Asthe clock ticks closer to midnight on New Year’s Eve, it’s fun to look back at what you’ve accomplished this year. December is a great time to take stock of everything you’ve done over the last twelve months -- including all of the books you’ve read.
随着时钟滴答滴答地接近新年的午夜,回顾你在这一年里都完成了什么将是一件有趣的事。12月是最佳的时间来盘点你在过去十二个月里都做了什么,包括所有你读过的书。
Because I’m a data guy, I like to look at my reading list and see if any trends emerge. This year, I picked up a bit more fiction than usual. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but I seemed to be drawn to stories that let me explore another world.
由于我是一个数据控,我喜欢观察自己的阅读清单,看能否在其中发现趋势。今年,我比以往看了更多的小说。这并不是有意为之,然而这些让我得以探索另一个世界的故事,似乎令我十分着迷。
Along with A Gentleman in Moscow and An American Marriage, I read The Friend by Sigrid Nunez (very bizarre and very good), Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (amazingly clever but a bit hard to follow), and The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion (I love this series). I even picked up a short story collection in David Foster Wallace’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.
继《莫斯科绅士》与《美国式婚姻》之后,我读了西格丽德努涅斯的《朋友》(既非常怪诞又十分出色),大卫·米歇尔的《云图》(这故事奇妙至极,但要跟上进度还有些难度),还有格雷姆·辛浦生的《罗西结局》(The Rosie Result,中文名暂译)(我很喜欢这套书),甚至还读了大卫·福斯特·华莱士的《男人众生相》中的一个短篇小说集。
Maybe next year’s end-of-year books post will finally include the Wallace novel I’ve been wanting to read for a while: Infinite Jest.
或许在明年的年末书单里,我将最终收录华莱士的这本我长久以来一直想读的小说:《无尽的笑话》。
For this year’s holiday books list, I chose five titles that I think you’ll also enjoy reading. These weren’t necessarily my favorite books of the year -- but I think they’re all good choices to help wrap up your 2019 or start 2020 on a good note:
至于今年的冬季书单,我选了五本我想你们也一定会喜欢的书。这些并不一定是今年我最喜爱的书,但我觉得它们都是不错的选择,可以帮助你完成对2019年的总结或是很好地开启2020年。
01
An American Marriage《美国式婚姻》
By Tayari Jones / 塔亚莉·琼斯【美】
An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones. My daughter Jenn recommended that I read this novel, which tells the story of a black couple in the South whose marriage gets torn apart by a horrible incident of injustice. Jones is such a good writer that she manages to make you empathize with both of her main characters, even after one makes a difficult decision. The subject matter is heavy but thought-provoking, and I got sucked into Roy and Celestial’s tragic love story.
我女儿珍妮推荐我读这本小说,它讲述了南方一对黑人夫妇的故事,他们的婚姻因一个可怕的不公正事件而破裂。琼斯是一位出色的作家,她让你对她故事里的两位主人公都报以同情,即便是在其中一位做出了艰难决定之后。书的主题很沉重但发人深省,它让我沉浸于罗伊与瑟蕾希尔悲惨的爱情故事中。
02
These Truths《这些真相》(中文名暂译)
By Jill Lepore / 吉尔·莱波雷【美】
These Truths, by Jill Lepore. Lepore has pulled off the seemingly impossible in her latest book: covering the entire history of the United States in just 800 pages. She’s made a deliberate choice to make diverse points of view central to the narrative, and the result is the most honest and unflinching account of the American story I’ve ever read. Even if you’ve read a lot about U.S. history, I’m confident you will learn something new from These Truths.
莱波雷在她的新作里完成了看似不可能的事,用仅仅800页囊括了整个美国历史。她做了一个审慎的选择,将不同的观点作为核心叙事,其结果是呈现出一个我所读到过最为坦诚而坚毅的美国故事。即便你读过许多关于美国历史的书,我确信你仍将从这本书里学到一些新东西。