推薦書
讀一本好書，就像是和許多不在場的高尚人談話，你會學到很多有用的東西。悠長假期讓我們一同細數16本值得永世珍藏的英文小說：
1. The Lovely Bones By Alice Sebold; 400 pages
《可愛的骨頭》，艾麗斯·西伯德著(400頁)
Because Susie made us trust -- and cry for -- a ghost.
推薦理由：(女主人公)蘇西讓我們信任一縷孤魂，並為之哭泣。
In Sebold's first novel, The Lovely Bones, she has crafted a gripping tale of tragedy. Part detective story, part family drama, part meditation on what lies beyond, The Lovely Bones is a page-turner in the most literary sense.
《可愛的骨頭》是西伯德的處女作，講述了一個扣人心弦的悲劇故事。小說部分偵探向，又有點家庭劇的意味，它還對物質層面之外的事物展開些許沉思。從極為文學的角度而言，這部書寫得極為精彩，引人入勝。
2. Gone Girl By Gillian Flynn; 422 pages
《消失的愛人》，吉莉安·弗琳著(422頁)
Because Flynn nails an age-old fear: Do we really know the people closest to us?
推薦理由：費琳在這本書中一針見血，點出人們由來已久的恐懼——我們真的了解同我們最親密的人嗎？
As the story unfolds in precise and riveting prose, readers will find they are being manipulated by the unreliable narrator Nick. Still, even one notices this, searching for the missing pieces is half the thrill of this wickedly absorbing tale.
在精準而又引人入勝的文字描述下故事情節漸漸展開，讀者們將意識到自己正被不可靠的敘述者尼克牽著鼻子走。然而即使人們意識到這點，在這則詭異莫測、扣人心弦的故事中找尋遺失的片段只佔一半緊張的心緒。
3. Interpreter of Maladies By Jhumpa Lahiri; 198 pages
《疾病解說者》，裘帕·拉希莉著(198頁)
Because change is inevitable...and nobody knows what the heck to do about it.
推薦理由：因為改變在所難免……而且沒人知道要拿改變怎麼辦。
The author's details about the specific Indian culture were so precise and evocative, and yet her insights into family dynamics, homesickness and the ways we grapple with shifting circumstances resonated with us all.
此書中作者對印度特有文化的細節描寫非常精準並帶有啟發性。而她對家庭動態關係的洞見、作品中體現的念家之情以及人們在瞬息萬變的環境中摸索的方式，讓我們所有人產生了共鳴。
4. Life of Pi By Yann Martel; 326 pages
《少年派的奇幻漂流》，揚·馬特爾著(326頁)
Because we can't resist a didn't-see-it-coming spiritual punch.
推薦理由：看不到未來的精神衝擊讓我們無法承受。
The novel asked us to think how we endure tragedy, who we become in its wake and how, within it, we may just find both the terrifying and the miraculous.
這本小說讓我們思考如何承受悲劇，在經歷過悲劇後成為怎樣的人，我們也許還會發現恐懼和奇蹟共存。
5. The Fault in Our Stars By John Green; 336 pages
《星運裡的錯》，約翰·格林著(336頁)
Because we all need to feel first love again; even if we know the horrible sob-fest to come at the end.
推薦理由：我們都需要再次體驗下初戀的感覺，即便知道最終自己會哭得泣不成聲。
Sixteen-year-old Hazel faces terminal cancer with humor and pluck. But it isn't until she meets Augustus in a support group that she understands how to love or live fully.
16歲的海澤爾以幽默勇敢面對癌症晚期。但是直到她在青少年癌友互助會上遇見了奧古斯都，她方明白如何去愛，如何充實地活著。
註：書名來自莎士比亞戲劇《凱撒大帝》(Julius Caesar)第一幕第二場，凱撒說：「親愛的布魯特斯，錯誤並不在於命運，而在於我們自己。」(The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves.)
The novel asked us to think how we enduretragedy, who we become in its wake and how, within it, we may just find both the terrifying and the miraculous.
這本小說讓我們思考如何承受悲劇，在經歷過悲劇後成為怎樣的人，而在悲劇中我們是如何可能既體驗驚悚，又見證奇蹟的。
6. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China By Jung Chang; 538 pages
《鴻：三代中國女人的故事》，張戎著(538頁)
Because we got a literary visa to a long-hidden part of the world.
推薦理由：此書讓我們藉助文學，得以探知這個世界隱藏已久的一角。
Chang's memoir reads like a blockbuster multigenerational novel, but it's true. Through the portrait of her family, Chang paints a picture of mid-20th-century China, the suffering of its people and the resilience of women everywhere.
張戎的這本回憶錄讀起來像是一部講述多代人故事的賣座大片，但它是寫實的。她用自己家族的自畫像勾勒出中國二十世紀中期的景象——遭受苦難的人與抗打擊的女性隨處可見。
7. Wild By Cheryl Strayed; 315 pages(315頁)
《涉足荒野》，謝莉爾·斯瑞德著(315頁)
Because Strayed showed us how to leave our tough, destructive pasts 1,100 miles behind us.
推薦理由：斯瑞德向我們展示如何將那些苦澀又刺痛人心的過去遠遠甩在身後。
Cheryl Strayed, 26, admitted herself as a total mess. She righted herself by setting out to hike up the Pacific Crest Trail. How she did it, and what she learned about life, love, and survival of the emotional and physical sort, is the subject of her moving memoir, Wild.
