The Flowers of Time Bloom Under the Starlight: Review of Michael Andy's "Silence"
【Gazing into the eye of time】2
When I was in middle school many years ago, "Busy and Blind", the lead singer of Sylvia Chang, deeply touched my heart. At that time, time was monotonously cut into squares by the mathematics, physics and chemistry of Guoying. I could already look back at the adults around me from the singing. Their figures were busy coming and going like a whirlwind, and my eyebrows were as blank as dust in the wind... I couldn't help but wonder. , does growth mean becoming "busy and busy, unable to control oneself; blind and blind, with nothing to rely on; confused and lost in direction"?
When I was young, I had a vague feeling that there is a profound secret hidden in time, which is greater than the sum of minutes and seconds. On a winter afternoon, quietly waiting for a pot of water to boil, the leisurely warmth has nothing to do with the numbers on the clock face. At dawn in early summer, the haze outside the window ranges from purple to clear blue, blurring the distinction between moment and eternity. But adults’ warnings often come with a sense of guilt. It seems that I can’t escape the ticking of the pendulum no matter where I go. “You can’t stop, you can’t be in a daze, and you can’t waste time!” I found helplessly that I have the same idea of what time is and how to use it. I was busy, blind, and confused—until I read the book Momo (also known as The Gray Gentlemen, 1973).
Author's Sketch
Before talking about "Mom", we must first talk about the author of "Mom", the German writer Michael Ende (1929─1995). Andy is the only son of the hyperrealist painter Edgar Ende. He majored in drama and later worked as an actor, as well as writing screenplays and film reviews. He started writing children's books in the 1960s. His works were not many, but his books were a sensation and won numerous awards. The most internationally renowned work is "The Never Ending Story" published in 1979.
Andy uses his rich imagination to create highly original fantasy worlds. The writing is easy and smooth, and the images are poetic and picturesque. His easy-to-understand and easy-to-understand writing style makes reading a mental game and adventure. Although early critics criticized Andy for escaping reality, in fact, on the contrary, Andy's works contain profound concerns about the hidden symptoms of modern civilization and the basic dilemma of human existence.
story axis
"Silent" is Michael Andy's comeback to the literary world after several years of silence after moving to Italy in his middle age. The subtitle of the original German book is "The incredible story of a girl who helps people regain stolen time from a time thief":
On the outskirts of an unknown large city in Europe, among the ruins of an ancient amphitheater, a wandering child who calls himself "Momo" comes. She is thin, slovenly in appearance, and her life experience is a mystery. But the villagers soon discovered that there was something wrong with being silent for a long time! Her deep eyes are like stars in the dark night, and she always listens intently and silently to everyone's innermost thoughts. Everyone regained life wisdom and spiritual strength from her wholehearted listening again and again.
With Silence as company, the children can play happily, and the tour guide Jiji can tell wonderful stories one after another. Mo Mo is never in a hurry to go anywhere or do anything. She shares all her wealth - her time - with others naturally, freely and freely.
Until a group of gray-clothed gentlemen appeared out of nowhere and quietly moved around in every corner of the city. They are well-dressed, wearing gray suits and gray hats, smoking gray cigars, and lobbying people everywhere. If they save time and deposit it in the "Time Savings Bank", they will only deposit it without withdrawing it, and they will earn astonishing interest over the years! After the Gray Gentlemen persuaded people to join, they disappeared from people's sight and memory, but the concepts they preached were deeply rooted in people's hearts, and everyone began to save every minute and every second.
Finally, Silently discovered the conspiracy of the Gray Gentleman - people believed that they were saving time for the future, but in fact all time was stolen by the Gray Gentleman for their needs. Gray Gentleman couldn't win over Mo Mo and wanted to get rid of Mo Mo, but Mo Mo was taken to the birthplace of time where the patron saint of time, Hora, was taken away by a mysterious turtle. There she heard the music of the stars and saw the flowers of time blooming in the lake of her heart. I silently understood the truth that "time is life".
