Words
1. Lydia snuggled deeper into her mother’s arms, and by the time they reached the last page, she was almost asleep.
依偎，舒适地蜷卧；If you snuggle somewhere, you settle yourself into a warm, comfortable position, especially by moving closer to another person.
snuggle这个用的好生动，小孩子对妈妈的那种依恋和缺乏安全感体现的淋漓尽致，只有在妈妈的怀里才是最温暖的。
The baby snuggled in the arms of his mother.
2. Nath pouted in the corner, flicking the edges of his folder, but no one paid any attention to him until his father came into the kitchen.
恼怒或性感地撅嘴；If someone pouts, they stick out their lips, usually in order to show that they are annoyed or to make themselves sexually attractive.
3. When they turned, dutifully, to him, he was tongue-tied, because his father—still seared by the memory of a smashed television and his son’s slapped face, did not ever want to hear about space.”
sear 本义是烧灼;灼伤;灼痛；If something sears a part of your body, it causes a painful burning feeling there. 这里是内心受到伤害如身体被灼伤会留下印迹一样，刺痛。
He was still seared by the broken cup on the ground when he came back home.
Expressions
今天说一说对人物语言的感受：我们都知道，好的作者写书，每个人物的语言都是符合人物身份的，比如曹雪芹写黛玉，宝钗，凤姐，刘姥姥，该讲粗话的刘姥姥说不出凤姐那般泼辣的话，凤姐也说不出象黛玉那种细腻的话。这本书有一段Nath心里活动的描写，用词就比较符合Nath当时的状况，他是个爱好航空航天的少年。
Everything in their life—their mother, their father, even he himself—slid, now, toward Lydia. Like gravity, there was no resisting it. Everything orbited her. ... Even without Lydia, the world would not level. He and his parents and their lives would spin into the space where she had been. They would be pulled into the vacuum she left behind.
...He did not mind this permanent state of eclipse: every evening, Lydia rapped at his door, silent and miserable.
这几个词全都是跟Nath喜欢的航空航天专业相关的，作者的这种用词还是蛮符合人物性格特征的。
感悟：
妈妈离家出归家后，全部心思和重心放在Lydia身上，试图把Lydia打造成另一个自己。5岁的Lydia当然不能读懂妈妈的心，她心里唯一强烈的信念是：我不能让妈妈再次离开我，我要做妈妈喜欢的事，妈妈让我做什么我就做什么！妈妈喜欢听她回答问题，她就让妈妈提问，妈妈喜欢给她讲书，她就要求妈妈讲完一本讲一本。对小小Lydia的来说生命中最重要的是一个词是“tomorrow"，妈妈对明天的承诺：明天妈妈带你去博物馆，明天我们一起学习树的知识，明天我们学习月亮等等，每个晚上，听到妈妈对明天小小承诺，Lydia就知道，明天早上醒来的时候，妈妈还会在家里。
Marilyn是自私的，为了延续自己梦想，她把全部的时间和关心全给了Lydia, Nath被完全忽视了, 甚至一个小小煮蛋的愿望也不能如愿。James总在Nath身上看到自己少年时的影子，所以他总是有心无心的玩笑总会象一根针一样刺痛Nath。Nath成了典型的妈妈不疼爸爸不爱的孩子。于是在Lydia五岁那年，趁着父母外出，保姆打盹的功夫，Nath溜出家门，Lydia跟着哥哥来到湖边。在湖边，Nath把对父母的不满完全怪罪在妹妹身上，在短短的几秒钟内心经历了各种挣扎，从把妹妹推到湖里到把她拖出湖里。Lydia落水事件之后，Nath成了Lydia精神支柱，唯一不让她独单的人。又是一件家庭的秘密，只有两个人的秘密，各不相同的秘密。“All her life, Lydia would remeber one thing. All his life, Nath would remember another."
这个家庭在这样一种不正常的状态下过了一年一年又一年。Lydia在家庭里扮演的角色越来越重要。James在外面的苦闷在回到家看到Lydia的时候烟散云散。女儿会跟自己不一样，会有小伙伴，沉稳、自信，这种感觉越来越真切。Marilyn自从回家后，拒绝为家人做饭，只有速食。家人默默接受她的一切，只要她在家里就好。她忙着为女儿规划学习和未来。妈妈在学习上给她压力，爸爸在交际上给她压力。
从资质上看，Lydia学习远不如Nath,学习越来越吃力，成绩下滑。成绩下滑会让妈妈不满意，没朋友会让爸爸不满意，Nath要上大学走了，Lydia唯一能做的就是拖住Nath不让他离开，所以她会藏起哥哥的牛津录取通知书。
虽然Lydia是宇宙中心，可是却比哥哥更痛苦，哥哥可以选自己喜欢的专业，妹妹Hannah虽然住在阁楼里，阁楼里堆放着不用东西，虽然被家人忽略，却不必象Lydia那样被父母的爱一点点压垮。
爱，有时是一种伤害。
