比爾·克林頓的私人書單

The former president Bill Clinton, who collaborated with James Patterson on the new thriller “The President Is Missing,” reads everywhere: “At my work table, in my easy chair, in bed and on the plane. Even in the car when I’m not too tired.”

前總統比爾·克林頓(Bill Clinton)與詹姆斯·帕特森(James Patterson)合著了最新驚悚小說《失蹤的總統》(The President Is Missing)。克林頓隨時隨地都在看書：“在辦公桌前，在安樂椅上，在牀上，在飛機上。甚至是在車上，在我不太累的時候。”

What books are on your nightstand?

你的牀頭櫃上放的什麼書？

“The Future Is History,” by Masha Gessen. It’s great and written in a direct, blunt style appropriate for the subject. I’ll soon be finished. “The Future of Humanity,” by Michio Kaku; “Enlightenment Now,” by Steven Pinker; and “Capture: A Theory of the Mind,” by David Kessler. Next up is the latest book in Jason Matthews’s Red Sparrow trilogy.

瑪莎·格森(Masha Gessen)的《未來即歷史》(The Future Is History)。這本書寫得很好，風格直接、坦率，適合這個主題。我快看完了。還有加來道雄(Michio Kaku)的《人類的未來》(The Future of Humanity)、史蒂文·平克(Steven Pinker)的《今日的啓蒙》(Enlightenment Now)和戴維·凱斯勒(David Kessler)的《捕捉：心智論》(Capture: A Theory of the Mind)。接下來是傑森·馬修斯(Jason Matthews)《紅雀》(Red Sparrow)三部曲中的最新一本。

When and where do you like to read?

你喜歡在什麼時候，什麼地方看書？

At my work table, in my easy chair, in bed and on the plane. Even in the car when I’m not too tired.

在辦公桌前，在安樂椅上，在牀上，在飛機上。甚至是在車上，在我不太累的時候。

What was the last truly great book you read?

你最後一次看的真正的好書是什麼?

I loved “Killers of the Flower Moon,” by David Grann; “Fascism: A Warning,” by Madeleine Albright; and “Empire of Cotton,” by Sven Beckert.

我喜歡戴維·格蘭(David Grann)的《花月殺手》、馬德琳·奧爾布賴特(Madeleine Albright)的《法西斯主義：一個警告》(Fascism: A Warning)和斯文·貝克特(Sven Beckert)的《棉花帝國》(Empire of Cotton)。

Are you a rereader? What book do you read over and over again?

看過的書你會再看嗎？什麼樣的書你會一遍又一遍地看？

Yes. I’ve reread Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations,” Seamus Heaney’s “The Cure at Troy” and William Butler Yeats’s “The Collected Poems” several times.

會。馬可·奧勒留(Marcus Aurelius)的《沉思錄》(Meditations)、謝默斯·希尼(Seamus Heaney)的《特洛伊的治癒》(The Cure at Troy)和威廉·巴特勒·葉芝(William Butler Yeats)的《詩集》(The Collected Poems)，我都看過好幾遍了。

What was the best book you read as a student?

你學生時代看的最優秀的作品是什麼?

In college: “The Confessions of Nat Turner,” by William Styron. In law school: “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” by Gabriel García Márquez. (This was also the best over all.) At Oxford: “The Spanish Civil War,” by Hugh Thomas, and “To the Finland Station,” by Edmund Wilson.

上大學的時候是威廉·斯泰隆(William Styron) 的《納特·特納的自白》(The Confessions of Nat Turner)。讀法學院的時候是加夫列爾·加西亞·馬爾克斯(Gabriel García Márquez)的《百年孤獨》(One Hundred Years of Solitude)。（這也是最好的。）在牛津的時候是休·托馬斯(Hugh Thomas)的《西班牙內戰》(The Spanish Civil War)和埃德蒙·威爾遜(Edmund Wilson)的《去芬蘭車站》(To the Finland Station)。

What books over the years have most influenced your thinking? Has a work of literature ever affected your policy positions?

這些年來，哪些書對你的思想影響最大？有沒有影響過你政策立場的文學作品？

These books had a profound impact on my thinking: “The Evolution of Civilizations,” by Carroll Quigley; “Politics as a Vocation,” by Max Weber; “The Denial of Death,” by Ernest Becker; “Imitation of Christ,” by Thomas à Kempis; “Meditations,” by Marcus Aurelius; “The Cure at Troy,” by Seamus Heaney; and “The Guns of August,” by Barbara Tuchman.

下面這些書對我的思想產生了深遠的影響：卡羅爾·奎格利(Carroll Quigley)的《文明的演進》(The Evolution of Civilizations)、馬克斯·韋伯(Max Weber)的《政治作爲一種志業》(Politics as a Vocation)、歐內斯特·貝克爾(Ernest Becker)的《拒斥死亡》(The Denial of Death)、托馬斯·肯皮斯(Thomas à Kempis)的《效法基督》(Imitation of Christ)、馬可·奧勒留的《沉思錄》、謝默斯·希尼的《特洛伊的治癒》和芭芭拉·塔奇曼(Barbara Tuchman)的《八月炮火》(The Guns of August)。

I don’t know that any specific book affected my policy positions, but books by Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison made me want to do more about civil rights. I read “America: What Went Wrong,” by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, in 1992, and it strengthened my determination to try to reverse trickle-down economics and achieve a fairer and more prosperous economy.

