14:59~16:06

There was a time when people used to read only for their own pleasure. The traditional pleasures of reading are more complex than just enjoyment. They involve patience, solitude, contemplation. And therefore the books that are most at risk from our attention are those that require a bit of effort. we need a certain type of silence, an ability to filter out the noise. Such a state is increasingly elusive in our over-networked culture, in which every rumor and mundanity is blogged and tweeted. Today, it seems it is not contemplation we seek but an odd sort of distraction masquerading as being in the know. Why? Because of the illusion that illumination is based on speed, that it is more important to react than to think, that we live in a culture in which something is attached to every bit of time.

? ? ? ?以前，人們讀書只是為了享受閱讀的樂趣。這種傳統(tǒng)的閱讀之樂不只是一種愉悅，還包含了耐心、獨處和思考之樂。正因如此，最不容易獲得讀者關注的，往往是那些讀起來有些吃力的書，需要我們達到一種內(nèi)心的平靜，過濾掉周圍的噪音。這種平靜狀態(tài)離我們越來越遠了，尤其是在網(wǎng)絡文化高度發(fā)展的今天，人們恨不得把所有家長里短、雞毛蒜皮都發(fā)到網(wǎng)上。大家似乎不再思考，而是以一種奇怪的方式分散著精力，謂之曰活在當下。為什么呢，因為有這么一種錯覺，認為真相建立在時效之上，認為快速反應比認真思考更重要。在這個時代，每一分每一秒都充斥著大量信息。

Ironically, but not coincidentally, reading has begun fading from our culture at the very moment that its importance to that culture is finally being established.many theorists believe that the downturn in reading could result in the modern world's cultural and political decline. These days, however, after spending hours reading e-mails and fielding phone calls in the office, tracking stories across countless websites, people find it difficult to quiet down and read a book.

? ? ? ?不無諷刺意味的是，人們終于認識到了讀書對文化生活的重要性，但閱讀正在慢慢淡出我們的文化生活。不少理論家認為，閱讀減少可能導致現(xiàn)代世界文化、政治衰退。但如今，人們在辦公室花好幾個小時看郵件、接電話，瀏覽海量網(wǎng)頁，跟蹤各類軼事，已經(jīng)很難靜下心來讀書了。

"A mode of thinking is being lost," laments Neil Postman, whose book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death," is a warning about the consequences of a falloff in reading. Optimists hold that the widespread notion that it is in decline is an oversimplification, citing statistics showing that books, the oldest form of print, seem to be doing reasonably well and that publishers, in fact, are churning out more and more of books. According to Postman, American politics, religion, athletics, art, education are all transformed into "show business".

? ? ? ? “人們正在失去一種思考模式，”尼爾·博斯特曼（Neil Postman）哀嘆道。他是《娛樂至死》（Amusing Ourselves to Death）一書的作者，書中警告了放棄讀書可能帶來的后果。有人保持樂觀，認為讀書減少這種廣為傳播的論調(diào)其實把問題過度簡化了，并援引數(shù)據(jù)顯示，書籍這種最古老的印刷讀物其實發(fā)展勢頭良好，實際上，出版商正在推出越來越多的書籍。而博斯特曼則認為，美國的政治、宗教、體育、藝術、教育都在朝著“娛樂表演”的方向演進。

Ah, but are those books actually being read? Not, in many cases, from cover to cover. In a society where professional success now requires acquaintance with masses of esoteric information, books are often purchased to be consulted, not read. About 15% of the new titles in "Books in Print" are scientific or technical books. Fiction and general-interest nonfiction works would seem to be designed to be read, but lately these books also serve other functions. Their authors often employ them as routes to movie contracts or to tenure or to the intellectual renown. Their publishers increasingly see these books not as collections of sentences and paragraphs that might be clarified and sharpened but as product that must be publicized and marketed so the balance sheets of the large conglomerates they now work for might tilt in the right direction. Reading still plays and, for the foreseeable future, will continue to play, a crucial role in our society. Nevertheless, there is no getting around the fact that reading's role has diminished and likely will continue to shrink.

? ? ? ??那么，這么多書，真的有人讀么？如果是從頭讀到尾的話，怕是沒有多少。當今社會，要想獲得職業(yè)成功，需要大量涉獵各類艱深的內(nèi)容。很多時候，書買回來是用來檢索的，而不是閱讀的。新發(fā)行的實體書有15%左右都是科技書，小說和一般類非虛構作品本來應做閱讀之用，現(xiàn)在也有了別的用途。這些書的作者往往拿著作品去換取影視簽約、高官厚祿或?qū)W術聲望。出版商也不再視書籍為薈萃妙句佳篇的經(jīng)典，而是必須出版發(fā)行的商品，為的是讓自己所在的大公司多多盈利。但是，不論現(xiàn)在還是可以預見的未來，閱讀都將在社會中發(fā)揮重要的作用，閱讀正在減少并將持續(xù)減少的事實是我們繞不過去的。