双语 | 比尔·盖茨视频推荐2017夏季书单 这5本书让世界首富陷入沉思

作为拥有810亿美元资产、近12万员工的IT产业大亨，比尔·盖茨在忙于企业管理、致力于慈善事业之余，还保持着一个很好的习惯——阅读。每年夏季，他都会在个人官方推特上向读者推荐今年他喜欢的书籍，内容涵盖科技、数学、政治、农业等许多领域。

今年夏天，盖茨的书单如约而至，相比往年，这些书带给他更多关乎人类命运和人生目标的思考。今天，译·世界就把世界首富的书单送给大家，你可能无法匹敌他的物质财富，但可以和他共享同样的精神财富。

The US has a new reader-in-chief. Since president Donald Trump doesn’t read much, philanthropist and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates is now the natural successor to Barack Obama and Oprah.

美国读者有了新的领军人物。由于总统特朗普读书少，接棒奥巴马和欧普拉的任务如今落在了慈善家、微软联合创始人比尔·盖茨身上。

Recently, Gates recommended a book for college graduates: Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of our Nature. It shot to number 2 on Amazon, up from 12,231 the day before, and is still comfortably at number 10 a week later. This summer, Gates has several new recommendations: three memoirs, a big book on humans, and a rare novel.

近日，盖茨为大学毕业生推荐了斯蒂芬·平克的《人性中的善良天使》。该书在亚马逊的销量从前一日的12231册飙升至第二位，并在一周之后依然可以取得销量排名第十的喜人成绩。今年夏天，盖茨又有了新的推荐：三部回忆录、一部关于人类的著作和一部杰出小说。

Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah

《天生罪犯》，作者：特雷弗·诺亚

Comedian and Daily Show host Trevor Noah recalls his childhood as the product of a criminal act between a white man and a black woman in apartheid South Africa. The book is ultimately an ode to his mother, a fierce and uniquely minded woman.

喜剧演员、《每日秀》主持人特雷弗·诺亚回忆称在种族隔离时期的南非，一个白人男子和一个黑人女子之间的犯罪行为造就了他的童年。该书实际上是为了歌颂自己的母亲，她是一位思想独特的刚烈女性。

“As a longtime fan of The Daily Show, I loved reading this memoir about how its host honed his outsider approach to comedy over a lifetime of never quite fitting in,” writes Gates. “Again and again throughout his childhood, [Noah] discovered that language was more powerful than skin color in building connections with other people,” he says.

盖茨写道：“我是《每日秀》的忠实粉丝，很喜欢读这部回忆录，里面记述了该节目主持人一生都无法完全适应喜剧的环境，只能以局外人的方式接触喜剧。”盖茨说：“在童年时期，诺亚不止一次发现与别人建立联系时，语言的力量胜过肤色。”

The Heart, by Maylis de Kerangal, translated by Sam Taylor

《那颗心》，作者：梅里斯•德•盖兰嘉尔  翻译：萨姆•泰勒

This novel takes place in the 24 hours around an operation, a heart transplant between a teenager killed in a car and a dying woman. Originally written in French, the book follows the lives of the family members, doctors, and nurses involved.

这部小说是围绕一台手术展开的，一个年轻小伙遭遇车祸身亡，他的心脏被移植到一位垂死女性的体内，整个故事发生在24小时之内。这本书的原版是法语版，讲述了小说中涉及到的家庭成员、医生和护士的生活。

“What de Kerangal has done here in this exploration of grief is closer to poetry than anything else,” writes Gates. He adds that he is drawn to the language of the book: “It makes me think of Vladimir Nabokov more than anybody else. The sentences are rich and full, and they go on and on, which is the exact opposite of how I write. There are sentences that last entire paragraphs. … I went to the dictionary a dozen times to look up words I didn’t know.”

