To Read or Not to Read读，还是不读

奥斯卡·王尔德

Books， I fancy， may be conveniently divided into three classes：

1. Books to read， such as Ciceros Letters， Suetonius1， Vasari2s Lives of the Painters， the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini3， Sir John Mandeville4， Marco Polo， St. Simons Memoirs5， Mommsen6， and （till we get a better one） Grotes History of Greece.

2. Books to re-read， such as Plato and Keats： in the sphere of poetry， the masters not the minstrels; in the sphere of philosophy， the seers7 not the savants8.

3. Books not to read at all， such as Thomsons Seasons9， Rogerss Italy10， Paleys Evidences11， all the Fathers except St. Augustine12， all John Stuart Mill13 except the essay on Liberty， all Voltaires plays without any exception， Butlers Analogy14， Grants Aristotle15， Humes England16， Lewess History of Philosophy17， all argumentative books and all books that try to prove anything.

The third class is by far the most important. To tell people what to read is， as a rule， either useless or harmful; for， the appreciation of literature is a question of temperament not of teaching; to Parnassus18 there is no primer19 and nothing that one can learn is ever worth learning. But to tell people what not to read is a very different matter， and I venture to recommend it as a mission to the University Extension Scheme.

Indeed， it is one that is eminently needed in this age of ours， an age that reads so much， that it has no time to admire， and writes so much， that it has no time to think. Whoever will select out of the chaos of our modern curricula ‘The Worst Hundred Books， and publish a list of them， will confer on the rising generation a real and lasting benefit.

After expressing these views I suppose I should not offer any suggestions at all with regard to ‘The Best Hundred Books， but I hope you will allow me the pleasure of being inconsistent， as I am anxious to put in a claim for a book that has been strangely omitted by most of the excellent judges who have contributed to your columns. I mean the Greek Anthology. The beautiful poems contained in this collection seem to me to hold the same position with regard to Greek dramatic literature as do the delicate little figurines of Tanagra20 to the Phidian21 marbles， and to be quite as necessary for the complete understanding of the Greek spirit.

I am also amazed to find that Edgar Allan Poe has been passed over. Surely this marvellous lord of rhythmic expression deserves a place？ If， in order to make room for him， it be necessary to elbow out some one else， I should elbow out Southey22， and I think that Baudelaire23 might be most advantageously substituted for Keble24.

No doubt， both in the Curse of Kehama25 and in the Christian Year26 there are poetic qualities of a certain kind， but absolute catholicity27 of taste is not without its dangers. It is only an auctioneer who should admire all schools of art.     ■

我想，为了方便起见，书籍可分为三类：

1.该阅读的书籍，比如西塞罗的《书信集》、苏埃托尼乌斯的著作、瓦萨里的《艺苑名人传》、《切利尼自传》、约翰·曼德维尔爵士的著作、马可·波罗的著作、《圣西门回忆录》、蒙森的著作和格罗特的《希腊史》（迄今为止最好的）。

2.值得反复阅读的书籍，比如柏拉图和济慈的作品：在诗歌界，要读大师之作，不要读吟游诗人的诗;在哲学界，要读先知之作，不要读学者的文章。

3.根本无须阅读的书籍，比如汤姆森的《四季》、罗杰斯的《意大利》、佩利的《基督教的证据》、除圣奥斯定外的所有教父著作、约翰·斯图尔特·密尔的所有作品（除了那部散文作品《论自由》）、伏尔泰所有的剧作、巴特勒的《类比》、格兰特的《亚里士多德的伦理学》、休谟的《英格兰史》、刘易斯的《哲学史传记》以及所有议论性的和所有尝试证明点儿什么的著作。

到目前为止，第三类书是这几类中最重要的。一般来说，告诉人们该读什么，要么白费口舌，要么误人子弟，因为欣赏文学作品关乎性情，与教诲无关;对文学界来说，入门书籍是不存在的，凡是能学到的东西都不值得学。但告诉人们不该读什么则是两码事，我斗胆建议将其作为“大学扩展计划”中的一项任务。

的确，这是我们这个时代亟须的。这个时代，读书的人一味苦读而没有花时间欣赏，写书的人一味苦写而没有花时间思考。谁要是能从一堆五花八门的现代课程中选出“最糟糕的一百本书”，并将名单公布，都将给正在成长的一代人带来真正的、永久的益处。……