Future Minds : How the Digital Age is Changing Our Minds, Why This Matters, and What We Can Do About It

Richard Watson
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We are on the cusp of a revolution. Mobile phones, computers and iPods are commonplace in hundreds of millions of households worldwide, influencing how we think and shaping how we interact. In the future, smart machines will compete with clever people for employment and even human affection. We are shifting to a world where knowledge will be automated and people will be rewarded instead as conceptual and creative thinkers. Hence being able to think and act in ways that machines cannot will become vital. Ideas are the currency of this new economy and curiosity and imagination are among the key raw materials. But what happens to the rigour of our thinking in a world where we never really sit still or completely switch off? What are some of the unexpected consequences of digital information on the 100 billion cells and quadrillion connections inside our brains? Future Minds illustrates how to maximise the potential of digital technology and minimise its greatest downside, addressing the future of thinking and how we can ensure that we unleash the extraordinary potential of the human mind. In this absorbing new book, discover all about: the sex life of ideas; the rise of the screenager; generations, gender and geography; delving deep inside your head; how to clear a blocked brain; why clever people make dumb mistakes; why we are so afraid of doing nothing; what we can do to reclaim our brains.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

中國現代文學三十年

錢理群, 溫儒敏, 吳福輝 著
online access from Apabi
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由錢理群等三位學者撰述的《中國現代文學三十年》修訂本，已被列為普通高等教育“九五”教育部重點教材。這部近六十萬字的現代文學史著作，既注意吸收前人關于作家、作品和文體研究的成果，又克服了以往文學史的敘事模式與狹窄格局，拓寬了研究領域，在“文學現代化”這一命題下，形成了學術品味濃厚的獨異的特色。

首先，在結構布局上，全書按照1917—1949年的歷史分期分為三編，但對各個時期的社會政治形勢只作簡約的交代，著重闡釋各個階段重要的文學思潮與文學現象，從文學演進過程與歷史聯系中去分析文學自身的規律與特點。這本書雖然也按文體分類，卻注重突出各種文體的性質、走向以及不同流派的特點，並對某些代表藝術高峰的作家作品作專章論述，每章還附錄了年表。

在對重要作家的評論中，該書力避對作家生平的羅列和對作品情節冗長的復述，而是重視作品的藝術成就和美學價值，尤其注意分析作品產生久遠影響的原因。如第二章魯迅（一），在評論魯迅小說的結構模式與深邃意蘊時，特意標出“說不盡的魯迅”一節，綜合了近年來學界對“阿Ｑ精神”的人類學內涵的探討。該書還把沈從文列為專章，表示了對這位構築“湘西世界”，“充當現代中國文化的批判者角色”的文化人的同情和理解。

這些都是過去文學史著作所沒有的或所省略的。

對于文學流派，該書不只是強調主流文學，而且也能從地域、文化環境的視角，去關照京派、海派、新感覺派、先鋒派等趣味各異的文學派別，力求恢復現代文學色彩紛呈、枝葉繁茂的本來面貌。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books

Charles Dickens; edited with an introduction and notes by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
online access from SuperStar Digital Library (Chinese)
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A Christmas Carol has gripped the public imagination since it was first published in 1843, and it is now as much a part of the holiday season as is mistletoe or Santa's reindeer. Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future--it is impossible to go anywhere during the month of December and not hear these names, time and again.

Now comes a wonderful new collection of Dickens' Christmas stories, graced with many of the original drawings that appeared in the first edition. Pride of place goes to A Christmas Carol, of course, but the book also includes four other marvelous tales: The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man. All five stories show Dickens at his unpredictable best, jumbling together comedy and melodrama, genial romance and urgent social satire, in pursuit of his aim "to awaken some loving and forbearing thoughts, never out of season in a Christian land." The volume also features an excellent introduction by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, who offers invaluable background to the Christmas stories, illuminating the social questions they set out to address, outlining their reception and the enduring popularity of A Christmas Carol, and highlighting how their style and themes resonate in more complex ways in his major fictions. In addition, the book includes two appendices containing Dickens's article, "What Christmas Is As We Grow Older," and facsimile pages from Dickens's reading version of A Christmas Carol.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

尋找心中那把尺

熊秉元 著
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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「我們應該想辦法讓每一個人心中的那把尺的『品質』愈高愈好，即使每個人的「心中之尺」有不同的刻度和長短」。本書為經濟學者的散文集，內容在介紹一個「經濟學的世界觀」。

作者以經濟學的基本觀念分析人類行為的各個面相，用以解釋一個正常人生活呼吸的世界裡的各種面貌。這些觀察和分析不在於顯現作者個人的想法，而在說明一件事可以「怎麼去想」：可以由正面來看，可以由反面來看，可以由正面的反面來看，也可以由反面的反面來看，更可以由不正不反的角度來看……

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)　

Making the Good Life Last: Four Keys to Sustainable Living

Michael A. Schuler
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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The Sustainable Life Is the Good Life

In our materialist culture, the idea of "the good life"--fancy cars, designer clothes, once-in-a-lifetime vacations--leaves even those few who can afford it feeling anxious, empty, and dissatisfied. Michael Schuler deconstructs the assumption that consumption and constant stimulation equal happiness. He shows how, by applying the principles of sustainability to our personal lives, we can discover treasures of perennial value: a beautiful and healthy earth home, enduring relationships, strong communities, work that contributes to the common good, and play that restores our bodies and lifts our souls.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

我負丹靑: 吳冠中自傳

online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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早已名聞遐邇，近年更像巨星般受到全世界藝壇矚目的吳冠中，一點一滴，一筆一劃將自己八十多年來的經歷、思考和感悟，毫無保留地交給讀者。

全書分三部份：第一部份是〈生命之流〉；主要記載畫家思想感情的成長、發展、 轉變和興衰，「這生命之流如繪了一幅《清明上河圖》，著力於長河的全貌與主要轉折，而許多局部細節須用放大鏡觀察。」第二部份〈此情此景〉；便是局部放大圖，這裡包括有關生活的、文藝觀的，其中還有不少引起過強烈反響和爭議的文章。第三部份是畫家親定的年表。

作者用誠懇真摯、發自內心的筆觸，帶領讀者走過他對比強烈、色彩斑斕的一生。

書中配上代表作和生活照，既可賞心悅目又能啟迪思索。

(摘錄自香港書城)