August 26, 2009

For you, a thousand times over!(為了你,千千萬萬遍也可以)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

 

My reading speed is kind of slow. It’s not that I can’t read or have dyslexia.

It’s that I’m a type of easily distracted.  Things like house errands, phone calls

and working station piled up with papers and books… I often can’t quite finish

reading a book that I ought to do long time ago.

 

The Kite Runner has been on my book list for quite some time. After watching

movie early this year, I decided to take it out and read it one more time.

 

This time I have deeper feelings than last time while I’m reading those

beautiful yet sad lines written by a truly gifted teller of tales. I’m fascinated

by the friendship between two kids. Here are some among the finest lines.

 

I loved wintertime in Kabul . I loved it for the soft pattering of snow against

my window at night, for the way fresh snow crunched under my black rubber

boots, for the warmth of the cast-iron stove as the wind screeched through

the yards, the streets. --- Wow! 真希望在台灣也可看到讓這樣的美景. 雪下著

下著直拍打著窗,橡膠靴踩在雪地上的感覺….

 

當期盼已久的風箏大賽那天時, twelve-year-old Amir suddenly wanted to

withdraw… you can say that he’s getting cold feet. 小說中已再再提及 Amir

不是位有自信心的男孩. 每當Amir推縮時,是誰及時出現點醒他? 那位一直在

他身旁的 Hassan.且看故事中如何敘訴這位沒上學的忠實好友兼僕人是怎樣地

瞭解他的小主人

“I don’t know. Maybe we should go home.” Then Hassan stepped toward

me and, in a low voice, said something that scared me a little. “Remember,

Amir agha. There’s no monster, just a beautiful day.” How could I be such

an open book to him when, half the time, I had no idea what was milling

around in his head? I was the one who went to school, the one who could

read, write. I was the smart one.  在這作者就以反問口吻表明出,人生中不

是只有受教育的人會給你金玉良言. An educated man doesn’t mean he is

a man of wisdom. 如同Ratatouille -a 2007 computer-animated film produced

by Pixar 中的經典句Anyone can cook. 以及令人感觸深的一段美食家的評論.

In many ways the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a

position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgement.
We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read.
But, the

bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things... the

average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating

it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something... and that is in the
discovery and defense of the new.
Last night I experienced something new, an

extraordinary meal from an singularly unexpected source. To say that both the

meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a

gross understatement—they have rocked me to my core. In the past I have made
no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: "Anyone Can Cook".

But I realize only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can

become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.
It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking

at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest Chef in

France. 真是用字用得太漂亮了.可惜我本身的文筆是無法將它轉換成對等語意中文.

 

接著就是一連串相當精采刺激的風箏大賽.我是第1次看到這種方式的比賽。但根據書上寫似乎北印度、英國甚至蘇聯都有類似的比賽,同時作者也寫出阿富汗人在這個比賽是非常獨立,北印度的遊戲規則是大家維持在一個範圍放風箏並嚴格規定不可用鋁線,可是這些independent Afghans--. Their rules were simple: No rules. Fly your kite, cut the opponents and good luck.
 

When I read that Amir tried so hard to gain his Baba’s approval, my heart

was sinking like a setting sun. “I kept stealing glances at Baba on the roof,

wondered what he was thinking. Was he cheering for me? Or did a part of

him enjoy watching me fail?” Amir was so concerned about what his Baba

would think of him. Of course, story goes on to the part that can pull every

string in my heart. I didn’t dare to keep reading…

 

I can’t help wondering that would it change their future if Amir knew Hassan

was his brother earlier. Would they live together happily in American and fly

the kite again?  Well, it’s only a novel not a fairy tale. But “Now one moment

can change a million after!”, you’ll never know.


the movie-- I’ll say one of the success of this movie is in its depiction of kite flying.  

The kite can only fly when the adverse wind is blowing. It’s a symbol emerges  triumphant for Amir, No doubt, it uses special effects (probably CGI),
but they function to represent what freedom and exhilaration the kites represent hope to their owners. Even the price of peace has risen greatly, but where a kite can be flown, maybe hope can still be risen.

 

Reference: Ratatouille-the movie

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