字神帝國英語天地

【怎樣假裝讀過某本英文名著？】
◙ How to pretend you've read a famous book? ◙
　　
As a coping strategy when dealing with literary snobs (who will judge you to your face because you haven’t read the books they have), you sometimes have to pretend you’ve read a book you haven’t.
相信你一定遇到過這樣的人，如果你沒讀過他們讀過的書，他們便會得意地嘲笑你的無知。其實面對這種情況，你完全可以採用下面這個策略：裝一把滿腹經綸的讀書人。
But how do you go about pretending you’ve read a book with confidence? What happens if you’re caught out in a lie?
那麼問題來了，怎樣才能“裝”得從容自信，不露馬腳呢？
Fortunately you can deduce many facts about classic books by looking at their covers, reading the contents page, and paying attention to the way they are referenced in popular culture. I’ve provided a handy outline as to how you can pretend to have read five classic novels. And please note that no disrespect is meant to these books or those who love them!
幸好，對付那些經典書目還是有辦法的：通過看封面、讀目錄，你可以推測出它的許多關鍵資訊，然後再看看文化領域的人都是怎麼談論它的。下面，我將給你介紹這個簡單易學的概覽法，教你“學富五書”（五本經典名著哦）。
　　
Ⓐ Moby Dick by Herman Melville《白鯨記》 赫爾曼·梅爾維爾 著
Clearly this one has a nautical theme. Look at the cover! Also, the book’s full title is Moby Dick orThe Whale. So boats, a whale. It’s a well respected book so it’s fairly safe to assume that it’s not told from the perspective of the whale, therefore there has to be a human character.
顯然這是一篇海洋題材的小說啦，不信你看封面！該書的全稱是《莫比·迪克》，又名《白鯨記》，所以書的內容必定涉及船與鯨。既然是一部飽受讚譽的書，應該不會是從白鯨的角度闡述，所以一定會有個人類角色。
Not to be confused with: The Old Man and the Sea or The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
☒ 易與哪些名著混淆：《老人與海》和《老水手之歌》。
Handy hint: in Star Trek: First Contact, Captain Picard makes a speech that essentially sums up the plot and point of Moby Dick in about 30 seconds.
✭小提醒：看看《Star Trek: First Contact》這部片子吧，裡面有個30秒的演講片段，就是畢凱艦長對《白鯨記》情節和要點的總結。
　　
Ⓑ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen《傲慢與偏見》 簡·奧斯丁 著
Ok, again – look at the cover. Clearly there’s some romance going on here. You will have picked up the names ‘Elizabeth Bennett’ and ‘Mr. Darcy’ from popular culture, and the word ‘swoon’ is often attached to ‘Mr. Darcy’. Lakes, wet shirts, definitely some sort of marriage.
好吧，還是一樣，先看封面！一眼便知這是個浪漫的愛情故事。如果你關注流行文化，一定看到過“伊莉莎白·班納特”和“達西先生”這兩個名字。 跟“達西先生”一起出現的一定還有個詞兒：神魂顛倒（他已經成為令女性神魂顛倒的代言人了）。能讓你聯想到一起的還有湖泊、濕襯衫，以及關於婚姻的內容。
Not to be confused with: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or the Turkish restaurant I plan to open called ‘Pide and Prejudice’
☒ 易混淆：《理性與感性》、《傲慢與偏見與殭屍》以及小編計畫要開張的一家土耳其餐廳“熬慢與偏見”。
Handy hint: there have been several faithful adaptations over the years and you can watch the trailers on youtube.
✭小提醒：這些年出現了一些根據《傲慢與偏見》改編的影視作品，還算忠於原作，你不妨先在視頻網站上看看相關的預告片。
　　
Ⓒ Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell《一九八四》 喬治·奧威爾 著
Set in the year 1984, but written, like, ages before. You know things from this book, even if you don’t know you do (known unknowns, right). Big brother. Clocks striking 13. War is peace, etc.
故事背景設定在1984年，但寫作時間大概在，很久以前吧。雖然你覺得你不瞭解這本書，但其實它的很多內容你肯定都聽過（已知的未知，對不），比如“老大哥”、“鐘敲了十三下”、“戰爭即和平”等等。
Not to be confused with: Brave New World, the reality series Big Brother, David Bowie’s worst song.
☒ 易混淆：小說《美麗新世界》，真人秀節目《老大哥》，大衛·鮑伊有一首極其難聽的歌也叫“1984”。
Handy hint: Cleverly parodied on both The Simpsons and Futurama.
✭小提醒：在動畫片《辛普森家庭》和《飛出個未來》裡，你都能看到模仿《一九八四》的橋段，非常有趣。
　　
Ⓓ Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens《孤雛淚》 查理斯·狄更斯 著
There are orphans, themes about class and crime, plus Obi-Wan Kenobi played Fagin in the movie. There was also a successful musical, and several of the songs contain lines from the novel.
對於這本書，你不難找到如下關鍵字：孤兒、階級、罪行，以及電影中歐比旺·肯諾比扮演的費金。還有一部大獲成功的音樂劇，其中好幾首歌的歌詞也是源於《孤雛淚》。
Not to be confused with: David Copperfield (the book), David Copperfield (the magician).
☒ 易混淆：小說《大衛·科波菲爾》，還有位魔術師也叫大衛·科波菲爾。
Handy hint: It’s cool to acknowledge that Dickens wrote the ‘airport novels’ of his day.
✭小提醒：你若能提到狄更斯還寫過他那個時代的“知音體小說”，定會令人刮目相看，沒多少人知道這個冷門知識。
　　
Ⓔ War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy《戰爭與和平》 列夫·托爾斯泰 著
Funny fact about War and Peace: nobody has actually read it. So just make up whatever you like and people will have to play along and pretend they know what you’re talking about.
告訴你個關於《戰爭與和平》的搞笑事實：幾乎沒人真正讀過這本書。所以你就盡情胡謅、隨意發揮吧，對方也會配合你的表演，裝成跟你一樣讀過這本書的人。

❃Vocabulary❃
snob：假行家；自以為是者
swoon：神魂顛倒，心醉神迷

文章來源：怎樣假裝讀過某本英文名著？