2017年CRI "Schindler's List" author on literature, conflict and Sino-Australian relation

 

This is a small batch¹ from the weekly literature program Ink&Quill.

In 1993, Steven Spielberg's film "Schindler's List" hit movie theatres. Once released, this historical drama became a global sensation. 

Capturing the soul-disturbing terror of the Holocaust² while demonstrating the power of the human spirit, this emotionally-intense movie, won seven Oscars. 

But just like many great motion pictures of our time, this cinematic masterpiece is actually based on a book. Originally titled "Schindler's Ark", the book is a Man Booker Prize-winning novel written by Thomas Keneally. 

In an interview with ChinaPlus, this Australian author explains why he as a non-Jew was interested in the Holocaust in the very first place: "Because I knew it happened particularly in eastern and central Europe, which was very anti-Semitic. Meeting my friend Poldek Pfefferberg, now, such an endeavour to kill all these people by technological³ means just seems ridiculous. But I had worked out why it happened and how would I reacted if I had been conditioned to believe that."

Born in Sydney in 1935, Thomas Keneally is one of the brightest stars in the world literature community. In more than half a century, this prolific⁴ and diligent⁵ writer has published more than fifty books. The first Australian to win the Booker Prize, he is also a two-time winner of the Miles Franklin award, Australia's top literary prize. 

Among all the works of Keneally, "Schindler's Ark" is no doubt the most well-known. Yet few know that the author stumbled into the story because he wanted to buy a new briefcase⁶. 

On a hot autumn day in 1980, Keneally wandered into a small handbag shop in California. There, the then 45-year-old bumped into the shop owner Leopold Page, a Holocaust survivor⁷ who's close friends knew him as'Poldek'. Eager to make a film about the man who saved his life, this Polish-American shared with Keneally the story of Oskar Schindler and convinced him to put pen to paper. 

As Keneally recalls, the pair traveled around the world to talk to people who knew or were saved by Schindler:"Poldek the survivor was with me the whole time. He's the pain in the neck but he was both a wonder human and the central to this book. He knew it was an ultimate story of humanity, as he used to say, humanity man to man. He was my entry to all these people who gave me interviews and documents. Without him, I wouldn't be able to do it, because as a Gentile, a non-Jewish, I came from Sydney, Australia. Therefore, I began to feel I was Jewish from mixing with these people."

In 1982, Keneally's documentary-like novel came into being and won the prestigious⁸ Man Booker Prize. Nine years later, Poldek's dream came true, as the tale of his savior finally hit the silver screen. 

"I knew there were too many subplots in the book to make into the movie and I knew the movie would had to have a simpler line of narration⁹. It does. The only thing I disagree with is when Schindler says in that tear-jerking moment: 'I could have sold this badge, I could have sold the Mercedes, I could have saved more. 'In fact, his factory was at capacity and he could not have had any more in there without the SS closing it down. What he had already had was under suspicion. " 

Thomas Keneally believes that, compared with the image portrayed¹⁰ in the movie, the real Oskar Schindler was a paradox¹¹: "In the movie, you can say he didn't make a single sell in his shell factory. But the reason was, you can tell in the book (and) you get room to tell, because he was making so much money on the black market and he did it severely¹², desired to be rich. He was only becoming rich in that turbulent, upside-down time in Poland (and) Czechoslovakia. That makes him interesting too."

Despite the discrepancy¹³ between history and fiction, the movie "Schindler's List" has received numerous accolades¹⁴, which also helps its source material gain wider recognition. 

But Thomas Keneally didn't rest on his laurels¹⁵. From "The People's Train" to "Three Famines", many of his other works are also about race, historical conflict, and calamity¹⁶. 

"I got a few books that deal with East Africa. I got a few books that deal with the Irish Famine, which was a great calamity. Sadly, I don't know what is said about me psychologically. But perhaps I have got an interest in catastrophes¹⁷. Australia is so safe and this is the problem. We all want to live somewhere like Australia that is pretty safe, but we are aware of what the ancestors went through. I think ancestor worship is the true religion of the human kind. We have become more ancestor-veneration for what they went through. Sometimes, I have written books about ethnic¹⁸ groups in Australia, who come from terrible places. That tension fascinates me, the tension between the safe life and the dangerous world. "

The desire to poke¹⁹ into the chaotic²⁰ past of human history has driven Thomas Keneally to write more. From an Antarctic expedition to the life of Joan of Arc, the author has never confined his writings within the border of his native Australia. 

When being asked why he chooses such diverse topics to explore, he gives us a brief answer: "I tell you what, the whole world is connected."

His longing²¹ to bridge different cultures has also fuelled his interest in China. 

In 1979, Thomas Keneally was among the earliest batch of Australian delegates to visit the Middle Kingdom.

"When Australia opened its diplomatic relations with China, I had the honor of being on the Australia-China Council and we were appointed by the government. We came here and organized academic exchanges. We even tried to get a film off the ground. We went out to the Tomb of Warriors²² (which were also known as Terracotta Army) and I believe we were the first country to organize a tour of the Tomb warriors about 1981, 1982. We were involved in helping²³ initiating²⁴ the newspaper China Daily. "

Since then, he has come back to China a number of times. Though the film he wanted to make about Chinese immigrants in Australia has never quite taken shape, this official "Australian living treasure" is determined²⁵ to push the bilateral²⁶ relations further. 

"Australians are fascinated with two countries: America, for our alliance with them, and China, for our need of China. You know, I hope the need moves into understanding and I think it's on the way. "

1 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

2 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

3 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

4 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

5 diligent   

adj.勤勉的，勤奋的

参考例句：

• He is the more diligent of the two boys.他是这两个男孩中较用功的一个。
• She is diligent and keeps herself busy all the time.她真勤快，一会儿也不闲着。

6 briefcase   

n.手提箱，公事皮包

参考例句：

• He packed a briefcase with what might be required.他把所有可能需要的东西都装进公文包。
• He requested the old man to look after the briefcase.他请求那位老人照看这个公事包。

7 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

8 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

9 narration   

n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体

参考例句：

• The richness of his novel comes from his narration of it.他小说的丰富多采得益于他的叙述。
• Narration should become a basic approach to preschool education.叙事应是幼儿教育的基本途径。

10 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

12 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

13 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

14 accolades   

n.（连结几行谱表的）连谱号( accolade的名词复数 )；嘉奖；（窗、门上方的）桃尖拱形线脚；册封爵士的仪式（用剑面在肩上轻拍一下）

参考例句：

• Unlike other accolades for literature which tend to value style or experimentation. 有别于其他偏重风格活实验性的文学奖项。 来自互联网
• Build your trophy room while amassing awards and accolades. 建立您的奖杯积累奖项和荣誉。 来自互联网

15 laurels   

n.桂冠，荣誉

参考例句：

• The path was lined with laurels.小路两旁都种有月桂树。
• He reaped the laurels in the finals.他在决赛中荣膺冠军。

16 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

17 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

18 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

19 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

20 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

21 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

22 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

23 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。

24 initiating   

v.开始( initiate的现在分词 )；传授；发起；接纳新成员

参考例句：

• He is good at initiating projects but rarely follows through with anything. 他善于创建项目，但难得坚持完成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Only the perchlorate shows marked sensitiveness and possibly initiating properties. 只有高氯酸盐表现有显著的感度和可能具有起爆性能。 来自辞典例句

25 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

26 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。