To be honest, when I just picked up the book "Harriet the Young Spy" to read, I was a little embarrassed because I am still reading children's books at a very old age. Until a book friend told me that you are too prejudiced against children's books. Children's literature can be read by both adults and children, because it is also literature. The simplest ones are "The Little Prince" and "Little John". The sun and the moon shine brightly, but you may not be able to understand all the metaphors. Even Lu Xun praised "Little John". For example, Mitchell Ende's "Maomao" and "The Neverending Story" are both interesting and philosophical. Children's books are not childish and shallow, but thoughtful and interesting. I was skeptical at first when I heard these words, but when I finished reading "Harriet the Young Spy", I seemed to understand. The aftertaste and shock it gave me was indeed great, even surpassing that of non-children's literature.
The poet Rilke wrote in "Requiem": "There is always some ancient hostility between life and great works." And Louis, the author of "Harriet the Little Spy" The same is true for Fitzhugh. Her family was broken up and her father was indifferent when she was young, making her particularly sensitive. Even while writing this novel, she was still in trouble. In addition to being a writer, Louise is also an illustrator, and the hand-drawn illustrations in the book are also from her pen.
"Harriet the Little Spy" tells a story about an eleven-year-old girl Harriet. She has a dream of being a writer, so she develops the habit of recording things around her anytime and anywhere. It's just that the contents in her notebook are too straightforward and are all her subjective and true thoughts. In fact, after reading the contents of her notes, I found them very interesting. For example, Mrs. Gao Li was hit by a truck, and she was still concerned about what would happen to the truck because of her body shape. Although many of them are children's innocent thoughts, everyone has their own secrets, and there are too many secrets hidden in her notebook. When the secret was not a secret, after the notebook was peeked by the classmates, everyone was angry and Harriet was isolated. Harriet's own behavior, to borrow the words of her family's chef, is very impolite. She spends her days spying on neighbors and disturbing other people's lives. Spying is an act that violates other people's privacy. But it was also unethical for her classmates to peek into her notebook without her consent. This conflict caused me to think a lot.
The notebook is actually Harriet’s personal venting, her true inner thoughts, many of which are unspeakable and cannot be said in front of her. As her doctor, Wagner, says, it's hard to take bad words these days. Because telling the truth means being ostracized and isolated, people put on masks, learn to say nice things, and then become adults. Maybe everyone likes to hear good things. The thoughts in Harriet's notebook include both good and bad thoughts. This is what a real person is. People will always have negative emotions and will definitely be dissatisfied with others. It is impossible to like everyone. It's just that most people won't say it out loud, and Harriet didn't either. She just secretly wrote it down in a private notebook. This novel made me think about how to find a balance between being real enough and being comfortable with each other, and how to be true to myself and accept myself without offending others.
However, think about it from another perspective, how great it would be if a person could look at other people's real feedback with an objective attitude. We all know what is right, but as we grow up, it gradually becomes unclear. That is the excuse we make for not being able to do it to save face, and it is the same for everyone, isn't it? Not too noble, not too despicable. As the book says, adults are getting stupider every year.
Harriet is not a perfect child. On the contrary, she is very rude. She makes a lot of noise every time and does a lot of pranks to retaliate and isolate her classmates, although she is also bullied by her classmates. She was also glad she wasn't perfect, otherwise she would have died of boredom. Although Harriet is very unique, I also found many similarities with her, such as not liking to stay in bed and liking to eat tomatoes. Maybe this is a strange thing, but people's lifestyles are different. Others will like things that you hate, and the things you hate are exactly what others like. You must learn to understand and be considerate.
I like Teacher Ajia's article "Recognize Yourself as Different" very much. The writer's recording and presentation of life is to "keep it as a record" or to explore and ask: what kind of life do they want to live. I have been very well-behaved since I was a child. Others may think that I am being restrained, but I really don’t like swearing. I hate people being rude in front of me. I'm also a bit of a germaphobe and hate dirty stalls. It turns out that I even try to cover it up a bit, not wanting others to think that I am a sick princess and difficult to get along with. Later, I began to openly admit that I was aloof and that I was really uncomfortable. There was no need to appear gregarious. I never eat meat buns bought from outside, even though they are a favorite of many people. I have some little problems like this, but in middle school, those were still good qualities. In the adult world, everyone is accustomed to believe that everyone likes to stay in bed, fall in love, and be noticed, but I don’t like it... I like the morning air, I like to be alone, and I don’t like to be understood by others. People are always as self-righteous as Harriet. Just because you can't do it yourself, you can't think that others are the same as you. Everyone is different, people have different lifestyles, that’s just how life is.
There is a character in the novel that must be mentioned, that is the nanny Gao Li. She is also the teacher who helps Harriet balance the two points of being real enough and being comfortable with her friends. This interpersonal communication problem is something that everyone will inevitably encounter at this stage from child to adult. Because when we are children, we say whatever comes to mind, and we only understand the first meaning of other people's words. The adult world is very complicated. Some people learn to flatter early and can easily say things against their wishes, while some people find it very difficult. I have even heard some older friends still feel uncomfortable when they say some nice things that they don’t mean. In the adult world, you will think about the meaning behind every word you hear, because no one can speak outright anymore and have lost this ability. Under Gao Li's guidance, how did Harriet solve this problem?
Gao Li is a knowledgeable person, she is a storage box of famous sayings, and she also has many wonderful remarks. She once said, "Love all creation, love its whole and every cell. Love animals, love plants, love everything. Then you will realize the mystery of things. Once you realize this, every day, you will deepen Understand that, in the end, you will love the whole world with a spirit of great compassion and fraternity. From the novel "Miss Lonely Hearts" by the American novelist West; she once said, "Try to do everything, at least once." ; She once said, "It is said in Aesop's Fables that realizing a wish may not necessarily lead to happiness."
Gao Li taught Harriet that keeping secrets is more important than Taishan, but troubles are caused by those who want to control and change others. If you don't like someone, stay away from that person and don't try to force others to like you. Harriet wrote in her notebook, "Why don't they tell them how they really feel?" Gao Li said: "Express your feelings clearly, because misunderstandings are more hurtful than anything else." Facing the notebook scandal, Gao Li felt that the only two ways to do it was to apologize and lie, otherwise Harriet would lose her friends.
"Sometimes, a white lie is helpful and harmless. For example, the meal cooked by others does not taste good, but you still have to express your gratitude; when a patient is not in good condition, say that he looks good; or praise Someone else’s new hat is cute, even if it isn’t. Remember, write to fill the world with love, not to use it against your friends. But always be honest with yourself.”
“What’s especially important is that you must be true to yourself; just as night comes with day, you must be true to yourself so that you will not deceive others.
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