。许多句子,画面让人赞叹。比如:
1,Amir拿着自己写的故事给父亲,期望得到他的赞赏,但是父亲始终默不作声。在那种极度渴望认可掺杂着些许害怕的心态下,Amir觉得时间过得特别慢。
Seconds plodded by, each separated from the next by an eternity. Air grew heavy damp, almost solid. I was breathing bricks.
2,进入书房后,父亲在吸烟,作者特意将烟雾也描写出来,拉开了Amir与父亲的距离。
Blue smoke swirled around his face. His glare made my throat feel dry. He just looked at me through the cloud of smoke.
3,在父亲转身走后,写到Amir心中的恨也非常生动
But right then, I wished I could open my veins and drain his cursed blood from my body.
4,Amir在回忆父亲和Ali时写到父亲笑用的动词是burst out,然后是in gales, 让我想到形容Hassan妈妈时时用的bark,后面是bitter. 与人物形象很匹配。
Baba burst out in gales of his deep throated laughter—a sound not unlike a truck engine revving up—and when he could talk again, explained to us the concept of voice dubbing.
Sanaubar had taken one glance at the baby in Ali’s arm, seen the cleft lip, and barked a bitter laughter.
5,写Hassan去见爸爸接受生日礼物紧张时用breath puffing from his mouth,让人会心一笑,每个人紧张时或许都这样吧。
He was standing by the front door, dressed in white, hands tucked under his armpits, breath puffing from his mouth.
6,此外,作者几次描写到揽肩或类似揽过来这个动作用到的词(sling, put, throw, clutch )也不一样,让人印象深刻。
I reached across my seat, slung my arm around him, pulled him close.
Baba patted Hassen on the back, even put his arm around his shoulder
Baba would laugh and throw his arm around Ali.
I clutched him in a hug and planted a kiss on his cheek
Summary
These two paragraphs depict how Amir and Hassan crawl together, making pranks, and sharing stories atop the hill, with sunlight and shadows of leaves dancing on their faces. Though Amir says deep in his heart, he may never see Hassan as a friend, we can tell from those cheerful pictures that he cherishes this playmate, and enjoys the time being with him. Then Amir presents us an incident that may cast negative influence on their friendship. When coming across Assef, a local tyrant, Amir is so terrified that he denies Hassan as his friend but just his servant. However, though the same plentifully scared, Hassan steps in and fends him off. Amir has been conscience-stricken for it, and it is the time that he asks himself whether he sees Hassan as his friend.
随感
在阅读《追风筝的人》前五章的时候,我脑海中总是闪现另一个男孩,电影《穿条纹睡衣的男孩》中的德国司令官的儿子布鲁诺:一样的孤单,一样高高在上的父亲,一样拥有着一个“低贱”的朋友,一样的背叛,一样的内疚。我不知道后面究竟Amir对Hassan做了什么,但无论是什么,一定都深深的伤害了Hassan,那种失望和痛苦我们也可以体会。还记得《穿条纹睡衣的男孩》电影中那个弱小的犹太男孩,在被允许吃糕点后开心的笑容,在被出卖后那种痛苦和绝望。出卖朋友后,布鲁诺也不好过,他在夜里痛哭,他一次次跑去集中营渴望见到犹太男孩,去解释去乞求原谅去弥补。背叛并不是一种令人愉悦的行为,小孩子背叛多是因为害怕,恐惧后的自我保护。或许越是纯洁,这份痛苦便越是深刻而持久。