美国国家公共电台 NPR The Wimpy Kid's Best Friend Gets A Diary Of His Own ... And He's 'Awesome'

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

We're privileged to speak with a great many famous writers on this program but none whose name is more familiar around the world. If there are any children who are listening and yawning this morning, perk¹ up. You'll want to hear this. Jeff Kinney's "Diary Of A Wimpy² Kid" books have sold 180 million copies around the world, international bestsellers that have been made into four movies, for which he's been executive producer. There are 13 installments³ of Greg Heffley's diary - I'm sorry - journal. But now there's a new middle school Samuel Pepys on the scene, Greg's best friend, Rowley Jefferson. He's the kid at the center of Jeff Kinney's new expansion. It's called "Diary Of" - and Rowley most certainly is - "An Awesome⁴ Friendly Kid." Jeff Kinney joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

JEFF KINNEY: Oh, thanks for having me on.

SIMON: Rowley is a great, young man. And Greg is not always nice to him, is he?

KINNEY: (Laughter) I think he's not. You know, the thing that I've learned from the four movies and the musical that we put together is that the audience is always rooting for Rowley to win. And, you know, as a person who Greg is based upon, I'm always like, why are they rooting for this guy? So I decided⁵ to embrace that. He's a really positive kid. He's really incorruptible in a way.

SIMON: I don't think I knew that. So Greg is based on you?

KINNEY: Yeah. He's sort of based on the worst parts of myself. You know, he's sort of a comically exaggerated version of my worst points as a person. Yeah. He's a three-dimensional character. So he's got his good sides, too.

SIMON: Have you grown up since then, or did you have to remain a jerk just aesthetic⁶ reasons?

KINNEY: (Laughter). Yeah. I hope that that quote gets put on my book somewhere.

SIMON: (Laughter).

KINNEY: You know, I think that Greg is sort of complex. And he's a reflection of sort of human foibles. So I think that's what I am, as well.

SIMON: Was it a - therefore, a relief to spend some time in Rowley's world?

KINNEY: It was. And it was kind of a surprise. It's sort of easy for me to write for Greg. And I wasn't so sure that I could write for this other character who was more naive⁷ and innocent and positive. But I found it to be really refreshing⁸. It's been kind of exciting in a way.

SIMON: I mean, to help us understand Rowley, he wants to create a character with superpowers that he calls Amazing Guy.

KINNEY: Yeah.

SIMON: And which is to give him this backstory - I'm going to quote, "Just had good parents who raised him to be a nice person, and that's why he decided when he grew up he'd fight for people who needed his help."

KINNEY: That's right. And he uses padded gloves, so he doesn't hurt the bad guys too much.

SIMON: Aw. He's a wonderful, young man.

KINNEY: (Laughter).

SIMON: He really is. So what's Greg's problem? Or he's just a kid.

KINNEY: I think he's a kid who's in a rush to grow up. I think he's a kid who wants to get to that next level. He wants his bedtime to be a later. He wants a cellphone. He wants to be able to see the PG-13 movie instead of PG. And he doesn't realize what a good thing childhood is, what a good gig it is. And Rowley is really quite the opposite. He loves being a kid. He's not in a rush to grow up. And, like I said, he's very pure.

SIMON: I have read that, at first, you thought "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" was a comic strip for adults.

KINNEY: Yeah. I was writing for the humor section, not the kids section of the bookstore. My father introduced me to comics. And he introduced me to Carl Barks, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics. And I always thought of comics as being for grown-ups or maybe just for everyone. So after eight years of working on "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid," I showed it to an editor who brought it in-house. And my eventual⁹ publisher told me that I had actually written a children's series, which was an absolute surprise to me.

SIMON: Well, you can't complain about results, though, can you?

KINNEY: No, I can't. I love this.

SIMON: Does Greg make bad choices so that kids don't have to?

KINNEY: You know, I'm really not trying to moralize to kids at all. I think Greg is sort of like a standup comedian¹⁰ who gets up on stage and talks about his own experiences. But it's through the prism of weakness and human failing. He wouldn't be that interesting of a character if he was always heroic.

SIMON: Always heroic? I'm trying to...

KINNEY: (Laughter) Never - sometimes every so often.

SIMON: Yeah.

KINNEY: I think he saved a squirrel with a broken leg once. So...

SIMON: Do I have this right? You just quit your day job?

KINNEY: Yeah. I had my day job until April of last year. So I guess it's been about a year.

SIMON: I guess the first run for this book is 3 million copies. Do you worry about the future?

KINNEY: Do I worry about the future? That's a great question. I wasn't worried until right now (laughter). Am I worried about failure? I'm excited. I am very, very, very lucky to be in this privileged position that, when I write a book, it reaches millions of kids. And that's something I really embrace. I try to do my best by kids and to try to write the funniest books possible.

SIMON: I found myself thinking at the end of the book, every young man or woman deserves a Rowley.

KINNEY: I think you're right. I think Greg doesn't deserve a Rowley, but he got one. So he's very lucky.

SIMON: Jeff Kinney, his new book "Diary Of An Awesome Friendly Kid." Thank you so much for being with us.

KINNEY: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF DAVID BENOIT'S "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID")

1 perk   

n.额外津贴；赏钱；小费；

参考例句：

• His perks include a car provided by the firm.他的额外津贴包括公司提供的一辆汽车。
• And the money is,of course,a perk.当然钱是额外津贴。

2 wimpy   

adj.懦弱的，无用的，哭哭啼啼的

参考例句：

• I'd rather have a wimpy kid than a dead one, you know? 你知道么？我宁可要一个懦弱的孩子，也不想要一个死的。 来自互联网
• I hate wimpy drinker. 我讨厌酒量差的人。 来自互联网

3 installments   

部分( installment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The first two installments were pretty close together in 1980. 第一次和节二次提款隔得很近，都是在1980年提的。
• You have an installments sales contract. 你已经订立了一份分期付款的买卖契约了。

4 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

7 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

8 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

9 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

10 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。