評(píng)論
打印
There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers - unread, untouched. (This individual owns wood pulp and ink, not books.) The second has a greatmany books - a few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. (This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.) The third has a fewbooks or many - every one of them dog-eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (This man owns books.)
書籍擁有者可以分為三種。第一種人藏有全部標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的成套書和暢銷書-既沒(méi)有讀過(guò)，也沒(méi)有碰過(guò)（這位占有的只是紙漿和油墨，而不是書。）第二種人藏書很多-有幾本從頭至尾讀過(guò)，大部分淺嘗輒止，但全都跟新買時(shí)一樣整潔光亮。（此君很可能想使書真的為其所有，但因錯(cuò)誤地過(guò)分關(guān)注書籍的外觀而裹足不前。）第三種人藏書或多或少-因不斷使用，每本書都弄成書角卷起，破舊不堪，裝訂破損，書頁(yè)松散，全書從扉頁(yè)至末頁(yè)畫滿了記號(hào)，涂滿了字句。（此人是書的真正擁有者。）
Is it false respect, you may ask, to preserve intact a beautifully printed book, an elegantly bound edition? Of course not. I'd no more scribble all over a first edition of "Paradise Lost"than I'd give my baby a set of crayons and an original Rembrandt! I wouldn't mark up a painting or a statue. Its soul, so to speak, is inseparable from its body. And the beauty of arare edition or of a richly manufactured volume is like that of painting or a statue. If your respect for magnificent binding or printing gets in the way, buy yourself a cheap edition and pay your respects to the author.
你或許會(huì)問(wèn)，將一本印刷精美、裝幀雅致的書保存完好，難道也是不恰當(dāng)?shù)膯幔慨?dāng)然不是。我決不會(huì)在一本初版的《失樂(lè)園》上亂涂亂寫，就像我不會(huì)把一幅倫勃朗的原作連同一盒蠟筆交給我的嬰孩任意涂抹一樣！我決不會(huì)在一幅油畫或一尊塑像上畫記號(hào)。可以說(shuō)，它們的靈魂與其軀體是不可分開的。一部珍本或一本裝幀華美的書的美，同一幅油畫或一尊塑像的美是一樣的。如果你對(duì)華美的裝幀或印刷的尊重妨礙你讀書，那就買一種便宜的版本，將你的敬意獻(xiàn)給作者。
