读书真的使人进步吗？可能要看你看的什么书.

　　In 2012, when bookstores and book clubs were alight with talk of Gone Girl, a vital modifier was attached to descriptions of Flynn’s fast-paced story: it’s not just a thriller, it’s a literary thriller.

　　2012年，随着《消失的爱人》热映，书店和读书俱乐部渐渐地开始火了。这个弗林的快节奏故事，有一个至关重要的修饰语：它不仅仅是一部惊险电影，它是一部文学惊险电影。

　　“Literary,” in the case of a book about a marriage gone violently rancid, suggests that Flynn wasn’t only concerned with what happens in the story; she was interested in the nuances of the characters’ inner lives, too.

　　“文学”，在一本关于因暴力而变味的婚姻的书里出现，这表明弗林不只关心故事的情节;她还关心角色内在生活的细微差别。

　　Naturally, some writers who devote themselves to crafting straightforward thrillers (or romances, or fantasies) take issue with the “literary” distinction, because it undermines the value of their own work. And indeed, salient arguments have been made against genre categories, which are said to be more of a marketing tool than a usul means of sorting and suggesting books.

　　自然地，一些致力于创作直来直去的惊险片(或爱情片，或奇幻片)的作者就会对“文学”这一细微概念提出异议，因为这削弱了他们作品的价值。实际上，对于这种文学体裁已经有了很多明显的争论，这些争论认为这与其说是一种文体，不如说是一种市场营销手段。

　　But, according to a new study conducted by David Kidd and Emanuele Castano, books that carry the “literary” banner may offer unique benits to readers.

　　但是，大卫·基德和艾曼纽·卡斯塔诺的一项最新研究表明，举着“文学”大旗的书能带给读者独特的好处。

　　The pair asked over 1,000 participants to check off literary names they recognized bore identifying the emotions being expressed in various photos, drawing a positive correlation between literary awareness and emotional intelligence. The study controlled for self-reported empathy levels, and still found that those who’ve read more literary fiction books in their lives were better at recognizing the emotions of others.

　　这两名研究者让1000名受试者在认出不同照片表达的情感之前来指认文学人物的名字，绘制了文学意识和情绪智力之间的正相关图表。这项研究控制了自述共情水平，并且还发现在生活中阅读更多文学类小说的人，在感知他人情感方面更加出色。

　　In a report on the study in The Guardian, Kidd says: “Not all fiction draws on the same psychological processes in the same way [...] over time, habitual reading of literary fiction is associated with differences in interpersonal perception that are not associated with regularly reading genre fiction.”

　　在一份发表在《卫报》上的报告中，基德写道，“不是所有的虚构小说都用同一种方式呈现心理过程……久而久之，对文学类小说的习惯性阅读与对人际关系的知觉有关，而这种知觉与经常阅读的小说类型无关。”

　　A Reader’s Digest post on the study stresses that even the study’s authors “point out that their findings should not be taken as evidence of ‘the superiority of literary fiction.’” This may be because a similar, less rigorous version of the same findings that lead to controversy in 2013.

　　一份《读者文摘》上对于这项研究的评论称，即使是研究的作者“也指出，他们的研究成果不能作为‘文学性小说具有澳际性’的证据。”这可能是因为，2013年类似(但是不那么严格)的观点曾经引起了争议。

　　So, reader, read what you wish. But know that the classics ― Toni Morrison, Harper Lee and Don DeLillo among them ― might yield greater rewards.

　　所以，如果要读书的话，读什么都行。但是要知道像托妮·莫里森、哈珀·李和唐·德里罗这样的经典——读这些会有非常棒的回报!