在这过去的一年中发生了好多事, 卡斯特罗终于在“统治”古巴六十年后离任,北朝鲜和南朝鲜重启了对话,大力神杯在20年后重回法国的怀抱,Meghan Markle享受了梦幻般的皇室婚礼后离开了Suits剧组,一些著名人物驾鹤西去,其中包括著名物理学家Steve Hawking,美国前总统老布什和他的夫人,Stan Lee和金大侠等等。 为了跟上时代的步伐,既读圣贤书也闻窗外事,Janus今年也翻阅了不少非虚构类和历史虚构类的好书,请看下面来自我2018年Goodreads Reading Challenge的分享。以下书籍排名,个人意见仅供参考,希望大家喜欢!
非虚构
纪实文学类书籍:
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer; Fear: Trump in the White House; Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup; Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice; No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State; I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
纪实文学丛书共同点就是副标题非常的长(-__-)b。大家是不是已经对上面的书单眼花缭乱了呢。其实,还有一个共同点,就是都达到“砖头“的程度,以上6册书最长的有420页,平均也有近350页,若是中文书的话,读来毫无压力,毕竟英语是第二语言,为了给繁忙的大家节省时间,Janus决定列个简单的书榜。
第三名
五年前斯诺登爆出美国安全局的惊天丑闻 - 原来全世界的电子通讯都处于政府的监视下,次年的Citizenfour(《第四公民》)记录了卫报记者们与斯诺登在香港接头采写,并冲破各种险阻发表这则新闻的故事。本书除了详细描写这些经历外,还阐述了一些观点:
1.网络应是自由之地
Equally central to his worldview was the unprecedented value of the Internet. As for many of his generation, “the Internet” for him wasn’t some isolated tool to use for discrete tasks. It was the world in which his mind and personality developed, a place unto itself that offered freedom, exploration, and the potential for intellectual growth and understanding.
2.为什么广泛的监视会改变大众的原有的行为。空间能让人有幸福感。
3.美国主流媒体大多支持国家的政见,所以并不是完全独立的机构。If a journalist is against the opinion of the state, he's an activist. if the opinions fortifying the state, he's a patriot.
4.若报道和国家利益相左,新闻线索,线人,和记者都可能遭到打压,轻者名誉诋毁,严重时可能有性命之忧。
全书很好的阐释了新闻背后的血与泪。
第二名
我们也许没有办法理解,那个曾今无比崇敬Steve Jobs与立志成为一个女企业家的Elizabeth Holmes是如何把对医疗改革的无限热情变成一场惊天大骗局的。作者采访了Theranos相关的很多人,从多个侧面拼出了事件始末,多年以来Elizabeth从多方拿到高达7亿美金的融资,获得各界商圈大佬和政要的青睐,和各大药店巨头(Safeway, Walgreens, CVS)均建立合作伙伴关系 。种种光鲜的背后却看见她缺乏对人基本的尊重,看重速度胜过质量, 对成功不切实际的渴望让她在欺诈的泥潭中越陷越深。作者虽然选取了多个不同故事和人物视角,却一点也不突兀,作品充满多样性,是个很好的商业案例/反面教材。
以及并列第二名
这是作者笔下的第四位总统。作者采访了除Trump本人外的多位(前)白宫政要,描写了Trump从开始竞选到掌管白宫期间对各类重大事件背后的故事。对Trump日常的行为追踪和性格的刻画鲜明,阅读此书之后可能你能明白他种种行为背后的逻辑。
第一名
作者从一个商业投机者蜕变为一个维权者,前半本书讲述了作者如何抓住前俄罗斯企业私有化融资的背景大批低买高卖股票。私有化原本应该是将财富散播到俄罗斯民众手中,但是这股浪潮的获利者却是国家领袖阶层和一些商业大佬、银行家。书的后半部分,作者和这些腐朽的掠夺者站到了对立面上,自己的公司和员工招致源源不断的莫须有罪名,大家四散而逃。作者的好友,同时也是公司的税务律师Sergei Magnitsky,信仰自己祖国的司法体制和正义,却被害死在监狱里,享年37岁。作者施救无门,在得知噩耗后,踏上维权之路。期间他获得许多美国高层参众议员的帮助,国会历时三年通过了Magnitsky法案,冻结了所有涉案俄罗斯高层的在美资金并且禁止入境。回忆录描写作者跌宕曲折的一生,有商海淘金的喜悦,也有草根维权的艰辛,充满传奇色彩。全书基本没有生词,但是这毫不影响整本书的震撼力,足见作者写作功力。
科学,商学类书籍:
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python: Practical Programming for Total Beginners; Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence; Principles: Life and Work; Reasons to Stay Alive; 群居的艺术
Janus今年没有读非常多的科学和商学类的书籍,所以整合在一起给大家简单介绍一下。
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python: Practical Programming for Total Beginners - 从实用的角度,深入浅出地助你迈入Python编程的大门。完全没有编程背景也能轻松掌握。Python语言近几年非常流行,因为#新年计划#
Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence - 在人工智能时代,社会会发生怎么样的变化呢?从行为到心理的哲学大讨论,颠覆世界观。
Principals: Life and Work - 桥水投资公司创始人的著作,分享他对人生和工作的一些原则,全书分为对自己的原则和对人与人之间的处事原则,如果想要快速抓住精要,请阅读书靠近中间的红页大纲 :)
Reasons to Stay Alive - 是一个抑郁症患者的自传。讲述作者自身对抗抑郁症并最终战胜病魔的故事。 他努力让自己注意到周围不论多么细小的事情都能够让自己开心起来。
"The world is increasingly designed to depress us. Happiness isn't very good for the economy. If we were happy with what we had, why would we need more? How do you sell an antiaging moisturizer? You make someone worry about aging. How do you get people to vote for a political party? You make them worry about immigration. How do you get them to buy insurance? By making them worry about everything. How do you get them to have plastic surgery? By highlighting their physical flaws. How do you get them to watch a TV show? By making them worry about missing out. How do you get them to buy a new smartphone? By making them feel like they are being left behind.
To be calm becomes a kind of revolutionary act. To be happy with your own nonupgraded existence. To be comfortable with our messy human selves. Would not be good for business?"
I pardon to disagree. Most of the business here at least are just trying to make people's life better. It's really a process of solving the existing problems. Only people who care too much about external effects impact on their life is going to be upset about those.
群居的艺术 - 辉格的经济和社会类丛书一直非常畅销,需要细细品读其中的逻辑联系和哲学的奥妙。似乎是十万个为什么的社会学分类。
(请继续阅读Janus 2018 年末书单 - 重磅出击(2))
需要转载请联系我咯。
#英文原版#年末书单#读书笔记#非纪实类文学#社会学#商学#