不知道如何選書？聽聽名家怎麼說

讀書的重要性是不言而喻的，但是要如何選書，如何讀書呢？不妨來看看名家關於讀書的見解。

1. READ BOOKS FROM ERAS PAST // ALBERT EINSTEIN

愛因斯坦：讀讀過去的書

Keeping up with current events and the latest buzz-worthy book from the bestseller list is no small feat, but Albert Einstein thought it was vital to leave some room for older works, too. Otherwise, you’d be “completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of [your] times,” he wrote in a 1952 journal article.

緊跟時事、一網打盡暢銷榜上的火爆新書並非易事，但是阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦認爲，留一些時間看看老書也很重要。愛因斯坦在1952年的期刊文章上寫道，否則你就會“完全被自己時代的偏見和潮流左右”。

"Somebody who reads only newspapers and at best books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely near-sighted person who scorns eyeglasses,” he wrote.

他寫道：“有的人只讀報紙和當代作家的最佳作品，在我看來，這就像重度近視的人不屑於戴眼鏡。”

2. DON’T JUMP TOO QUICKLY FROM BOOK TO BOOK // SENECA

小塞涅卡：不要在短時間內讀太多太雜的書

Seneca the Younger, a first-century Roman Stoic philosopher and trusted advisor of Emperor Nero, believed that reading too wide a variety in too short a time would keep the teachings from leaving a lasting impression on you. “You must linger among a limited number of master thinkers, and digest their works, if you would derive ideas which shall win firm hold in your mind,” he wrote in a letter to Roman writer Lucilius.

公元一世紀的古羅馬斯多葛派哲學家、尼祿大帝信賴的顧問小塞涅卡認爲，在短時間內讀書太雜會讓自己無法長久銘記從書中獲得的教益。他在給羅馬作家盧西利厄斯的信中寫道：“你必須花時間品讀少數幾位偉大思想家的作品，這樣才能讓教益常駐心間。”

3. SHOP AT SECONDHAND BOOKSTORES // VIRGINIA WOOLF

弗吉尼亞·伍爾芙：在二手書店買書

In her essay “Street Haunting,” Virginia Woolf described the merits of shopping in secondhand bookstores, where the works “have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.”

弗吉尼亞·伍爾芙在她的散文《街頭漫步》中描述了在二手書店買書的好處，在那裏各種書籍“像斑駁的羽毛一樣堆在一起，這種魅力正是圖書館裏中規中矩的藏書所欠缺的。”

variegated [ˈverɪɡeɪtɪd]: adj. 雜色的；斑駁的；富於變化的

According to Woolf, browsing through used books gives you the chance to stumble upon something that wouldn’t have risen to the attention of librarians and booksellers, who are often much more selective in curating their collections than secondhand bookstore owners.

伍爾芙寫道，翻看二手書讓你有機會邂逅那些圖書管理員和書商沒有注意到的書，他們在選擇書目時通常都比二手書店老闆挑剔得多。

4. YOU CAN SKIP OUTDATED SCIENTIFIC WORKS, BUT NOT OLD LITERATURE // EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON

愛德華·鮑沃爾-李敦：科學著作讀新的，文學著作讀老的

19th-century British novelist and Parliamentarian Edward Bulwer-Lytton was a firm believer in the value of reading old literature.

19世紀英國小說家、議會議員愛德華·鮑沃爾-李敦是古文學價值的堅定信徒。

"In science, read, by preference, the newest works; in literature, the oldest,” he wrote in his 1863 essay collection, Caxtoniana. “The classic literature is always modern. New books revive and redecorate old ideas; old books suggest and invigorate new ideas.”

他在1863年的散文集《卡克斯頓彙編》中寫道：“如果讀科學著作，當然是新作更好，但是讀文學，就要讀最老的。經典文學作品永遠不過時。新書是新瓶裝陳酒，老書則能激發新思路。”

5. CHECK OUT AUTHORS’ READING LISTS FOR BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS // MORTIMER J. ADLER

莫提默·J·艾德勒：參考作家的讀書清單

In his 1940 guide How to Read a Book, American philosopher Mortimer J. Adler talked about the importance of choosing books that other authors consider worth reading. “The great authors were great readers,” he explained, “and one way to understand them is to read the books they read.”

美國哲學家莫提默·J·艾德勒在1940年的指南書《如何閱讀一本書》中提到，應該選擇作家認爲有價值的書籍來讀。他解釋道：“偉大的作家都是博覽羣書者，要想理解他們，一個方法就是讀他們讀過的書。”

6. YOU GET TO MAKE THE FINAL DECISION ON HOW, WHAT, AND WHEN TO READ // THEODORE ROOSEVELT

西奧多·羅斯福：讀什麼書，怎麼讀，自己做主

Theodore Roosevelt rejected the idea that there’s a definitive “best books” list that everyone should abide by. Instead, Roosevelt recommended choosing books on subjects that interest you and letting your mood guide you to your next great read. He also wasn’t one to roll his eyes at a happy ending, explaining that “there are enough horror and grimness and sordid squalor in real life with which an active man has to grapple.”

西奧多·羅斯福不認爲有什麼人人必讀的“最佳書單”。他建議大家選擇那些自己感興趣的書，然後再看心情來決定自己下一本讀什麼。他也不反感快樂結局，他解釋道“活人在現實生活中要應對的恐怖、冷酷、骯髒、悲慘已經夠多的了”。