Three Cups of Tea

《三杯茶》

Two years after being published, this story of Central Asian philanthropy continues to top the American bestseller lists. Greg Mortenson used to be a mountain climber until, on an expedition to try and top K2 in memory of his dead sister, he found himself sick and exhausted on the return trip.Collapsing in a small Pakistani village called Korphe, the local people nursed him back to health.In gratitude, he set out to raise funds to build schools to help the village and others in the region, with an especial eye towards providing education for young girls. Women are marginalized in most Central Asian societies, which are highly patriarchal and often misogynistic, and Mortenson believes that only by giving them the chance to learn can the region ever be lifted out of backwardness and poverty.

雖然問世已經兩年，但這部有關中亞慈善故事的書仍居美國暢銷書排行榜前列。格雷格?莫特森曾是位登山愛好者，有一次他試圖征服喬戈里峰以紀念其亡妹，但在返回途中筋疲力盡而病倒。他在巴基斯坦一個名叫Korphe的小村子倒下，經過當地人精心照顧后恢復健康。為表示感謝，他開始集資建校，以幫助村里和當地其他村落，尤其注重讓女孩受教育。中亞大多數地區(qū)嚴重重男輕女，婦女被邊緣化，莫特森相信，只有給她們學習的機會，該地區(qū)才能擺脫落后與貧困。

The book is Mortenson's story, but is largely written by an admiring journalist, David Relin. Its heart is undoubtedly in the right place, and the scenes of children giving access to books and teachers and solid classrooms for the first time are deeply touching, while Mortenson's adventures among the mountains of Pakistan and elsewhere are pretty interesting. The writing, however, is lacklustre; melodramatic without being truly exciting, and very few of the many characters Mortenson meets come to life, although the cultural details can be intriguing - the book's title comes from a local proverb that 'The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family.' Still, the message of hope and peace has struck a chord with the American public, and the details of life among the very poor can hit hard for those of us used to a life of comfort.

該書講述的是莫特森的故事，但主要由贊賞其行為的記者大衛(wèi)?雷林撰寫。本書主旨高尚，孩子們第一次接觸到書、老師和堅固的教室時的場景感人至深，而莫特森在巴基斯坦山區(qū)和其它地方的冒險也趣味盎然。不過文筆沉悶呆板；帶有戲劇性的傳奇色彩，但并非激動人心，莫特森所遇許多人物中栩栩如生的屈指可數，但是文化細節(jié)引人入勝——書名來自當地諺語“第一次跟巴爾蒂人喝茶的時候，你是陌生人。第二次喝的時候，你是貴客。第三次喝的時候，你就成了自家人?！辈贿^，希望與和平的宗旨打動了美國讀者，窮困百姓生活的細節(jié)也震撼了過慣安逸生活的我們。

The Shack

《木屋》

Christian fiction sells amazing amounts in the USA, despite being more or less ignored by the wider publishing industry. Fortunately, this latest example is a cut above such vile, terrible books as the Left Behind series that sold millions of copies in the 1990s; it's about forgiveness, love, and the reality of suffering. Published by a small house, it became a word-of-mouth hit.

基督教小說在美國的銷量驚人，不過在更廣泛的范圍內，是比較不受出版業(yè)重視的。幸好，這部最新作品優(yōu)于諸如上世紀90年代賣出數百萬冊的《末世迷蹤》系列等粗制濫造之作；《木屋》的主題是寬恕、愛和受苦的現實。雖然由一家名不見經傳的出版社印刷，但口碑相傳，大受歡迎。

The story deals with Mackenzie Philips, or 'Mac,' a father of five who loses his youngest daughter, Missy, to a serial killer. Sinking into a deep depression, he receives a note from 'Papa' - even though his own father is long dead - inviting him to come to the shack in the woods where his daughter was murdered. Taking up the invitation, he finds himself greeted by the three members of the Christian Holy Trinity - Jesus, a Mideastern carpenter, the Holy Spirit, who manifests as a young Asian woman, and God, who appears as a black woman who calls herself 'Papa.' Mac discusses forgiveness, Heaven, and religion with them, and 'Papa' eventually shows him where his daughter's body is buried, leading to the arrest of her killer.

書中，麥肯賽?菲利普（“麥可”）有5個孩子，最小的女兒米希被一個連環(huán)殺手殺害。之后，麥可極度消沉沮喪，但有一天，他收到“爸爸”的一張便箋，邀請他去女兒遇害的森林里的一座木屋，可他父親早已去世。麥可接受邀請，迎接他的是三一圣人——耶穌（化身成美國中東部的木匠）、圣靈（化身為一個年輕的亞洲女人）和上帝（化身為一個黑人婦女，自稱“爸爸”）。麥可同他們討論了寬恕、天堂和宗教,“爸爸”后來給他指出了其女兒尸體的埋藏地，兇手最終落入法網。

While the sentiments of the book are certainly touching, and its message of hope and redemption a sound one, it's terribly written, and the spiritual and ethical content is remarkably banal. This hasn't stopped it being important to many, as the testimonies at the end of the book show, but its hardly a literary classic. Still, for those looking for a quick, easy read or an introduction to the basic tenets of a liberal version of American Christianity, it may be helpful.

