books, a lot of books, has become the hallmark of brilliance as well, apparently, as the

書，大量的書，也成為了輝煌的標誌，顯然，作為。

supreme gateway to understanding. If we don't read four of this year's major prize winning

理解的最高門檻。如果我們不讀今年的四大獎項獲獎作品

books as well as maybe seven fascinating titles that have received ardent reviews in the Sunday

的書籍，以及可能有七本在《星期日》雜誌上獲得熱評的迷人書目。

supplements since March, then we'll be condemned to guilt and shame.

自3月以來，補充劑，那麼我們將被譴責為內疚和恥辱。

Yet amidst this pressure to eat our way through an ever-larger number of titles, we

然而，在這種壓力下，我們必須吃透越來越多的書目，我們

might pause to reflect on a fascinating aspect of the pre-modern world: this world never

可以停下來思考一下前現代世界的一個迷人的方面：這個世界從來沒有......。

put people under any pressure to read very much at all. Reading was held to be extremely

給人們帶來任何壓力，使其根本無法進行大量閱讀。讀書被認為是非常

important, but the number of new books one read was entirely by the by. This wasn't

很重要，但一個人讀的新書數量完全是按部就班的。這不是

principally an economic point. Books were very expensive of course, but this wasn't

主要是經濟問題。書籍當然是非常昂貴的，但這並不是說

really the issue. What mattered was to read a few books very well, not squander one's

真正的問題。重要的是讀幾本很好的書，而不是揮霍自己的。

attention promiscuously on a great number of volumes.

注意力濫觴於大量的卷宗。

The premodern world directed us to read so little because it was obsessed by a question

前現代的世界引導我們讀得那麼少，是因為它被一個問題困擾著

that modernity likes to dodge: what is the point of reading? And it had answers. To take

現代性喜歡迴避的問題：閱讀的意義是什麼？它也有答案。以

a supreme example, Christians and Muslims located the value of reading in a very specific

一個最高的例子，基督徒和穆斯林將閱讀的價值定位在一個非常具體的

and narrow goal: the attainment of holiness. To read was to try to approximate the mind

和狹窄的目標：達到聖潔。讀書是試圖接近心靈的想法

of God. In each case this meant that one book, and one book only - the Bible or the Koran

的。在每一種情況下，這意味著一本書，而且只有一本書，即《聖經》或《古蘭經》。

- was held up as vastly and incomparably more important than any other. To read this book,

- 被認為比其他任何一個人都重要得多。要讀這本書。

repeatedly and with great attention, probably five or so pages every day, was thought more

反覆地、很認真地看，大概每天看五頁左右，被認為是更多的。

crucial than to rush through a whole library every week; in fact reading widely would have

比起每週匆匆忙忙地看完一整座圖書館更關鍵；事實上，廣泛閱讀將有

been regarded with suspicion, because most other books would - to some extent - have

懷疑，因為大多數其他書籍在某種程度上會----------。

to prove misleading and distracting.

以證明其具有誤導性和干擾性。

Similarly, in the Ancient Greek world, one was meant to focus in on a close knowledge

同樣，在古希臘的世界裡，一個人要專注於一個密切的知識

of just two books: , because these were deemed the perfect repository of the Greek code of

只有兩本書。因為這兩本書被認為是希臘法典的完美寶庫。

honour and the best guides to action in military and civilian affairs.

榮譽和軍民最佳行動指南。

We can pick up some of this minimalist attitude to reading in early visual depictions

我們可以從早期的視覺描寫中領略到這種極簡主義的閱讀態度。

of one of the heroes of Christian scholarship, St Jerome - who was by all accounts the supreme

基督教學術界的英雄之一，聖傑羅姆--他是所有賬戶中最高的人。

intellect of Christendom, a man who translated the Greek and Hebrew portions of the Bible

智慧的人，一個翻譯了《聖經》希臘文和希伯來文部分的人。

into Latin, wrote a large number of commentaries on scripture and is now the patron saint of

為拉丁文，寫了大量的經文註釋，是現在的守護神。

libraries and librarians. But despite all his scholarly efforts, when it came to showing

圖書館和圖書館員。但是，儘管他在學術上做了很多努力，但當他要展示出

where and how St Jerome worked, one detail stands out: there are almost no books in his

聖傑羅姆在哪裡以及如何工作，有一個細節很突出：他的書中幾乎沒有。

famous study. Strikingly, the most intelligent and thoughtful intellectual of the early church

著名的研究。令人震驚的是，早期教會中最聰明、最有思想的知識分子

seems to have read fewer things than an average modern eight year old.

