怎样假装读过某本英文名著？

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.

相信你一定遇到过这样的人，如果你没读过他们读过的书，他们便会得意地嘲笑你的无知。其实面对这种情况，你完全可以采用下面这个策略：装一把满腹经纶的读书人。

But how do you go about pretending you’ve read a book with confidence? What happens if you’re caught out in a lie?

那么问题来了，怎样才能“装”得从容自信，不露马脚呢？

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，对付那些经典书目还是有办法的：通过看封面、读目录，你可以推测出它的许多关键信息，然后再看看文化领域的人都是怎么谈论它的。下面，我将给你介绍这个简单易学的概览法，教你“学富五书”（五本经典名著哦）。如有冒犯经典之处，绝非小编有意，还请书迷们海涵！

1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

《白鲸》 赫尔曼·梅尔维尔 著

Clearly this one has a nautical theme. Look at the cover! Also, the book’s full title is Moby Dick or The 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.

显然这是一篇海洋题材的小说啦，不信你看封面！该书的全称是《莫比·迪克》，又名《白鲸》，所以书的内容必定涉及船与鲸。既然是一部饱受赞誉的书，应该不会是从白鲸的角度阐述，所以一定会有个人类角色。

Not to be confused with: The Old Man and the Sea or The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

易与哪些名著混淆：《老人与海》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.

小贴士：看看《星际旅行8：第一类接触》这部片子吧，里面有个30秒的演讲片段，就是皮卡德船长对《白鲸》情节和要点的总结。

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

《傲慢与偏见》 简·奥斯汀 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，还是一样，先看封面！一眼便知这是个浪漫的爱情故事。如果你关注流行文化，一定看到过“伊丽莎白·班纳特”和“达西先生”这两个名字。 跟“达西先生”一起出现的一定还有个词儿：神魂颠倒（他已经成为令女性神魂颠倒的代言人了）。能让你联想到一起的还有湖泊、湿衬衫，以及关于婚姻的内容。

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：《理智与情感》、《傲慢与偏见与僵尸》以及小编计划要开张的一家土耳其餐厅“熬慢与偏见”。

Handy hint: there have been several faithful adaptations over the years and you can watch the trailers on youtube.

小贴士：这些年出现了一些根据《傲慢与偏见》改编的影视作品，还算忠于原作，你不妨先在视频网站上看看相关的预告片。

3. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

《一九八四》 乔治·奥威尔 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.

故事背景设定在1984年，但写作时间大概在，很久以前吧。虽然你觉得你不了解这本书，但其实它的很多内容你肯定都听过（已知的未知，对不），比如“老大哥”、“钟敲了十三下”、“战争即和平”等等。

Not to be confused with: Brave New World, the reality series Big Brother, David Bowie’s worst song.

易混淆：小说《美丽新世界》，真人秀节目《老大哥》，大卫·鲍威有一首极其难听的歌也叫“1984”。

Handy hint: Cleverly parodied on both The Simpsons and Futurama.

小贴士：在动画片《辛普森家庭》和《飞出个未来》里，你都能看到模仿《一九八四》的桥段，非常有趣。

4. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

《雾都孤儿》 查尔斯·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.

对于这本书，你不难找到如下关键词：孤儿、阶级、罪行，以及电影中欧比旺·肯诺比扮演的费金。还有一部大获成功的音乐剧，其中好几首歌的歌词也是源于《雾都孤儿》。

Not to be confused with: David Copperfield (the book), David Copperfield (the magician).

易混淆：小说《大卫·科波菲尔》，还有位魔术师也叫大卫·科波菲尔。

Handy hint: It’s cool to acknowledge that Dickens wrote the ‘airport novels’ of his day.

小贴士：你若能提到狄更斯还写过他那个时代的“知音体小说”，定会令人刮目相看，没多少人知道这个冷门知识。

5. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

《战争与和平》 列夫·托尔斯泰 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.

告诉你个关于《战争与和平》的搞笑事实：几乎没人真正读过这本书。所以你就尽情胡诌、随意发挥吧，对方也会配合你的表演，装成跟你一样读过这本书的人。

Vocabulary

snob：假行家；自以为是者

swoon：神魂颠倒，心醉神迷