我不知道具體哪本書影響了我的政策立場，但理查德·賴特(Richard Wright)和拉爾夫·埃利森(Ralph Ellison)的書讓我想要更多地維護公民權利。在1992年的時候，我看了唐納德·L·巴萊特(Donald L. Barlett)和詹姆斯·B·斯蒂爾(James B. Steele)合著的《美國：哪裏出了問題》(America: What Went Wrong)。這本書堅定了我努力扭轉涓滴經濟學，讓經濟更加公平和繁榮的決心。

Reading “Earth in the Balance,” by Al Gore, had a big impact on my decision to ask him to be my vice president and influenced what we did together to start turning the tide on climate change.

阿爾·戈爾(Al Gore)的《瀕臨失衡的地球》(Earth in the Balance)對我決定邀請他擔任副總統的影響很大，還影響了我們一起爲開始扭轉氣候變化趨勢而採取的行動。

Do you have a favorite presidential biography? Favorite presidential autobiography? (Present company included!)

你有最喜歡的總統傳記嗎？最喜歡的總統自傳呢？（包括你自己的！）

Favorites include “Lincoln,” by David Herbert Donald; “Grant,” by Ron Chernow; “T.R.: The Last Romantic,” by H. W. Brands; “A First-Class Temperament,” by Geoffrey C. Ward; “Truman,” by David McCullough; and Robert Caro’s series on Lyndon B. Johnson. Sidney Blumenthal’s Lincoln series is also fascinating, because he’s found material that was new to me.

我的最愛包括戴維·赫伯特·唐納德(David Herbert Donald)的《林肯》(Lincoln)、羅恩·切爾瑙(Ron Chernow)的《格蘭特》(Grant)、H·W·布蘭茲(H. W. Brands)的《T·R：最後的浪漫主義者》(T.R.: The Last Romantic)、傑弗裏·C·沃德的《一流氣質》(A First-Class Temperament)、戴維·麥卡洛(David McCullough)的《杜魯門》(Truman)和羅伯特·卡羅(Robert Caro)的林登·B·約翰遜(Lyndon B. Johnson)系列。西德尼·布魯門塔爾(Sidney Blumenthal)的林肯系列也很吸引人，因爲他發現了一些我不知道的東西。

Do you tend to hold onto books or give them away?

你傾向於把書收藏起來還是送人？

Both. Sometimes I give a book away and go get another copy.

兩種情況都有。我有時候會把書送人，然後自己再去買一本。

What were your favorite books as a child? Did you have a favorite character or hero?

你小時候最喜歡哪些書？有特別喜歡的某個人物或英雄角色嗎？

I loved biblical epics like “The Robe,” by Lloyd C. Douglas; “The Silver Chalice,” by Thomas B. Costain; “Ben-Hur,” by Lew Wallace; and books about Native American tribes and chiefs, especially Osceola and Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé.

我喜歡宏大的史詩作品，比如洛依德·C·道格拉斯的《聖袍》(The Robe)、托馬斯·B·克斯坦因(Thomas B. Costain)的《白銀聖盃》(The Silver Chalice)、劉易斯·華萊士(Lew Wallace)的《賓虛》(Ben-Hur)。還有關於美國原住民部落和酋長的作品，尤其是奧斯西奧拉(Osceola)和內茲珀斯部落的(Nez Percé)約瑟夫酋長(Chief Joseph)。

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel as if you were supposed to like, and didn’t?

令人失望、過譽或者不好看：哪本書是你覺得你好像應該會喜歡，但並不喜歡的？

I’m embarrassed to admit it but in two tries I have never been able to get all the way through “Don Quixote.” I like long books, raced through “War and Peace” at 22, but could not finish “Quixote.” I will try at least once more.

我不好意思承認，但我試過兩次但從未能讀完整本《堂吉訶德》。我喜歡長的作品，22歲很快就讀完了《戰爭與和平》，但就是沒法讀完《堂吉訶德》。我至少會再試一次。

If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you want to know?

如果你能與一名作家見面，不論是否在世，你會見誰？你會想了解些什麼？

Mark Twain. I would want to know what he believed and what was show.

馬克·吐溫(Mark Twain)。我會想知道他相信的是什麼，看到的又是什麼。

Electronic or paper?

電子書還是紙質書？

Paper.

紙質書。

What books made you want to become a writer? And what books made you want to become a politician?

哪些書讓你想成爲作家？哪些書讓你想成爲政治家？

These books, and others, made me want to become a writer:

這些書，再加之其他的一些，讓我想成爲一名作家：

“North Toward Home,” by Willie Morris; “The Confessions of Nat Turner,” by William Styron; “The Fire Next Time,” by James Baldwin; “The Sound and the Fury,” by William Faulkner; “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” by Gabriel García Márquez; and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou.

