HOW TO REALLY TALK ABOUT BOOKS YOU HAVEN’T READ

Book ID/图书代码： 11701208B25003

English Summary/英文概要： Ever wondered how some people seem to have an opinion on every book ever published? Nowadays, there are so many books: how can anyone to be well read anymore? Well, help is at hand. Let Henry Hitchings educate you in the invaluable skill of literary bluffing in this survivors guide to talking about books you haven’t read. With tips on how to bluff with confidence using quotable insights and invaluable trivia, Henry Hitchings covers all the great books you ought to have read but haven’t got round to yet. If you want to be able to hold your own in a debate about Stephen Hawking or Philip Roth or perhaps you find Shakespeare or Dostoevsky intimidating, then look no further. Including literary heavyweights such as ULYSSES, BLEAK HOUSE and WAR AND PEACE, this guide will equip you with all the bookish information you need to bluff your way through any scenario, be it a vital exam, an in-depth conversation at the pub or chatting up the potential love of your life. Its contents includes, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Henry James, James Joyce, Proust, Homer, Virgil, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Dickens, various contemporary writers, THE BIBLE, THE KORAN, fairy tales, select bestsellers and some poetry.

CONTENTS
1. First things first: why to talk about books you haven’t read?
2. Would you invite Jane Austen to your dinner party?
3. Speaking with the dead: Virgil and Homer, Latin and Greek
4. What’s the point of Ulysses?
5. Would you really want to join the Dante Club?
6. Do you need to bother with poetry?
7. Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing?
8. What’s actually in the Bible?
9. How do you talk about the Qur’an?
10. Can Proust change your life?
11. Why the Russians? Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
12. Why do people keep on about the nineteenthcentury novel?
13. Who on earth is Henry James?
14. Two ‘unreadables’: Don Quixote and The Tale of Genji
15. The other old tales: Aesop, Chaucer and the Arabian Nights
16. How do you get a philosopher off your doorstep?
17. A short history of rather less than everything: science and the big ideas
18. Who matters now? The Great American Novel and its thin British cousin
19. Popular books: is there any excuse?
20. And so, with one eye on the exit . . .
The Quiz
Acknowledgements

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 妳是否有過當別人問妳某一本曾看書，卻不知如何描述及介紹的經驗？妳是否曾好奇為什麼有人對每本書都能講出自己的觀點，甚至是剛出版的新書？在本書中作者將以當代名作家如：Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Henry James, James Joyce, Proust, Homer, Virgil, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Dickens的作品講解其閱讀的重點，並將傳授妳此項「說書」技巧，讓妳不僅能充分的享受閱讀的樂趣，更能分享與他人書中的精髓。(Vincent)

Awards/获奖情况：

About the Author/作者介绍： Henry Hitchings was born in 1974. Educated at Christ Church Oxford and University College London, he wrote his PhD thesis on Samuel Johnson. He is the author of DR JOHNSON’S DICTIONARY: The Extraordinary Story of the Book that Defined the World, which won the Modern Language Association’s prize for the best publication by an independent scholar in 2005. His second book, THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS, was published by John Murray in April 2008. He lives in London.
1974年生的Henry Hitchings畢業於倫敦大學，專攻英語文學，其博士論文的內容以英國最有名的文人山謬爾‧約翰生（Samuel Johnson）為題，之後出版其首部作品《約翰生博士的英語字典》（DR JOHNSON’S DICTIONARY）更於2005年榮獲「當代語言協會」（Modern Language Association）最佳出版品獎。

Format:HARDCOVER

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)

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