該書真摯感人，傳遞希望與贖罪等健康信息，但文筆拙劣，宗教和道德內容也平凡無奇?？墒氰Σ谎阼?，許多人都認為這本書對他們很重要，全書結尾處的證言也說明了這一點，不過算不上文學經典。然而，對于想翻看些輕松讀物，或者了解美國自由主義基督教基本信條的人，可能會有幫助。

Merlin to Cast Spell in China

《梅林傳奇》即將在央視熱播

BBC1 drama series Merlin is set to air in China after being sold to the country's largest broadcaster. China Central Television (CCTV) has bought the 13 x 40-minute series, produced by Shine Television, as part of a deal with distributor Freemantle Media Enterprises (FME). The sale also includes German daily action drama 112 and Australian crime drama The Strip.

BBC一臺的連續(xù)劇《梅林傳奇》賣給中國最大的電視臺后，將在中國播放。中國中央電視臺已購買該劇，它共有13集，每集 40分鐘，由Shine電視臺制作，這是央視與Freemantle傳媒集團所簽合同的一部分。央視此次購買的還有德國日播動作片《112》和澳大利亞犯罪劇《海岸雄風》。

Merlin is a British television drama series that began in 2008, designed to appeal to the same family audiences as other UK hits like Dr Who and Primeval, and filling a similar time-slot on Saturday evenings. It is based on the Arthurian legends of the mythical wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur, though differs significantly from more traditional versions of the myth. The original stories are epics of tragedy, bravery, and loss; this is rather lighter fare.

《梅林傳奇》是一部英國電視連續(xù)劇，2008年開播，旨在吸引喜愛《神秘博士》和《遠古入侵》等其他熱播英劇的觀眾，填補了周六晚上相似的時間檔。它改編自有關澳大利亞傳奇魔法奇才梅林及其同亞瑟王子的關系的故事，不過跟該神話的傳統(tǒng)版本迥異。原本故事是有關悲劇、勇敢與迷失的史詩，電視劇版則較為明快。

With a cast of young actors - even Merlin himself, normally depicted as an old man, is a twenty-something stud, it tells the story of the friendship between Merlin and Arthur in Arthur's father's court. The emphasis is on magic, adventure, and warfare, with Arthur shown as a young prince in a Dark Ages Britain. Although the show was panned by most critics, it proved popular with audiences, and has been renewed for a second season.

該劇的演員都很年青，梅林通常被描繪成老年人，但劇中的梅林才20多歲。它講述了梅林與亞瑟在亞瑟父親宮殿里的友誼故事?！睹妨謧髌妗烦錆M魔法、冒險與戰(zhàn)爭，片中亞瑟是英國黑暗時期的年青王子。雖然大多數電視評論家對其不屑一顧，但觀眾卻很喜歡，第二季已經開播。

Monsters Versus Aliens

《怪獸大戰(zhàn)外星人》

DreamWorks have been trying to come up with an animated smash to match rival studio Pixar's for quite some time. For the last few years they've been churning out vaguely similar movies, mixing a prestigious voice cast with generally lacklustre plots. However, they did well with last year's Kung Fu Panda, only to have it beaten at the Oscars by Pixar's Wall-E. Their new offering, Monsters vs Aliens, is just as star-studded as Kung Fu Panda, but isn't quite as clever or exciting.

夢工廠早就想拿出一部動畫大片來叫板對手皮克斯。近年來，他們大量炮制類似的電影，即著名演員配音加平淡無奇的情節(jié)。然而，去年他們的《功夫熊貓》表現不俗，但在奧斯卡上卻敗給皮克斯的《機器人瓦力》。他們的最新作品是《怪獸大戰(zhàn)外星人》，跟《功夫熊貓》一樣星光閃耀，但不如后者巧妙、刺激。

It's about Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon), a shy young woman who, on the day of her wedding, gets accidentally grown to fifty feet tall. After her fiance rejects her, she's imprisoned in a secret government facility along with other monsters, a blob, a mad scientist with the head of a cockroach, a gigantic insect, and a swamp beast that's a cross between a fish and an ape. All are voiced by well-known comic actors, such as Jack Black and Will Arnett. The monsters are freed by the government after an army of aliens comes to conquer the earth, and have to use their disparate skills to defeat the invading hordes.