When Mo Mo woke up, he found that he was back in the ruins of the theater, but a year had passed in the city. The Gray Gentleman has complete control over people's thoughts and lives. But the greedy Gray Gentleman also wants to use Mo Mo to find the secret path to the birthplace of time, so as to snatch all human time in one fell swoop.
He fled silently to Hora's residence, surrounded by gray gentlemen. Hora decides to sleep for an hour. During this hour, time will stand still. Momo must find the time savings bank and release the frozen flowers of time. If she can complete her mission, the Gray Gentleman will disappear, time will return to people's hearts, Hora will wake up, and the world will be restored to its original state. Everything seems silent...
Listen to "Silence", echo and reflection
When Andy weaved the story of "Moment", he used many techniques, the most prominent of which was "multiple contrasts." Just from the chapter titles in the book, you can find many interesting examples: "Silent Grandpa, Noisy Young Man", "Telling stories to many people, telling stories only to one person", "Fierce pursuit, slow escape", "Meet again, truly farewell", "Fearful and uneasy, but a hundred times more courageous", etc. Of course, the contrasting spirit of "Momo" is not limited to the title. Below we will take a look at the wonderful contrasts presented in all aspects of settings, characters, symbols and messages:
1. Scene comparison: ruins vs city
The place where he lives silently is the ruins of a theater that most people have forgotten. But the neighboring villagers and the children who flocked here regained the wings of joy, freedom, and imagination. But in a prosperous and progressive city where gray gentlemen come and go, people have material enjoyment, but their emotions are monotonous and depressed, and their hearts are empty and chaotic. Which is more desirable?
2. Role comparison: Silent vs. Gray Gentleman
By worldly standards, Mo Mo seems to have nothing to envy. She is homeless, helpless, and has no money or power...but in the midst of a long series of "nothings", she possesses a pure heart, a talent for listening, and moral courage. Momo, who looks weak on the outside, is better than the strong authoritarian organizations and social trends. The gray gentleman is personable, eloquent, pervasive, and efficient in action. However, although the gray gentleman has many things, he lacks a unique self and has no real life. He uses stolen time to maintain an empty existence. Thinking about our daily life, do we live more silently or more like a gray gentleman?
3. Symbolic contrast: cigar of time vs. flower of time
Andy uses various concrete symbols to express the complex meaning of abstract time. For example, the reader suddenly realizes at the end of the story: the gray cigar that the Gray Gentleman never leaves his hand is actually the dried petals made from the stolen flower of time. The Gray Gentleman can only survive by breathing the time when people die. . When the smoke exhaled by the Gray Gentleman covers the sky over the city, people will also be poisoned, contract fatal fatigue, and become like walking zombies.
The flower of time—the original form of time—is extremely beautiful and radiant, and each flower is unique. When the previous one withers, the next one will bloom. "Every time a flower blooms, I always think it is the most beautiful flower in the world."
Most people will be horrified to read Andy's description of the poisonous effects of gray cigars, but are we also generally disgusted with the dark years when we drift with the crowd? On the contrary, if the dazzling and changeable appearance of the flower of time is amazing, do we also cherish the unique brilliance of every moment of our lives?
4. Information comparison: time is money vs time is life
Gray Gentlemen cherish time extremely, but their attitude towards time is completely quantified. They only use minutes and seconds as units when calculating time, and minutes and seconds are efficiency and money. Is the Gray Gentleman's idea too extreme? Look at real life, there are many people who race day and night, using numbers to measure success - bank deposits, housing square footage, monthly salary, dividends, production capacity, performance... Yes, numbers can speak, but in our lives, let the numbers speak. Finished?
Silently represents the view of time that Andy wants to spread, but it is completely different from the concept of "time is money". Silently believe that time is life, as short, beautiful and unique as a flower. Money can be saved or even exchanged; flowers can only be cherished, make good use of the present, and firmly believe that no matter how long the flowering period lasts, time will be enough for everyone!
