VOA标准英语2009年-East and West Come Together in 'Dragon

Faiza Elmasry | Washington, DC 02 December 2009

Shors' experiences in Vietnam inspired his third novel, "Dragon House"

In the crowded streets of Ho Chi Minh City, formerly¹ known as Saigon, American friends Iris² and Noah try to help homeless children and find a higher calling for their lives.  The friends are fictional³, characters in John Shors' new novel, Dragon House. But, the problem of homeless children is real, and through his novel, Shors gives readers a chance to help solve it.

American author lived in Asia
John Shors was raised in Des Moines, Iowa, far from any Asian influence. But after graduating from college, he spent a number of years in Japan, teaching English and saving money to travel to China, Thailand and beyond. He says that's when he started to fall in love with Asia.

"I backpacked around the region for about a year and visited big Asian cities like Bangkok, Saigon [Ho Chi Minh City], Katmandu, Delhi and so forth⁴," he says. "I had wonderful experiences, and I was so enamored with the culture, and the people, the history, the food and the climate. I just love everything about that part of the world. It's very dynamic and full of life."

Streets crowded with homeless children

It was during those trips, he says, that he noticed the almost constant presence of street children.

"Oftentimes these children are born into extreme poverty and their parents literally⁵ cannot afford to keep them," he says. "So they just abandon them. Or a family might be torn apart by drugs, or perhaps the parents have been killed. There is not the support system to take care of these children. So the children are out on the streets, at 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years old, having to support themselves," Shors says.

Survival tactics inspire characters in novel

Shors spent time talking and interacting with those kids, and says he couldn't help but admire them.

"These homeless children were out hustling⁶ - selling fans, post cards, flowers at all hours of night and day to tourists," he says. "What impressed me about these kids is that they were incredible little entrepreneurs. They were not sitting on the corner with their hands out, they are hustling. If it's raining, they are selling umbrellas. If it's hot, they were selling Coca Colas. They are just amazingly resilient, witty⁷ and intelligent and hopeful kids. Every night in Thailand, I played 'Connect Four' with a little 7 or 8-year old boy. He would carry this game around with him and play tourists for a dollar a game. That's how he lived. I was so amazed by this little boy. He was brilliant."

That little boy inspired one of the characters in Dragon House, Shors' new novel. Most of the action takes place in Vietnam.

"I was lucky enough to go to Vietnam three times," he says. "There is definitely still a legacy⁸ of war there. There are still thousands and thousands of unexploded bombs in the jungle that blow up when kids run over them. So there are a lot of legless children, farmers and so forth.  But having said that, I think the Vietnamese people themselves have really kind of moved beyond the war. It's a country that is full of hope and optimism and energy. I was welcomed with open arms as an American," Shors says.
 

Premise⁹ includes Vietnam, Iraq war veterans

The book opens with Iris, the main character, preparing to go to Vietnam on a personal mission.

"Her father is a Vietnam vet¹⁰. He goes back to Vietnam to try to open this center to house and educate Vietnamese street kids," he explains. "He actually gets very, very sick, and at the beginning of the book, he is dying. Iris promises him that she is going to go to Vietnam to fulfill¹¹ his dream, to open this center. Just as she is about to leave, she meets her childhood friend Noah, who had returned from the war in Iraq about 5 months earlier, where he lost part of his leg. He has a great deal of angst over that, and sorrow and misery¹² and anger. He decides to go with her to Vietnam, not really thinking that's going to help him, but he doesn't have anything better to do," Shors says.

Connecting with the homeless kids on a very personal level brings a sense of satisfaction and hope to the lives of the two friends, especially Noah.

"Even though Noah has all this grief and resentment¹³ towards the war in Iraq, he starts to move past it, because he realizes that these children have it harder than he does," he says. "He ends up really putting himself in additional risk, in additional danger to try to help out these children."

Some profits will benefit homeless kids in Vietnam

Like the characters in his novel, Shors decided¹⁴ to help street children in reality. He encourages his readers to help too.

"I'm donating a percent of the royalties¹⁵, of the proceeds from Dragon House to the Blue Dragon Children Foundation, a group in Vietnam that actually supports children," he says. "I partnered with this group, and if any of your listeners are interested, they can go to my web site, which is www.dragonhousebook.com and learn about the charity I'm helping¹⁶. It's wonderful! My novel Dragon House has only been out for a short time now, but we've already raised enough money to help about 250 Vietnamese street kids."

Dragon House is John Shors' third novel inspired by his Asian journeys. He says he hopes readers will enjoy reading it and come to the conclusion that, whether in the West or the East, people are more alike than different.
 

1 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

2 iris   

n.虹膜，彩虹

参考例句：

• The opening of the iris is called the pupil.虹膜的开口处叫做瞳孔。
• This incredible human eye,complete with retina and iris,can be found in the Maldives.又是在马尔代夫，有这样一只难以置信的眼睛，连视网膜和虹膜都刻画齐全了。

3 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 hustling   

催促（hustle的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Our quartet was out hustling and we knew we stood good to take in a lot of change before the night was over. 我们的四重奏是明显地卖座的， 而且我们知道在天亮以前，我们有把握收入一大笔钱。
• Men in motors were hustling to pass one another in the hustling traffic. 开汽车的人在繁忙的交通中急急忙忙地互相超车。

7 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

8 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

9 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

10 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

11 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

12 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

13 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

14 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。

15 royalties   

特许权使用费

参考例句：

• I lived on about £3,000 a year from the royalties on my book. 我靠着写书得来的每年约3，000英镑的版税生活。 来自辞典例句
• Payments shall generally be made in the form of royalties. 一般应采取提成方式支付。 来自经济法规部分

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。