盖茨写道，“德·盖兰嘉尔在这本书中对悲痛的刻画近乎诗意”。他还表示自己被书中的语言所深深吸引，“它让我想到了弗拉基米尔·纳博科夫。句子非常丰富饱满，绵延不断，跟我惯常的写作完全相反。有些句子贯穿整段……我时不时地查阅一些生词。”

Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance

《乡下人的悲歌》，作者：J.D.万斯

The surprise US literary hit of 2016 was the Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir about growing up poor and white in the Rust Belt and ending up at an elite east-coast law school.

2016年美国文坛的惊鸿之作便是《乡下人的悲歌》。这本书是本传记，讲述了出生于铁锈地带（译者注：最初指的是美国中西部五大湖附近，传统工业衰退的地区，现可泛指工业衰退的地区）的白人主人公出身贫寒，最终成为东海岸的法学院高材生的故事。

“While the book offers insights into some of the complex cultural and family issues behind poverty, the real magic lies in the story itself and Vance’s bravery in telling it,” says Gates. “Even though Hillbilly Elegy doesn’t use a lot of data,” he writes, “I came away with new insights into the multifaceted cultural and family dynamics that contribute to poverty.”

盖茨说：“这本书从不同的角度洞察了贫穷背后的一系列复杂的文化和家庭问题，它真正的魔力在于故事本身，以及万斯敢于将这一切倾泻而出的勇气。”盖茨还写到：“尽管这本书中没有大量引用数据，但从这本书中，我对导致贫穷的各方面文化和家庭的各种动态有了新的认识。”

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, by Yuval Noah Harari

《未来简史》，作者：尤瓦尔·诺亚·赫拉利

The author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, which Gates recommended last summer, has a new book that explores what’s next for humans now that they’ve radically altered the rules of life on Earth.

本书的作者就是盖茨去年夏天推荐的《人类简史》的作者。这本新书探索了在人类彻底颠覆地球上的生存规则后，将面临什么。

“[Harari] argues that humanity’s progress toward bliss, immortality, and divinity is bound to be unequal—some people will leap ahead, while many more are left behind,” says Gates, conceding, “I agree that, as innovation accelerates, it doesn’t automatically benefit everyone.” But Gates disagrees with Harari on a crucial point, he writes. Gates believes inequity is not inevitable, and those with resources can help to close the gap.

“赫拉利认为，人类的进步指向幸福快乐、永生不老和具有‘神性’。但这个过程是不平等的——只有少部分人会实现重大飞跃，大多数群体会被远远落在后面”，盖茨表示，“我认同科学创新的高速发展不会自动惠及每一个人。”但是盖茨不认可赫拉利的另一个重要观点，在盖茨看来，不平等并非不可避免，掌握资源的人可以致力于缩小差距。

A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety, by Jimmy Carter

《充实的一生：九十岁的回忆录》，作者：吉米·卡特

The former US president and prolific author looks back on his life at the age of 90. He writes about his family life, his regrets, and decisions that profoundly shaped his trajectory. Gates read Carter’s book in preparation for meeting with him and his wife, Rosalynn, and says, “The book will help you understand how growing up in rural Georgia in a house without running water, electricity, or insulation shaped – for better and for worse – [Carter’s] time in the White House.”

在90岁之际，这位美国前总统和多产作家回顾了他的人生，在书中提及自己的家庭生活、抱憾之事和深深影响其人生轨迹的决定。盖茨读这本书是为了准备与卡特和他的妻子罗莎琳的会面，盖茨说：“这本书可以让你了解到卡特在乔治亚农村不通水电的房子里是如何成长的，以及这种与世隔绝的环境如何从正反两面影响了他在白宫的政治生涯。”

He adds, “Although most of the stories come from previous decades, A Full Life feels timely in an era when the public’s confidence in national political figures and institutions is low.”

盖茨还说：“尽管大多数故事都源自几十年前，但在公众对国家政治和体制的信心处在低谷的时代，这本书的出现恰逢其时。”

最后，再来一起看看盖茨本人的视频推荐吧↓↓↓

https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=i05064atke1&width=500&height=375&auto=0

来源：Quartz

编译：阿狸、Janet、Yoyo 

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