威利·莫里斯(Willie Morris)的《家鄉以北》(North toward Home)、威廉·斯泰隆(William Styron)的《納特·特納的自白》(The Confessions of Nat Turner)、詹姆斯·鮑德溫(James Baldwin)的《烈火降至》(The Fire Next Time)、威廉·福克納的《喧譁與騷動》、加夫列爾·加西亞·馬爾克斯的《百年孤獨》以及瑪雅·安傑盧(Maya Angelou)的《我知道籠中鳥爲何歌唱》(I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)。

I wanted to become a politician because I was fascinated by people, policy and politics. I read books to learn how to do it better.

我想成爲一名政治家是因爲人、政策、政治讓我着迷。我看書是爲了學習如何做個更好的政客。

If somebody walked into your office while you were writing, what would they see?

如果有人在你寫作的時候走進你的辦公室，他們會看到些什麼？

Lots of paper for research, the notebooks in which I write by hand and the typed pages with rewrites — lots of those.

很多研究資料，我的手寫筆記本，還有修改過的打印稿紙——全都是這些。

If you had to recommend one book to a student of government, what would it be?

如果你要給一名對政府治理感興趣的學生推薦一本書，會是哪本？

“Politics as a Vocation,” by Max Weber.

馬克斯·韋伯的《政治作爲一種志業》。

Favorite James Patterson book?

最喜歡的詹姆斯·帕特森(James Patterson)作品是？

I loved all the Alex Cross and Michael Bennett books, and I thought “The Black Book” was great.

所有的亞歷克斯·克洛斯(Alex Cross)和邁克爾·貝納特(Michael Bennett)故事我都喜歡，我覺得《黑皮書》(The Black Book)很棒。

Favorite thrillers?

最喜歡的驚悚小說是？

I devour thrillers. I just finished David Baldacci’s “The Fallen,” which may be his best book; A. J. Finn’s “The Woman in the Window”; Nelson DeMille’s “The Cuban Affair”; Jacqueline Winspear’s “To Die but Once” — her Maisie Dobbs series was a gift to Hillary and me from her mother; Lisa Scottoline’s “After Anna”; James Lee Burke’s “Robicheaux”; Alex Berenson’s “The Deceivers”; and Walter Mosley’s beautiful new New York work, “Down the River Unto the Sea.” And I can’t wait for the next Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Robert Crais, Louise Penny, Sara Paretsky, Susan Elia MacNeal and Daniel Silva. I also look for writers whose works are not that well known yet, like David Pepper. And I sure miss Sue Grafton.

驚悚小說讓我入迷。我剛看完大衛·鮑爾達奇(David Baldacci)的《陣亡者》(The Fallen)，這可能是他最棒的一本。A·J·費恩(A. J. Finn)的《窗裏的女人》(The Woman in the Window)、尼爾森·德米爾(Nelson DeMille)的《古巴歷險》(The Cuban Affair)、傑奎琳·溫斯皮爾(Jacqueline Winspear)的《死就一次》(To Die but Once)——她的《梅西·多不斯》（Maisie Dobbs，又譯《曙色謀殺》）系列是希拉里和我從她的母親那兒收到的禮物、麗莎·史考恩萊特(Lisa Scottoline)的《安娜之後》(After Anna)、詹姆斯·李·伯克(James Lee Burke)的《羅比肖》(Robicheaux)、亞歷克斯·貝倫森(Alex Berenson)的《欺騙者》(The Deceivers)，還有沃爾特·莫斯里(Walter Mosley)那本漂亮的紐約新作《順流而下》(Down the River Unto the Sea)。我也迫不及待地想看到李·柴爾德(Lee Child)、哈倫·科本(Harlan Coben)、羅伯特·克萊斯(Robert Crais)、路易絲·彭尼(Louise Penny)、莎拉·派瑞斯基(Sara Paretsky)、蘇珊·伊利亞·麥克尼爾(Susan Elia MacNeal)和丹尼爾·西爾瓦(Daniel Silva)的下一本作品。我也會去找一些作品不那麼知名的作家，比如大衛·佩珀(David Pepper)。當然了，我也懷念蘇·格拉夫頓(Sue Grafton).

If you could choose anyone from history to write your biography, who would it be?

如果你能從歷史上選一個人來爲你寫作傳記，你會選誰？

David Herbert Donald, now deceased, Ron Chernow or Strobe Talbott. They are all first-rate historians, terrific writers, and they seem to get me.

已故的戴維·赫伯特·唐納德、羅恩·切爾瑙或者斯特羅布·塔爾博特(Strobe Talbott)。他們都是一等一的歷史學家，出色的作家，並且似乎能夠懂我。

What do you plan to read next?

你下一本打算看什麼書？

“The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization,” by Martin Puchner.

馬丁·皮斯納(Martin Puchner)寫的《文字世界——故事的力量如何塑造人、歷史和文明》(The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization)。