26歲的謝莉爾·斯瑞德承認自己一團糟。她為了讓生活恢復正常，便前往太平洋山脊國家步道遠足。她實現這一想法的方式，對生活、愛情以及維續精神和身體存在的感悟，構成了《涉足荒野》這本回憶錄的主題，感人肺腑。
8. White Teeth By Zadie Smith; 464 pages
《白牙》，查蒂·史密斯著(464頁)
Because wildly smart novels never go out of style.
推薦理由：行文極為精明的小說永不過時。
In her daring debut novel, Zadie Smith takes us straight to 1970s multicultural London. Smith's wit and audacity is simply irresistible -- as she had written entirely in the language of charisma.
查蒂·史密斯的這本處女作大膽地將20世紀70年代的多族裔倫敦直接展現在我們面前。整本書中的語言極具魅力，彰顯出作者的聰慧果敢。
9. House of Sand and Fog By Andre Dubus III; 365 pages
《塵霧家園》，安德魯·杜魯斯三世著（365頁）
Because as much as it hurt, we couldn't look away.
推薦理由：它是如此的痛徹心扉，以至於我們無法移開目光。
Combining unadorned realism with profound empathy, House of Sand and Fog is a devastating exploration of the American Dream gone awry.
《塵霧家園》一書將赤裸裸的現實與人們心底的同情心一同展現出來，深度探索了已走偏的美國夢。
10. Eat, Pray, Love By Elizabeth Gilbert; 352 pages
《美食、祈禱與戀愛》，伊莉莎白·吉爾伯特著（352頁）
Because we'll probably never embark on a trip like this -- in fact, we're sitting in a cubicle. But we adored going along for the ride.
推薦理由：我們將來也許絕不會踏上如書中所述的這種旅程，事實上，我們正坐在小隔間裡。然而我們享受這本書給我們帶來的旅行。
Culinary delights, rigorous spiritual searching and exhilarating romance (in that order) were all in store, and we devoured every detail. Afterward, we couldn't stop talking about Gilbert's adventures in self-discovery -- and our own.
這本書中依次講述了作者的烹調之樂、嚴肅的精神追尋以及愉悅的浪漫史。我們耽讀每一個細節。之後我們情不自禁地會談論起吉爾伯特的自我找尋之旅，再延伸到我們自己。
11. The Secret Life of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd; 336 pages
《蜜蜂的秘密生活》，蘇·蒙克·基德著（336頁）
Because three awesome beekeepers taught us about the value of mothering ourselves.
推薦理由：三個值得尊敬的養蜂人教會我們——養育自我的價值所在。
With its 「hive」 of great characters and its uplifting message of self-empowerment, Bees was the novel for mothers and daughters of all ages to share.
這本小說由諸多性格鮮明的人物構建而成，其中傳遞出自我充實的積極信息。它適合各個年齡段的母女一同閱讀。
12. The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver; 560 pages
《毒木聖經》，芭芭拉.金索佛著（560頁）
Because Barbara Kingsolver has a sneaky way of making us more empathic.
推薦理由：芭芭拉·金索佛不經意間便能讓我們更易表同情心。
This novel features five narrators, observing and commenting the clash of cultures, the struggle to overcome stifling conventions, and the preservation of heritage.
這部小說有五名敘述者，他們觀察並評論文化衝突，掙扎著打破清規戒律、堅決維護遺產。
13. The Help By Kathryn Stockett; 544 pages
《相助》，凱薩琳·斯多科特著（544頁）
Because it served as a reminder of a painful history, while showing us what a few courageous individuals can accomplish.
推薦理由：這部小說告訴我們——銘記傷痛歷史的同時，勇敢的個人所能做到什麼。
This novel opened a national conversation about race. And yet, the story also gives readers insight into the strength, courage and dignity of the maids themselves -- qualities that have been too often overlooked.
《相助》在全美掀起了一番關於種族的討論。然而這部小說還讓讀者深刻意識到奴僕身上蘊含著的力量、勇氣和尊嚴。它們都是些已被人習慣忽視的品質。
14. Water for Elephants By Sara Gruen; 350 pages
《大象的眼淚》，莎拉·格魯恩著（350頁）
Because who doesn't love a pachyderm and a happy ending?
推薦理由：誰不喜歡厚皮類動物和美好的結局呢？
This depression-era tale of life with a third-rate traveling circus centers on orphaned animal caretaker Jacob, the woman he loves and her cruel and abusive husband, who happens to be the boss.
這部小說以大蕭條時期為背景，主角是一個三流巡迴馬戲團中的三名成員——孤兒出身的動物看守員雅各布，他愛上的女人（馬戲團明星）和她殘暴的丈夫（剛巧他又是雅各布的上司）。
15. The Remains of the Day By Kazuo Ishiguro; 245 pages
《長日留痕》，石黑一雄著（245頁）
Because the anguish of unrequited love makes for riveting reading.
推薦理由：單戀的苦楚讓此書引人入勝。
This quiet, heart-piercing novel showed us the cost of misplaced loyalties and missed opportunity, and reminded us of the happiness we must claim for ourselves.
這部安靜而撕扯人心的小說向我們展示了錯付忠心、錯失良機付出的代價，也提醒著我們那份一定要為自己爭取的幸福。
16. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot; 381 pages
《永生的海拉》，麗貝卡·思科魯特著（381頁）
Because we would have never known the truth without it.
推薦理由：多虧了這本小說，我們才知道這一事實。
Henrietta Lacks was a poor, Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells -- taken without her knowledge -- became one of the most important tools in medicine.
海瑞塔·拉克斯是美國南方一位貧窮菸農。而在她不知情的情況下（其過世後），她的細胞被醫生取走，成為了最為重要的醫學工具之一。
（來源：滬江英語 編輯：丁一）
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