How do you review several hundred pages of someone’s blood, sweat, and tears in just the 500 or 1,000 words? Of course, it depends on the book—novels, anthologies, nonfiction, and reference books all have different constraints. But there are some general principles that will make reviewing something you can look forward to.

　　作家把自己的血泪和汗水凝注而成数百页的书籍，你如何才能用500到1000字的文章加以评述?当然，写书评的方法会因书籍的种类不同而各异——小说、选集、纪实文学、参考书目都有其独特的文体限制。不过在不同类型的书籍中也存在着通用的原则。

　　1. Leave yourself plenty of time, so that you can read the book a couple of times

　　写书评之前请为自己留出充裕的时间，把书籍反复阅读几遍

　　Give it a quick skim, then a careful perusing, carefully reading a chapter a day and taking notes. That gives you plenty of time to form an impression and think your evaluation through.

　　首先扫读一遍，然后仔仔细细精读一遍，一天读完一章，同时记好笔记。这样做能让你有足够的时间形成对作品的认知，思考自己的意见评价。

　　2. Your job is to create a relationship between the reviewer, the book’s author, and potential readers

　　你的任务就是在评论者、作者和潜在读者之间建立联系。

　　To do that, you need to establish some context for the book. The best reviews quickly situate a book against some social, scientific, cultural, or disciplinary backdrop. What important ideas or questions does this book address? Who would be interested in the book and why? A good review can amplify that background for readers and may even cause the author to think about the work in a new way.

　　为了做到这一点，你需要为书建立某种语境。最好的书评能最快的将书籍放在特定的社会、科技、文化、学科背景之中。书中表达了哪些重要的观点，提出了哪些重要的问题?谁会对这本书感兴趣?为什么?一篇好的书评会放大故事的背景以方便读者阅读，甚至能引起作者对自己作品的重新思考。

　　3. As you summarize, try to fit the best examples from the book into the review, rather than just relying on a retelling of an author’s points

　　当你总结文意的时候，试着将书中最好的例证融入到你的评论中，而不是仅仅只复述作者的观点

　　Try to refer to the material that brought the book alive for you, juxtaposing different examples to reinforce your reading of the book.

　　引用让自己印象深刻的例子在自己的书评中，将书中的各种案例与自己的论证并置，让这些案例辅佐你的观点。

　　4. Summary, however it is handled, should be combined with your evaluation of the book

　　无论怎样写总结，都应该加上你对书籍的评价

　　This is your honest judgement of what parts of the book are the strongest and the weakest. Where does the writing sparkle? Where does it lose its way? What might there be more of, or less? What is innovative and what is missing? Give the reasons for your judgement, insofar as you can, and avoid being snarky.

　　你可以诚实地对书籍做出评价：书中哪部分笔力最强健?那部分最薄弱?那个章节是亮点?那个章节与主线偏离了?哪个部分还可以丰富，哪里应该削减?作者的何种观点是原创的，还缺少何种洞见?为自己的评价解释评价的缘由，尽可能解释清楚，避免过激的言辞。

　　5. Book reviews are the time to practice the art of brevity and to polish your own writing

　　写书评是你提升自己写作的简洁性，锻炼自己写作能力的好机会

　　You will probably only have a few hundred words, so make each one count. Engage your readers by getting their attention and winning their confidence, by moving briskly through what you have to say, and helping them to decide if they want to read the book for themselves.

　　可能你的书评只能写寥寥数百字，所以你得惜字如金。简洁轻快地道出自己的观点，吸引读者的注意，赢得他们对作品的信心，鼓励他们展开阅读，帮助他们做出决断，他们是否愿意亲自阅读一下这本书。

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（编辑：何莹莹）