欧美人文风情第316篇:比尔盖兹的 2017 夏日阅读书单

 I had a chance to catch up on a lot of reading recently, and there are a number of great books. 我最近刚好有机会赶快读很多书，而有几本很出色的书。

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. I've been watching Trevor, and I was reading such heavy books; I thought, Hey, I'll just read this. Trevor Noah 写的《生来有罪 (暂译)》。我一直有看 Trevor 的节目，然后我那时在读很严肃的书；所以我就想，嘿，那我就来读这本吧。

It's Trevor growing up in South Africa, where the categories are so arbitrary, and he hasn't fit any category. 里面是 Trevor 在南非的成长故事，南非对种族分类十分专制不讲理，而他不属于任何一个类别。

But the whole idea of this South Africa, what that was like, his insightfulness comes through very well. 不过整本书对于南非、南非是怎样的样貌，作者的深刻体悟表露无遗。

Hillbilly Elegy¹ by J.D. Vance. It's an amazing story of a kid who grows up in Kentucky and Ohio in a hillbilly family J.D. Vance 的《乡巴佬的挽歌(暂译)》。这是个很棒的故事，描述在肯塔基州和俄亥俄州一个偏乡家庭长大的孩子，

and manages to become a lawyer graduating from Yale Law School. 却成功变成从耶鲁法学院毕业的律师的故事。

The chaotic² nature of being in a family where resources are short, people aren't happy, people turn to drugs, alcohol, 那种先天存在的混乱，生在一个资源短缺的家庭，没有人开心，人们开始吸毒、酗酒，

you can't count on your parents to be around—I really felt I got a glimpse of something honest. 你没办法指望父母在身边－－我真的觉得自己窥得某种真实样貌。

The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal. This is one that my wife, Melinda, found—incredibly well-written. Maylis de Kerangal 的《那颗心(暂译)》。这一本是我老婆 Melinda 看到的－－文笔非常好。

It's about a young man who dies and his heart's being transplanted to another patient. 故事是关于一个死去的年轻男子，而他的心脏被移植到另一名病人身上。

You know, be ready to cry a little bit, as you get so connected to the people. 准备好掉几滴泪吧，因为你会和人们产生很深的连结。

A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety by Jimmy Carter. He's a very thoughtful person about big issues. Jimmy Carter 的《充实的一生：回顾人生九十(暂译)》。他是个很关心重大议题的人。

You know, he didn't go into politics just to win. 你知道，他不是只为了赢才投入政治。

He had a certain viewpoint about behavior, and he had a nuanced view of racial relations, you know, shows how brave he is. 他对人的行为自有一套见解，而且他对种族关系的观点和人不太一样，那显示出他有多勇敢。

Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari. He wrote Sapiens. Yuval Noah Harari 的《人类大命运：从智人到神人》。

And he's again telling us about where humanity is, what we've achieved, 作者写过《人类大历史》。而他又再次告诉我们人目前的处境、我们的成就，

and how to think about the problems that are close to not being problems—war, famine, health—and looking at where do we go from here. 以及如何省思那些即将不成问题的问题－－战争、飢荒、健康－－并思考我们未来会走向何处。

Those are some of my recent favorites. I hope you'll try a few of them and enjoy them this summer. 那些就是其中几本我近期很喜欢的书。希望你这个夏天会读几本看看，然后享受阅读的过程。

 

1 elegy   

n.哀歌，挽歌

参考例句：

• Good heavens,what would be more tragic than that elegy!天哪，还有什么比那首挽歌更悲伤的呢！
• His book is not intended to be a complete history but a personal elegy.他的书与其说是一部完整的历史，更像是一篇个人挽歌。

2 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。