I'm currently re-reading Joseph and His Brothers, a 1200-page heavy-weight monster of a book by Thomas Mann (himself a heavy-weight monster of an author). Do I recommend it? Yes, but not for everyone. The preface itself is one of the heaviest essays…
…book of the 20th century"? no way!) Memoirs of a Geisha is also nice but hardly a thought leader. And it seems to be completely missing immortal masterpieces such as Narziss & Goldmund (Herman Hesse), Joseph and his Brothers (Thomas Mann), The Trial (Kafka), and many others. An "OK" starting point, but not even the shadow of a definitive list.
also keeping grain reserves was probably the killer application of ancient civilizations; (you can also read about that in the Bible - on Joseph and his brothers), being able to weather the occasional famine was probably worth much more than the increased risk of disease in crowded and dirty cities or the cost of bondage/servitude (in these times that is) - alternatively…
我目前正在重读《约瑟和他的兄弟们》，这是托马斯·曼（他本人也是作家里的重量级巨擘）写的一部厚达1200页的重磅大作。我推荐吗？推荐，但并不适合所有人。单是前言就是我读过最难啃的论文之一……
I'm currently re-reading Joseph and His Brothers, a 1200-page heavy-weight monster of a book by Thomas Mann (himself a heavy-weight monster of an author). Do I recommend it? Yes, but not for everyone. The preface itself is one of the heaviest essays…
……“20世纪最伟大的书”？得了吧，绝不可能！《艺伎回忆录》也不错，但也谈不上是什么思想引领者。而且书单里似乎完全遗漏了一些不朽名著，比如《纳尔齐斯与歌尔德蒙》（赫尔曼·黑塞）、《约瑟和他的兄弟们》（托马斯·曼）、《审判》（卡夫卡）等等。作为入门书单还凑合，但离所谓的权威书单差了十万八千里。
…book of the 20th century"? no way!) Memoirs of a Geisha is also nice but hardly a thought leader. And it seems to be completely missing immortal masterpieces such as Narziss & Goldmund (Herman Hesse), Joseph and his Brothers (Thomas Mann), The Trial (Kafka), and many others. An "OK" starting point, but not even the shadow of a definitive list.
托马斯·曼的《约瑟和他的兄弟们》，一部关于圣经（旧约）约瑟的四部曲。这已经是我第四次读了。
Thomas Mann’s “Joseph and his brothers”, a tetralogy on the biblical (old testament) Joseph. I am in the fourth reading.
托马斯·曼的《约瑟和他的兄弟们》。
"Joseph and his brothers" by Thomas Mann.
而且储备粮食可以说是古代文明的杀手级应用（killer application）；（关于这一点你也可以去读圣经——关于约瑟和他的兄弟们的故事），相比于拥挤肮脏的城市里更高的患病风险，或者沦为奴役/苦役的代价（在那个年代而言），能够挺过偶尔发生的饥荒显然价值大得多——或者换个角度……
also keeping grain reserves was probably the killer application of ancient civilizations; (you can also read about that in the Bible - on Joseph and his brothers), being able to weather the occasional famine was probably worth much more than the increased risk of disease in crowded and dirty cities or the cost of bondage/servitude (in these times that is) - alternatively…