Through "Silence", Andy uses gentle and honest writing, vivid metaphors, and poetic and fantasy style to seriously criticize the shortcomings of material supremacy and data supremacy in modern society. There is no harsh preaching or harsh ridicule, he chooses to tell stories in a whisper... Reading "Mo Mo" is like tasting the cold mountain spring, which makes modern people who are accustomed to drinking artificial drinks open their eyes in surprise─
Modern cities are brightly lit, but who still remembers the bright stars in the dark night sky? Only by staring at the sky and climbing the rope ladder of starlight with bare hands, we will escape the trap of busyness and blindness, step out of the gray fog, walk to the shore of the lake of the soul, and pick the splendid and fleeting flowers of time.
[Extended reading]
1. "Flower City"
Text by Eveline Hasler, illustrations by Stepzavrel, translated by Wang Zhenxin, Taipei: Shangyi Publishing, 1991.
The "Flower of Time" is a very important symbol in the book "Mom", conveying the author Andy's concept of "time is life". In the picture book "Flower City", also from Europe, people in a small town love flowers, and the city is full of flowers. However, the mayor drives out all the flowers, plants and trees for the sake of efficiency. The story unfolds as the child gradually liberates flowers, butterflies and dreams... "Mom" and "Flower City" lead readers to rethink, what are the "serious things" in life? Is there any point in pursuing beauty and dreams?
2. "The Never Ending Story"
Written by Michael Andy, translated by Li Changchuan, Taipei: Xiaochang Study Publishing, 1988.
If "Silence" arouses your interest in reading Andy, don't miss his other works, especially the internationally acclaimed "The Endless Story" - a rare modern fantasy story that so profoundly explores the role of reading and imagination in human life. indelible meaning. (If you have only seen the movie version, you should take the time to read the original novel, because Andy was very dissatisfied with the result of the movie adaptation!)
[Intimate Tips] Read with your children!
Reading Is Fundamental (Reading lays the foundation) is the slogan of the U.S. Department of Education to promote reading in all elementary schools, with the purpose of encouraging more reading to improve language proficiency. Parents with school-age children must know that teachers emphasize and encourage students to read more extracurricular readings that can improve their vocabulary.
Why not read a book with your children? ! As parents, we often encourage our children to read "useful books", but we are too busy at work to have time to read. Cultivating children's good reading habits can start from yourself! The books introduced in this series are all excellent extracurricular readings recommended by fifth- and sixth-grade teachers in schools across the United States and are selected reading materials for book reports. We strongly recommend that you read and discuss with your children. This will definitely add points to parent-child communication and make your children feel that their parents are really "cool"! Also learn to take charge of your children’s growth!
Related discussions
The following discussion topics are designed for family discussions with teenagers who want to have more in-depth discussions on parent-child reading. Readers can modify or extend it according to their own needs.
1 The main characters in the book "Mo Mo" each have different world views and time philosophies, such as the tour guide Ji Ji who weaves dreams without imagination, the scavenger Bai Bo who works step by step in front of him, and the orphan Mo Mo who is considerate and shares time resources. ;During the reading process, which character do you most and least identify with? Why?
2 Clocks measure time, but the ultimate meaning of time is not only the accumulation of minutes and seconds; Andy uses "the flower of time" to represent his views on life and time. Can you use other things to represent your experience of the connotation of time? ? (For example, "Tree of Time", "Bird of Time", "Sand of Time"...). Please compare and share each other's choices.
3 Using time as an introduction, the author Andy gently but profoundly criticizes the many shortcomings of modern civilization. Do you agree with his observations and criticisms? Think about it, why did he choose to convey his ideas in the packaging of fantasy stories instead of directly writing social criticism? What are the different effects of different genres?
4 Psalm 91 says: "Teach us to number our days, so that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Starting from this passage, let's rethink the two major ideological camps in Mo Mo's book: "Time is money" and "Time is money" and " "Time is life." Which view of time do you think is closer to the prayer of the poet in the Bible? Which view of time is closer to the trend of today’s world?
Author profile
Huang Ruiyi, from Taiwan, majored in Chinese education at Ohio State University, specializing in children's literature. Now living in Los Angeles, I practice the balance between raising children and serving in the church every day. I also enjoy catching the flashes of inspiration in the flowers of words.