Back to the Classics

Leo Luo

I flipped1. flip: 快速翻動。to the final page and began to read. My eyes instinctively2. instinctively: 本能地。slowed down as each sentence brought me closer to the end of the book. My brain burned to reach those last words that would wrap up the entire story, but my heart begged me to savour this moment.3. 我的大腦很想盡快讀到最后幾句總結全書的文字，但是我的內心卻懇請自己享受這一閱讀時刻。burn to: 這里指“特別想要”；wrap up: 這里指“概括”；savour: 盡情享受。At last, after undertaking an odyssey through the lives of characters that almost leapt off the page and moments that revealed timeless truths of human nature, I was not ready for the story to end.4.最后，在體驗過書中那些活靈活現的主人公的奇幻歷程和那些揭示人性的永恒真理的瞬間之后，我簡直不希望書中的故事就這樣結束。undertake: 從事，進行；odyssey:奇幻旅程；leap off: 跳出。But as all good things must come to an end, I eased the back cover over the final page and closed the book with a contented sigh.5. ease: 小心緩慢地移動；sigh: 嘆息。Tilting my gaze to the ceiling, my mind flashed through all that I had learned through the bundle of paper and ink in my hands, and smiled.6. 手捧著書，我的目光轉向天花板，書中的內容在我的腦海中一一閃過，我輕輕地笑了。tilt: 使傾斜； flash through: 掠過，在（某人的心頭）閃過。Nothing beats a great book.

Although the computer is becoming the medium of both communication and entertainment in the modern era, there is something to be said about the value of reading great books,speci fically the classics. Not only have these books withstood the test of time, but also the critiques of countless readers over the years.7. withstand: 經受，承受；critique: 批評。To read such a piece of writing is to enter an ongoing conversation about the human experience with some of the greatest minds that ever lived.

“真正的藝術來源于心靈的創(chuàng)造”，文學名著正是如此。本文作者曾經很排斥閱讀經典文學名著，認為那些書既乏味又厚重，但是在偶然閱讀了一本經典名著《美麗新世界》后，作者從書中獲得了關于社會和人性的深刻感悟。在充滿了快餐讀物的今天，讓我們一起重溫這些人類精神的財富吧！

Whether that is through serious novels or lighthearted stories, reading great books embodies8. embody: 體現。the art of questioning by presenting audiences with insights into what it means to be human.

I espouse so much about the virtue of reading great books that it seems ironic that not so long ago,9. espouse: 支持，贊成；virtue: 優(yōu)點。I did not even know what it even meant. To my 14-year-old impressionable self, a great book was one that exhaled a fragrance full of imagination and adventure as I cracked it open.10. 14歲的我正值敏感的時期，對于我來說，一本好書就是當你打開它時，它會散發(fā)出充滿想象力和奇遇的馨香。impressionable:敏感的，易受影響的；exhale: 發(fā)散；crack:打開。It would plunge me into worlds of dragons and magic that would allow me to escape the real world and all of its crushing truths for just a few precious hours.11. plunge sb. into: 使某人陷入；crushing: 毀滅性的。Most of these books were pop fiction,written all in the last five years or so. I avoided the classics like the plague: those books were boring, not to mention enormous.12. 我曾經像躲避瘟疫一樣排斥這些經典文學作品：這些書不僅乏味，還都是大部頭。plague: 瘟疫，災禍。It was not until I chanced upon a copy ofBrave New Worldby Aldous Huxley,which I found abandoned in a classroom desk, did I decide on a whim to give classic books a try.13. Brave New World: 小說《美麗新世界》，英國作家阿道司·赫胥黎所著，是20世紀最經典的反烏托邦文學之一。這部作品主要刻畫了在機械文明下的未來社會中，人的“人”性被機械剝奪殆盡，接受種種安于現狀的教育，熱愛機械化的工作與生活方式；abandoned: 被遺棄的；on a whim: 一時興起。

Reading that novel shattered my shell of fantasy and brought me into the realm of questions about the human condition.14. 閱讀這本小說打碎了我幻想的外殼，使我對人類社會產生了質疑。shatter: 打碎，破壞；realm: 領域，范圍。Brave New World was simply the start of my journey. Although I de finitely cannot claim that I am well-read in terms of classics, I have begun to realize what a great book truly embodies. There are books, mostly pop fiction,which are read and then forgotten on the bookshelf, forever to remain a title with a dusty spine15. spine: 書脊。. And then there are the classics, which generations of readers pass on to their progeny16. progeny: 子孫，后裔。. Perhaps the reason lies in how these books lure fundamental questions about human nature into their pages and express them through prose that blossoms with each re-read.17. 原因可能在于這些經典文學作品引出了關于人性的根本問題，并滲透于字里行間，使人每次重讀這些作品都能對這些問題有更深刻的認識。prose: 散文，這里指“文章”；blossom:發(fā)展。It is a re fined art that does not celebrate speed, but patience and contemplation.18. re fined art: 高雅藝術；contemplation: 沉思。Work through a couple paragraphs, stop.

Think. Then re-read and sigh in admiration of the language. I was fortunate enough to have the time to read three classics that have demonstrated the power of the pen over any sword.

