30岁前必读的30本书 经典好书推荐排行榜(3)

　17.Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot – Probably the wisest poetic prose of modern times. It was written during World War II, and is still entirely relevant today… here’s an excerpt: “The dove descending breaks the air/With flame of incandescent terror/Of which the tongues declare/The only discharge from sin and error/The only hope, or the despair/Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre–/To be redeemed from fire by fire./Who then devised this torment?/Love/Love is the unfamiliar Name/Behind the hands that wave/The intolerable shirt of flame/Which human power cannot remove./We only live, only suspire/Consumed by either fire or fire.”

　　《四个四重奏》(TS Eliot)——这也许是近代最具智慧的诗意散文。它写于第二次世界大战期间，却仍与当今有着千丝万缕的联系。以下是一段摘录：“The dove descending breaks the air/With flame of incandescent terror/Of which the tongues declare/The only discharge from sin and error/The only hope, or the despair/Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre–/To be redeemed from fire by fire./Who then devised this torment?/Love/Love is the unfamiliar Name/Behind the hands that wave/The intolerable shirt of flame/Which human power cannot remove./We only live, only suspire/Consumed by either fire or fire.” (译注：摘自第四重奏的第四段，本书中文版链接，英文版链接)

　　18.Catch-22 by Joseph Heller – This book coined the self-titled term “catch-22” that is widely used in modern-day dialogue. As for the story, its message is clear: What’s commonly held to be good, may be bad… what is sensible, is nonsense. Its one of the greatest literary works of the 20th century. Read it.

　　《第22条军规》(Joseph Heller)——这本书以广泛应用于现代对话中“进退两难”一词为名。故事中明确传达了这样的信息，即普遍认为是好的东西，可能不好;明智的选择却可能是荒谬的。它是20世纪最伟大的文学作品之一。读一读吧。

　　19.The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – Set in the Jazz Age of the roaring 20’s, this book unravels a cautionary tale of the American dream. Specifically, the reader learns that a few good friends are far more important that a zillion acquaintances, and the drive creat-ed from the desire to have something is more valuable than actually having it.

　　《了不起的盖茨比》(F. Scott Fitzgerald)——故事背景是满是愤青的爵士乐年代，它讲述了一个美国梦的警世故事。特别地，读者会认识到几个好友比数不胜数的熟人更重要，而渴望拥有某样东西的动力比实际拥有它更有价值。

　　20.The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger – This novel firmly stands as an icon for accurately representing the ups and downs of teen angst, defiance and rebellion. If nothing else, it serves as a reminder of the unpredictable teenage mindset.

　　《麦田里的守望者》(JD Salinger)——这部小说精确地展现了青少年焦虑的起伏、蔑视和反抗，可谓是文学作品中的标榜之作。至少，它可以让你回忆起青少年那种捉摸不定的心态。