本片中，蘇珊（由瑞茜?威瑟斯彭配音），一個害羞的女青年，在結婚當日突然長到50英尺高。遭到未婚夫拒絕之后，她被關進政府的一個秘密基地，跟其他怪獸住在一起，包括一個果凍狀怪物、一名長著蟑螂頭的科學家、一只巨大的昆蟲和一頭半魚半猿的濕地野獸。配音者都是著名喜劇演員，如杰克?布萊克和威爾?阿奈特。在一幫外星人前來征服地球后，怪物被政府釋放，各顯神通來擊敗入侵者。

The premise is a parody of 50's 'B-Movie' science-fiction, where aliens would regularly invade the earth for no particularly good reason, and when imported Japanese giant monster movies, such as Godzilla, were wildly popular with American teens. The subtext of those movies was fear of the atomic age, when destruction of the earth seemed a real possibility, and Monsters vs Aliens hints at this by including many references to a famous parody of nuclear strategy, Dr Strangelove. One of the main characters is General W.R Monger (Warmonger), eager to use nukes at the least opportunity. The whole thing is fun, but nothing special - worth a lazy afternoon watching, though.

該片基于上世紀50年代“便宜的劣質科幻電影”，在當時的科幻片中，外星人經常莫名其妙地入侵地球，而根據進口日本巨獸題材拍成的電影，如《哥斯拉》，深受美國青少年的喜愛。這些電影蘊含著人們對原子時代的恐懼，即認為原子時代地球真的有可能被摧毀，《怪獸大戰(zhàn)外星人》大量借鑒了演繹核悲劇的著名電影《奇愛博士》，對此有所暗示。主角之一是蒙哥將軍（好戰(zhàn)分子），他總想使用核武器。整部片子很有趣，但沒什么特別之處——適宜在慵懶的午后時光消遣。

Ali G, Borat, Bruno - But Who's Behind Them?

薩沙?拜倫?科恩

British comedian Sasha Baron Cohen has been doing basically the same shtick for the last twelve years now, but he does it well enough that nobody can really complain. Slipping into the guise of a foolish or naive character, he interviews real-life people and puts them in outrageous situations, or tricks them into saying stupid things themselves. His first creation was faux-gangsta-rapper Ali G, a huge hit in the UK. His second was Borat, a supposed Kazakhstani journalist who would innocently say the most obscene things and trick people into exposing their own prejudices.Famously, appearing at a country and western club in the USA, he got a crowd singing along to what he claimed was the national anthem of Kazakhstan, Throw the Jew Down The Well.(Baron Cohen is Jewish, and takes particular delight in exposing anti-semitism, as well as often using Hebrew or Yiddish obscenities when pretending to speak other languages like Kazakh.)

十二年來，英國喜劇演員薩沙?拜倫?科恩基本上都是在演同樣的戲，但他表現出色，也無可厚非。他飾演愚蠢或天真的角色，采訪真實的人，使他們怒不可遏，或騙他們胡言亂語。他飾演的第一個角色是虛擬說唱歌手Ali G，在英國大受歡迎。第二個角色是波拉特，一名虛構的哈薩克斯坦記者，此人常常無意地說出一些淫穢至極的話，誘人自爆其個人偏見。最出名的例子是，他在美國西部鄉(xiāng)村的一個俱樂部里，讓一群人隨著他唱其自稱為哈薩克斯坦國歌的《把猶太人扔到井里》。（拜倫?科恩是猶太人，特別喜歡展現反猶太主義，經常說希伯來語或依地語，但哄人說自己是在說其他外國語，如哈薩克斯坦語。）

The Borat movie, where he crossed America in pursuit of pneumatic star Pamela Anderson, was a big hit three years ago. The problem with these kind of tricks, of course, is that once the character becomes moderately well-known you can't pull them off anymore. That's why Baron Cohen has switched identities again, this time becoming Bruno, a gay Austrian fashion host he used in an earlier TV series. The flamboyant Bruno has already pulled off such stunts as exposing the shallowness of fashionistas willing to change opinion at a drop of a hat, as well as pushing at the homophobia of young Americans.

在電影《波拉特》里，他為追求大明星帕米拉?安德森而橫穿美國，三年前引起了巨大轟動。這種手段的問題在于，一旦角色稍微有些名氣，就不能再故技重施。因此，拜倫?科恩再次變換角色，這次成了布魯諾，是在其之前的電視劇中出現的奧地利同志時尚節(jié)目主持人。神氣活現的布魯諾的舉止驚人，如暴露時尚潮人朝三暮四的淺薄，以及激起美國年青人對同性戀的恐懼。

For instance, he got a group of college wrestlers to pose nearly naked, slap each other on the buttocks, and then told them it was for 'Austrian Gay TV', prompting rage and threats. In his new movie, out this summer, he apparently pulls off similar tricks, like advertising a 'wrestling and beer' event that gradually turns gayer and gayer, sparking a riot among the crowd. Whether it'll be as funny and successful as Borat, we don't know - it seems kind of a one-note joke - but it should be worth a few laughs at least.

例如，他讓一幫幾近全裸的大學生摔跤選手擺好姿勢，互相拍打臀部，然后告訴他們說這是供“奧地利同志電視”所用，這引發(fā)了憤怒和威脅。他的新電影今年夏天上線，片中他耍同樣的把戲，比如為“摔跤與啤酒”活動做廣告，越說越淫蕩，引起人群中發(fā)生騷亂。它是否如《波拉特》那樣有趣和成功，我們無法知曉——它似乎是個沒完沒了的笑話——但至少會博君一笑。