似乎比一個普通的現代八歲小孩讀的東西還少。

Antonello da Messina, St Jerome in his study, 1475

安東尼奧-達-梅西納，聖傑羅姆在他的書房裡，1475年。

The modern world has dramatically parted ways with this minimalist ancient approach

現代世界已經與這種簡約的古代方式戲劇性地分道揚鑣了

to reading. We have adopted an Enlightenment mantra that runs in a very different direction,

到閱讀。我們採用的是一種啟蒙口號，運行方向截然不同。

stating that there should be no limit to how much we read because, in answer to the question

指出我們的閱讀量不應受到任何限制，因為在回答這個問題時說

of why we do so, there is only one response that will ever be encompassing or ambitious

關於我們為什麼這樣做，只有一種反應是全面的或雄心勃勃的。

enough: we read in order to know everything.

夠：我們讀書是為了瞭解一切。

But we can hazard an observation: this exhaustive approach to reading does not make

但我們可以冒昧地指出：這種詳盡的閱讀方法並不能使

us particularly happy. So in order to ease and simplify our lives, we might dare to ask

我們特別開心。所以，為了讓我們的生活變得輕鬆和簡單，我們不妨大膽地問一問

a very old-fashioned question: what am I reading for? And this time, rather than answering

一個很老套的問題：我讀書是為了什麼？而這一次，與其說是回答

'in order to know everything,' we might parcel off a much more limited, focused and

"為了瞭解一切"，我們可能會把一個更有限的、更集中的、更有針對性的、更有價值的東西包裹起來。

useful goal. We might - for example - decide on a new mantra to guide our reading henceforth:

有用的目標。例如，我們可以決定一個新的口號來指導我們今後的閱讀。

we might want to read in order to learn to be content. Nothing less - and nothing more.

我們可能想要閱讀，以便學會滿足。沒有少，也沒有多。

With this new, far more targeted ambition in mind, much of the pressure to read constantly

在這種新的、更有針對性的雄心壯志下，許多不斷閱讀的壓力

and randomly starts to fade. Once we know that we are reading to be content, we don't

並隨機開始淡化。一旦我們知道自己的閱讀是為了滿足，我們就會不

need to chase every book published this season. We can zero in on titles that best explain

需要追逐本季出版的每一本書。我們可以將注意力集中在最能解釋

what we deem to be the constituent parts of contentment. So for example, we may need a

我們認為是滿足感的構成部分。是以，舉例來說，我們可能需要一個

few key books that will explain our psyches to us, that will teach us about how families

幾本關鍵的書，可以向我們解釋我們的心理，可以教我們如何家庭

work and how they might work better, that can take us through how to find a job we can

的工作，以及如何更好地工作，這可以帶我們通過如何找到一份我們可以。

love or how to develop the courage to develop our opportunities. We'll probably need some

愛或如何培養我們發展機會的勇氣。我們可能需要一些

books that talk about friendship and love, sexuality and health. Some books that gently

談論友誼和愛情、性和健康的書籍。一些書，輕輕地

guide us to how to minimise regret and learn to die well.

引導我們如何最大限度地減少遺憾，學會善終。

The more we understand what reading is for us, the more we can enjoy intimate relationships with a few works only. The truly well-read person isn't the one who has read a gargantuan

我們越是明白閱讀對於我們的意義，就越是可以只與幾部作品享受親密關係。真正好讀書的人，不是讀了一大堆書的人，而是讀了一大堆書的人。

number of books, it's someone who has let themselves be deeply shaped by just a few,

書的數量，是一個人讓自己被深深地塑造了幾本書而已。

very few well-chosen titles.

很少有精心挑選的題目。