WHAT IS A GREAT BOOK?

                                                 Mortimer J. Adler

     There is no end to the making of books. Nor does there seem to be any end to the making of lists of “great books.” There have always been more books than anyone could read. And as they have multiplied through the centuries， more and more blue-ribbon listshave had to be made.
     No matter how long your life， you will， at best， be able to read only a few books of all that have been written， and the few you do read should include the best. You can rejoice in the fact that the number of such is relatively small.
The listing of the best books is as old as reading and writing. The teachers and librarians of ancient Alexandria did it. Quintilian did it for Roman education， selecting， as he said， both ancient and modern classics. In the Renaissance， such leaders of the revival of learning as Montaigne and Erasmus made lists of the books they read.
     It is to be expected that the selections will change will the times. Yet there is a surprising uniformity in the lists which represent the best choices of any period. In every age， the list makers include both ancient and modern books in their selections， and they always wonder whether the moderns are up to the great books of the past.
     What are the signs by which we may recognize a great book? The six I will mention may not be all there are， but they are the ones I’ve found most useful in explaining my choices over the years.
Great books are probably the most widely read. They are not best sellers for a year or two. They are enduring best sellers. GONE WITH THE WIND has had relatively few readers compared to the plays of Shakespeare or DON QUIXOTE. It would be reasonable to estimate that Homer’sliad hs been read by at least 25，000，000 people in the last 3000 years.
     A great book need not even be a best seller in its own day. It may take time for it to accumulate its ultimate audience. The astronomer Kepler， whose work on the planetary motions is now a classic， is reported to have said of his book that “it may wait a century for a reader， as God has waited 6000 years for an observer.”
     Great books are popular， not pedantic. They are not written by specialists about specialties for specialists. Whether they be philosophy or science， or history or poetry， they treat of human， not academic problems. They are written for men， not professors. To read a textbook for advanced students， you have to read an elementary textbook first. But the great books can be considered elementary in the sense that they treat the elements of any subject matter. They are not related to one another as a series of textbooks， graded in difficulty or in the technicality of the problems with which they deal.
     There is one kind of prior reading， however， which does help you to read a great book， and that is the other great books the author himself read. Let me illustrate this point by taking Euclid’s elements of Geometry and Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Euclid requires no prior study of mathematics. His book is generally an introduction to geometry， and to basic arithmetic as well. The same cannot be said for Newton， because Newton uses mathematics in the solution of physical problems. His style shows how deeply he was influenced by Euclid’s treatment of ration and proportions. His book is， therefore， not readily intelligible， even to scientists， unless Euclid has been read before.
     I am not saying that great scientific books can be read without effort. I am saying that if they are read in an historical order， the effort is rewarded. Just as Euclid illuminates Newton and Galileo， so they in turn help to make Einstein intelligible. The point applies to philosophical books as well.
     Great books are always contemporary. In contrast， the books we call “contemporary”， because they are currently popular， last only for a year or two， or ten at the most. You probably cannot recall the names of many earlier best sellers， and you probably would not be interested in reading them. But the great books are never outmoded by the movement of thought or the shifting winds of doctrine and opinion.
People regard the “classics” as the great has-beens， the great books of other times. “Our times are different，” they say. On the contrary， the great books are not dusty remains for scholars to investigate， they are， rather， the most potent civilizing forces in the world today.
     The fundamental human problems remain the same in all ages. Anyone who reads the speeches of Demosthenes and the letters of Cicero， or the essays of Bacon and Montaigne， will find how constant is the preoccupation of men with happiness and justice， with virtue and truth and even with stability and change itself. We may accelerate the motions of life， but we cannot seem to change the routes that are available to its goals.
     Great books are the most readable. They will not let you down if you try to read them well. They have more ideas per page than most books have in their entirety. That is why you can read a great book over and over again and never exhaust its contents.
They can be read at many different levels of understanding， as well as with a great diversity of interpretations. Obvious examples are GULLIVER’S TRAVELS ， ROBINSON CRUSOE and the ODYSSEY. Children can read them with enjoyment， but fail to find therein all the beauty and significance which delight an adult mind.
     Great books are the most instructive. This follows from the fact that they are original communications; they contain what cannot be found it other books. Whether you ultimately agree or disagree with what they say， these are the primary teachers of mankind; they have made the basic contributions to human thought.
     It is almost unnecessary to add that the great books are the most influential books. In the tradition of learning， they have been most discussed by readers who have also been writers. These are the books about which there are many other books --- countless and， for the most part， forgotten.
     Great books deal with the persistently unsolved problems of human life. There are genuine mysteries in the world that mark the limits of human knowing and thinking. Inquiry not only begins with wonder， but usually ends with it also. Great minds acknowledge mysteries honestly. Wisdom is fortified not destroyed， by understanding its limitations.
     It is our privilege， as readers， to belong to the larger brotherhood of man which recognizes no national boundaries. I do not know how to escape from the strait-jacket of political nationalism. I do know how we become friends of the human spirit in all its manifestations， regardless of time and place. It is by reading the great books.

