評論
打印
In the end, we sat on the floor among the poetry, and I read him some.
最后，我們坐在地板上沉浸在詩歌之中，我給他讀了一些。
He listened, his head tilted down, asking, “What is it you like about that one?”
他聽著，低下了頭，問我，“你喜歡這首詩的什么？”
That spring, as we picnicked outside, I said, “If I tell you something, will you not judge me?”
那年春天，我們去外面野餐，我說，“我告訴你一件事，你不要評判我好嗎？”
David paused from listing the titles he planned to read over the summer and raised his eyebrows.
大衛正在整理這個夏天打算讀的書的清單，他停了下來，揚起眉毛。
“I’ve only read one book this year,” I said. “But it’s June,” he said. “I know.”
我說，“我今年只讀了一本書。”他說，“但是現在才六月。”“我知道。”
“But you like books,” he said. “You like bookstores. You like libraries.”
他說，“但是你喜歡書。你喜歡書店。你喜歡圖書館。”
“Is it a deal breaker?” “No, but still. Read a book!”
“這會破壞我們的關系嗎？”“不會，但是還是要讀書！”
I was painfully aware of the glaring hypocrisy in my life.
我痛苦地意識到我生活中明顯的虛偽。
I defended the virtues of bookstores in the age of online retailing and bought books whenever I got the chance, but I hardly read them.
在這個網上零售的時代，我為書店的優點辯護，一有機會就去買書，但我很少去讀。
They sat on every surface until my house appeared to wear books the way one wears clothes. They piled up on chairs and draped across sofa arms.
他們被放在每一個表面上，直到我的房子看起來像穿衣服一樣穿著書。他們堆在椅子上，搭在沙發扶手上。
The Japanese language has a word for this: tsundoku. The act of acquiring books that go unread.
日語中對此有一個詞：tsundoku。買書籍但是不讀的行為。
Each of my bookshelves holds two rows of books, an inner and an outer.
我的每個書架上都有兩排書，一排在里面，一排在外面。
Surrounding the bookshelf are stacks containing different categories of books: Books I Have Read.
書架的周圍是不同類別的書：我讀過的書。
Books I Want to Read. Books I Started but Did Not Finish Because I Did Not Like Them.
我想讀的書。我開始讀的，但是沒有讀完的書，因為我不喜歡它們。
Books I Started and Loved but Could Not Justify Reading Given Their Graphic Sexual or Violent Content.
我開始讀的，很喜歡的書，但鑒于其生動的色情或暴力內容，無法證明閱讀的合理性。
The next time I visited a dollar bookstore, I bought five titles for myself and two for David.
第二次去一元書店時，我給自己買了五本，給大衛買了兩本。
His charge to “read a book” echoed in my head. One afternoon, I picked up one I’d bought solely for its poetic title.
他的“讀一本書”的要求在我腦海中回蕩。一天下午，我拿起一本僅僅因其詩意標題而買的書。
