A Book Report of The Black Tulip 黑郁金香 英文读书报告

黑郁金香英文版读书报告 Book report 英文读书报告

A Book Report of The Black Tulip

By Huang Xin, Talents Class, 2006

I have recently read the simplified version of The Black Tulip published by Shanghai

Translation Press. This novel was written by the distinguished French writer Alexandre Dumas Pere, the pioneer of the Romanticism Literature Movement in France. He was so popular that his works had been translated into several languages and welcomed by readers all over the world.

This novel took 17th century Dutch bourgeois revolutionary period of intense political struggle and the turbulent life as its background.

This gist of the story is as follows. The leading role Cornelius is a young doctor who

completely doesn’t inquire about politics. He loves growing tulips and is trying to cultivate a black tulip without any other color on it at all. In order to obtain the considerable bonus offered by the government to the first man who cultivates the very kind of black tulip, Boxtel, Cornelius’

neighbor, tries to destroy and steal the bulbs of Cornelius, even kill him. Fortunately, Cornelius in the prison gets acquainted with the prison-keeper’s daughter Rosa and they fall in love. Under Rosa’s help, Cornelius realized his dream and achieves happiness at last.

It’s firmly believed by some people that when you become rich and successful, happiness will naturally follow. After reading this novel, I believe that nothing is further from the truth. To my mind, the secret to happiness lies in your successful work, in your contribution towards others’ happiness and in your wealth you have earned through your own honest efforts.

Firstly, in order to obtain happiness, you should achieve your successful work, in order to achieve your successful work, you should go through thick and thin. As the writer said, “those who have suffered much, have a right to be happy.” Take the two leading characters for example. They eventually reach happiness after suffering a lot both psychologically and physiologically.

Secondly, your happiness should live in your contribution towards others’ happiness, but not on the contrary, in destroying others’ happiness. If you get your happiness by taking advantage of others or by hurting others, you won’t be happy with it for long, at least, you won’t enjoy the real happiness. People will think you’re a mean person. Boxtel was a typical case. He would never gain happiness.

Thirdly, wealth obtained through dishonest means doesn’t bring happiness. Happiness is not an end, it is a process. It’s a continuous process of honest and productive work which makes a real contribution to others and makes you feel you are a useful and worthy person.

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