("What Is a Great Book?"
Reader's Digest, November 1978, 94-96, condensed from How to Read a Book. )

何谓“名著”

[美]M·J阿德勒  毛华奋、郑明治译

    千百年来，新书源源不断地问世，属于“名著”的书目亦与日俱增。书海茫茫，世人难以全数涉猎。不管你的寿命有多长，你至多只能阅读书海中的一滴水珠而已，因此你所读的书应该是精华之所在，要读“名著”。值得庆幸的是，真正的名著相对说来是“凤毛麟角”。

    自从世界上有了文化，就有人列出最佳书目。古代亚历山大城的教师和图书管理员就曾列过此类书单。

    不同时代对书目的挑选会有所不同，这不难理解，但各个时代所选的最佳书目录却有惊人的相似之处。无论在哪个时代，书目编篡者对于古代和现代的作品总是兼收并蓄，而对于现代著作是否能同古典作品相媲美则深感怀疑。

    何谓“名著”？标志是什么？本文所述之六条未必称全，但我在每年选择书目中发觉极为有用。

    1．“名著”一般都拥有最广泛的读者。它们不是只风行一二年，而是经久不变的畅销书。《飘》比起莎士比亚的剧本和《堂·吉诃德》来，读者就相对地说要少得多。有人作过较切合实际的估计：3000年来，荷马的史诗《伊里亚特》至少拥有2500万读者。名著问世后未必在那个时代就成为畅销书，要有一定时间才能拥有越来越多的读者。天文学家开普勒关于行星运动的书现在是本名著，而据报道当时他曾说过：“上帝等待了6000年才有一个观察者，我这本书可能要等上100年才会有一个读者。”

    2．“名著”通俗易撞，不卖弄学问。它们不是专家写给专业人员看的专门性著作，无论是关于哲学或者科学，历史或者诗歌，它们所论述的是关于人类共同感兴趣的题材，而不是学究式的空谈。这些书并非为教授们所作，而是为普通人而写。要学高深的教材，必先学基础教材。“名著”所论述的都是各个专题的基础，从这个意义上，我们可以说“名著”是基础教材，所不同的是它们不是互有联系的一整套教材，也并非按难易程度和问题的技术性而编排。有一类书却应先读，以便有利于名著阅读，那就是名著的作者读过的别的“名著”。以欧几里德的《几何学基础知识》和牛顿的《物理学的教学原理》为例。读欧几里德的这本书无需事先学习数学，因为该书本身便是名副其实的几何入门和基础算术入门。牛顿的书则不然，因为牛顿运用数学来解决物理问题，他的著作深受欧几里德关于比例和面积的论述的影响，若不先读欧几里德的书的话，恐怕连科学家也难以一下子读得懂。我的意思不是说科学巨著可以轻易读懂，而是说要按历史顺序读才能事半功倍。正如欧几里德能启发人读懂牛顿和伽利略的著作一样，牛顿和伽利略又能帮助人理解爱因斯坦的著作。这一观点也适用于阅读哲学著作。

    3．“名著”，永不过时。为便于比较，我们把眼下流行的书称为“当代作品”，它们只流行一、二年或至多十多年。许多早期的畅销书恐怕你连书名也记不起了，也不会再有兴趣读它们。而“名著”却不会因思想运动、学说更迭、舆论分歧而过时。名著不是供学者研究而积满尘垢的遗著，而是当今世界上潜在的最强大的文明力量。人类的基本问题代代相同。读过德摩斯梯尼的演说辞和西塞罗的信件，或是培根和蒙田的散文，任何人都会发现：人们对于幸福和正义、美德和真理，甚至对于安定与变幻本身是何等的笃信不疑！人类为其目标而奋斗的道路看来是不可改变的。

    4．“名著”令人百读不厌。只要你认真阅读，你决不会感到扫兴。名著一页书所包含的思想要比一整本普通书的内容还要丰富得多。它可以使你百读不厌，其中的养料汲之不尽。理解能力不同，或对事物持不同见解的人，都爱读“名著”。最明显的例子莫过于《格列佛游记》、《鲁滨逊飘流记》和《奥德赛》。儿童可以饶有趣味地阅读，但未能领会其中能为成年人所欣赏的全部妙处和含义。

    5．“名著”最富有教育意义。“名著”含有其他书籍所没有的东西，不论你是否赞同书中的观点，它们是人类不可缺少的老师。“名著”受到那些既是读者又是作者的人的广泛讨论，“名著”是许许多多书籍所论述的题材，论述“名著”的书多得不胜枚举，大部分已为世人遗忘。

6．“名著”论述人生有待解决的问题。世上有一些真正奥秘的东西，那是人类知识和思维局限性的标志。人们不仅带着疑问开始探究，也往往满腹疑团终止探究。真正有才智的人老老实实地承认未能理解的东西，认识到这一点不是显得知识浅薄，而是表明知识的渊博。读书的人都以知识不为国界所局限而深感庆幸。我不知道如何冲破政治上民族主义的桎梏，但我确实知道我们可以怎样成为人类各方面精神的朋友，而不受时间和地点的限制。这就是靠阅读“名著”。