The first classic that I read this year that comes to mind isTo Kill a Mockingbird19. To Kill a Mockingbird: 《殺死一只知更鳥》，由美國作家哈珀·李所著，小說探討了各種不同形式的偏見，也探討了關于童年和成熟的過程。因為故事從一個孩子（Scout）的角度來講述，作者可以在講述事情時不帶有明顯的個人意見，把它們留給讀者去理解和得出結論。, by Harper Lee. She sets her story in the town of Maycomb in the American state of Alabama during the aftermath of the Great Depression.Told from the perspective Scout Finch, the daughter of Atticus Finch, a respected lawyer in community, the story followed Scout as she recounts the experiences that de fined her childhood years. From pulling pranks to witnessing a courtroom trial that ended based on ingrained racism instead of concrete proof, these experiences shaped Scout as she comes to realize that there may be space in the world for more than one right answer or point of view.20. 從愛搞惡作劇到目睹了一次以根深蒂固的種族歧視而并非切實證據告終的法庭審理，這些經歷讓斯科特開始意識到這個世界上可能有不止一個正確答案或是觀點。pull prank: 搞惡作?。籧ourtroom trial: 法庭審理；ingrained: 根深蒂固的；concrete: 具體的。Perhaps the theme of the novel was expressed through the most memorable character: Atticus Finch. Throughout the entire novel, he stood as a symbol of morality and justice, whether that was undertaking a doomed trial defending a black man or while raising his children to become independent thinkers.21. 在整部小說中，他都是一個美德和正義的化身，無論是他挺身而出為一個黑人進行早已有了定論的庭審辯護，抑或是他將自己的孩子們培養(yǎng)為能夠獨立思考的人。doomed: 注定的。His iron conviction stemmed from the philosophy that he taught his children, and pervaded the whole book:22. conviction: 信念；stem from: 源自，來自；pervade: 彌漫，遍及?！癐f you truly want to know someone, walk in their shoes for a day.” Simple words, but as I reached the last pages, a single tear rolled down my eye as this moral returned to conclude this magni ficent tale showcasing the bounds of human goodness and hatred. This was a sombre tale, but nonetheless explores the question of whether humans can truly empathize with one another, and thereby find peace.23. sombre: 陰沉的，憂郁的；empathize:感同身受。

Yet not every classic must be as grave asTo Kill a Mockingbird. The novelThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain, demonstrated that classics could convey truths just as profound and not lose a sense of levity.24. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: 《湯姆·索亞歷險記》，是美國作家馬克·吐溫在1876年發(fā)表的作品，通過描寫主人公湯姆·索亞的冒險經歷，諷刺和批判了美國當時的社會習俗和學校教育；levity: 輕松，活躍。Set in the period right before the Civil War in America, Tom Sawyer brought to life the titular character and his shenanigans in sleepy town in Missouri.25. titular: 有名無實的；shenanigan: 惡作劇；Missouri: 美國密蘇里州。Although the actual storyline of this classic might seem random26. random: 隨意的，任意的。,but it is exactly this lack of order that captures the freedom and innocence that childhood represents. But perhaps the greatest aspect of this novel was the ability of Twain to integrate even the minutest details of human behaviour into his characters, from the way our minds jump from one panic to another when we are in love to the righteous anger we feel when we are rejected.27. 這部小說最成功的一點可能就是馬克·吐溫將人類行為的每個細節(jié)都融于筆下人物的寫作功力，從我們被愛時內心的陣陣惶恐到被拒絕時所感到的義憤。minute: 微小的，此處為最高級；righteous anger: 憤慨，義憤。That is Twain’s contribution through his classic: holding a mirror up to human traits that still ring true today.

While the lessons of some stories, such as those mentioned above, are timeless, the lessons of others can radically change with the passage of time.When I first read Mary Shelley’sFrankensteinat the beginning of this school year, I interpreted the story as a warning against the dangers of tampering with science without a clear moral conscience.28.Frankenstein:《弗蘭肯斯坦》，是英國詩人雪萊的妻子瑪麗·雪萊在1818年創(chuàng)作的小說，被認為是世界第一部真正意義上的科幻小說；tamper with sth.: 胡亂擺弄，故意破壞。The corruption and downfall of both the monster and the scientist struck a chord within me,29. corruption: 墮落；monster:怪物；strike a chord: 打動心弦。especially considering the enormous strides that science is making today. Without a moral guidance, the scienti fic achievements that could save lives could be used to end them just as easily, as seen through the development of both the nuclear bomb and nuclear energy. But as I discussed my thoughts with a professor, he helped me see that I had failed to view the novel through the lens of history. As the novel was written in the middle of the 19th century, it dealt more with the idea of religious heresy30. heresy: 異端，異教。than scienti fic morality. Shelley was attempting to warn against the human propensity to hubris by illustrating the consequences of trying to play God and bring life to where there should not have been life.31. propensity: 傾向，偏好；hubris: 傲慢。Such is the power of a classic. It can reconcile viewpoints that span generations,32. reconcile: 調和；span: 跨越。uniting the young and old in a discourse that can inspire endless discussion.

《殺死一只知更鳥》

Perhaps in the future, physical books will become obsolete33. obsolete: 過時的，淘汰的。. Computers will be personalized and accompany us at all times, even more than the smartphone does nowadays. The opportunities for entertainment at our fingertips would

be endless. In spite of all this, I would hope that people would still make time to undertake the challenge of reading classics. Not only are they connections from the past to the present, but more importantly a window into the everlasting questions on human nature and what being human really means.