…Gibbon for failing to stand outside his historical period is not really fair. Or try the Federalist Papers, or anything written by the U.S. founding fathers. Same style. Even better, try Fielding's "Tom Jones." Prose as masterly as Gibbon's, but you'll laugh yourself silly at the ribald and bawdy humor, not equaled again until the 20th century. Gotta love the English Enlightenment.
…Spectator and so on. Also, I'd already be familiar with the literature of the time: the works of essayists, novelists and writers such as Samuel Johnson, Richard Steele, Joseph Addison, Henry Fielding of Tom Jones fame, Oliver Goldsmith, Abbé Aubert, Pierre Beaumarchais, Denis Diderot, Voltaire and many, many more—people who are still household names today. Moreover, these literati would soon pave the way for the…
It's in the first sentence of Tom Jones, Axiak. I thought you knew that. An author ought to consider himself not as a gentleman who gives a private or eleemosynary treat, but rather as one who keeps a public ordinary at which all persons are…
……“是的，学校布置让你们在高中读的那些书真的就是垃圾。”狄更斯的《双城记》是本好书，可惜被淹没在了大量他为了赚稿费按字数硬凑的无关章节里。《汤姆·琼斯》基本就是一部1749年的肥皂剧。现代作品（<30年内）几乎铁定是垃圾。（我念书那会儿 Norma Fox Mazer 很火，但在我看来完全就是糟粕。有个好笑的故事……
…"Yes, the books you are assigned to read in high school really ARE crap." "Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens is a wonderful book buried in a sea of irrelevant chapters he got paid by the word to write. "Tom Jones" is basically a 1749 soap opera. Anything modern (<30 years) is almost guaranteed to be crap. (Norma Fox Mazer was big when I was in school and was complete garbage in my estimation. A funny story…
…teachers don't actually read anything outside of their curriculum literature. The glory of English literature is that it varies widely. Want a swashbuckle? Got it--here's "Ivanhoe". Want a soap opera? "Tom Jones". All manner of surreal? Roald Dahl. Incredibly dark humor? Late Mark Twain. Even when someone says "I don't like author <X>.", if someone explains what they don't like, you can often find a different…
…assigned books we read for class in either junior high or high school. I think there were more, but these are the ones I can recall easily today. Pride and Prejudice. Last of the Mohicans. A Separate Peace. Tom Jones. Beowulf. Grendel. Crime and Punishment. Waiting for Godot. Tale of Two Cities. Also, several Shakespeare plays, though I am no longer sure which were read when. We also had other reading assignments…
……因为吉本无法跳脱出他所处的历史时代去苛责他，实在有失公允。或者你可以去看看《联邦党人文集》，抑或是美国开国元勋们写的任何文章。都是差不多的文风。更好的选择是去读读菲尔丁的《汤姆·琼斯》。散文水准丝毫不输吉本，但里面那些粗俗放荡的幽默能让你笑掉大牙，直到20世纪才有人能与之媲美。你真的不得不爱英国启蒙时代。
…Gibbon for failing to stand outside his historical period is not really fair. Or try the Federalist Papers, or anything written by the U.S. founding fathers. Same style. Even better, try Fielding's "Tom Jones." Prose as masterly as Gibbon's, but you'll laugh yourself silly at the ribald and bawdy humor, not equaled again until the 20th century. Gotta love the English Enlightenment.
……《旁观者》（Spectator）等等。而且，我也早已对那个时代的文学耳熟能详了：像塞缪尔·约翰逊、理查德·斯蒂尔、约瑟夫·艾迪生、写出大名鼎鼎《汤姆·琼斯》的亨利·菲尔丁、奥利弗·戈德史密斯、奥贝尔神父、皮埃尔·博马舍、德尼·狄德罗、伏尔泰等等诸多随笔作家、小说家和文人的作品——这些人至今依然家喻户晓。此外，这批文人很快就为后来的……奠定了基础。
…Spectator and so on. Also, I'd already be familiar with the literature of the time: the works of essayists, novelists and writers such as Samuel Johnson, Richard Steele, Joseph Addison, Henry Fielding of Tom Jones fame, Oliver Goldsmith, Abbé Aubert, Pierre Beaumarchais, Denis Diderot, Voltaire and many, many more—people who are still household names today. Moreover, these literati would soon pave the way for the…
就在《汤姆·琼斯》的第一句里啊，Axiak。我以为你知道呢。一个作者不应当把自己看作是提供私人或施舍宴席的绅士，而应该像一个经营大众饭馆的掌柜，凡是来客都能……
It's in the first sentence of Tom Jones, Axiak. I thought you knew that. An author ought to consider himself not as a gentleman who gives a private or eleemosynary treat, but rather as one who keeps a public ordinary at which all persons are…
……“是的，学校布置让你们在高中读的那些书真的就是垃圾。”狄更斯的《双城记》是本好书，可惜被淹没在了大量他为了赚稿费按字数硬凑的无关章节里。《汤姆·琼斯》基本就是一部1749年的肥皂剧。现代作品（<30年内）几乎铁定是垃圾。（我念书那会儿 Norma Fox Mazer 很火，但在我看来完全就是糟粕。有个好笑的故事……
…"Yes, the books you are assigned to read in high school really ARE crap." "Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens is a wonderful book buried in a sea of irrelevant chapters he got paid by the word to write. "Tom Jones" is basically a 1749 soap opera. Anything modern (<30 years) is almost guaranteed to be crap. (Norma Fox Mazer was big when I was in school and was complete garbage in my estimation. A funny story…
……老师们自己其实根本不读教学大纲之外的任何书。英国文学的魅力恰恰在于其百花齐放。想看侠义冒险？有的——比如《艾凡赫》。想看肥皂剧？《汤姆·琼斯》。想看各种怪诞脑洞？罗尔德·达尔。极致的黑色幽默？晚期的马克·吐温。哪怕有人说“我不喜欢作者 <X>”，只要他解释自己不喜欢什么，你往往总能找到另一本不一样的……
…teachers don't actually read anything outside of their curriculum literature. The glory of English literature is that it varies widely. Want a swashbuckle? Got it--here's "Ivanhoe". Want a soap opera? "Tom Jones". All manner of surreal? Roald Dahl. Incredibly dark humor? Late Mark Twain. Even when someone says "I don't like author <X>.", if someone explains what they don't like, you can often find a different…
……初中或高中课堂上指定的阅读书目。我想应该还有更多，但这几本是我现在能随口想起来的：《傲慢与偏见》、《最后的莫希干人》、《单独的和平》、《汤姆·琼斯》、《贝奥武夫》、《格伦代尔》、《罪与罚》、《等待戈多》、《双城记》。还有好几部莎士比亚的戏剧，不过我已经记不清具体是什么时候读的哪部了。我们当时还有其他阅读任务……
…assigned books we read for class in either junior high or high school. I think there were more, but these are the ones I can recall easily today. Pride and Prejudice. Last of the Mohicans. A Separate Peace. Tom Jones. Beowulf. Grendel. Crime and Punishment. Waiting for Godot. Tale of Two Cities. Also, several Shakespeare plays, though I am no longer sure which were read when. We also had other reading assignments…