This book is one I should buy. It's one to refer to again and again when I need to be reminded of the beautiful parts of the pursuit of reading. It could be used as a reference book as well.
Favorite Quotes:
p. 11 How to know if you are a true reader:
p. 11 How to know if you are a true reader:
1. Loves to reread books.
The majority never read anything twice. The sure mark of an unliterary man is that he considers "I've read ig already' to be a conclusive argument against reading a work. We have all known women who remembered a novel so dimly that they had to stand for half an hour in the library skimming through it before they were certain they had once read it. But the moment they become certain, they rejected it immediately. It was for them dead, like a burnt-out match, an old railway ticket, or yesterday's paper; they have already used it. Those who read great works, on the other hand, will read the same work ten, twenty or thirty times during the course of their life.
2. Highly values reading as an activty (versus as a last resort)
Secondly, the majority, though they are sometimes frequetn readers, do not set much store by reading. They turn to it as a last resource, They abandon it with alacrity as soon as any alternative pastime turns up. It is kept for railway journeys, illnesses, odd moments of enforced solitude, or for the process called 'reading oneself to sleep'. They sometimes combined it with desultory conversation; often, with listening ot the radio. But literary people are always looking for leisure and silence in which to read and do so with their whole attention. When they are denied such attentive and undisturbed reading even f or a f ew days they feel impovershed.
Secondly, the majority, though they are sometimes frequetn readers, do not set much store by reading. They turn to it as a last resource, They abandon it with alacrity as soon as any alternative pastime turns up. It is kept for railway journeys, illnesses, odd moments of enforced solitude, or for the process called 'reading oneself to sleep'. They sometimes combined it with desultory conversation; often, with listening ot the radio. But literary people are always looking for leisure and silence in which to read and do so with their whole attention. When they are denied such attentive and undisturbed reading even f or a f ew days they feel impovershed.
3. Lists the reading of particular books as a life-changing experience.
Thirdly, the first reading of some literary work is often, to the literary, an experience so momenteous that only experiences of love, religion or bereavement can finish a standard of comparison. Their whole consciousness is changed. They have become what they were not before. But there is no sign of anything like this among the other sort of readers. When they have finished teh story or hte novel, nothing much, or nothing at all, seems to have happened to them.
Thirdly, the first reading of some literary work is often, to the literary, an experience so momenteous that only experiences of love, religion or bereavement can finish a standard of comparison. Their whole consciousness is changed. They have become what they were not before. But there is no sign of anything like this among the other sort of readers. When they have finished teh story or hte novel, nothing much, or nothing at all, seems to have happened to them.
4. Continiously reflects and recalls what one has read.
Finally, and as a natural reslt of their different behavior in reading, what they have read is constantly and prominently present to the mind of the few, but not to that of the many. The former mouth over their favourite lines and stanzas in solitude. Scenes and characters from books provide them with a sort of iconography by which they interpret or sum up their own experience. They talk to one another about books, often at length. The latter seldome think or talk of their reading.
Finally, and as a natural reslt of their different behavior in reading, what they have read is constantly and prominently present to the mind of the few, but not to that of the many. The former mouth over their favourite lines and stanzas in solitude. Scenes and characters from books provide them with a sort of iconography by which they interpret or sum up their own experience. They talk to one another about books, often at length. The latter seldome think or talk of their reading.
p. 17 I am almost inclined to set it up as a canon that a children's story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children's story. The good ones last. A waltz which you can like only when you are walting is a bad waltz.
p. 145 About re-reading books: I find like you that those read in my earlier 'teens ofte nhave no appeal, but this is not nearly so often true of those read in earlier childhood. Girls may develop differently, but for me, looking back, it seems that the glories of childhood and the glories of adolescence are separated by a howling desert during which one was simply a greedy, cruel, spiteful little animal and imagination, in all but the lowest form, was asleep. (Letter to Rhonda Bodle, December 26, 1953)
p. 150 Talking about books: When one has read a book, I think there is nothing so nice as discussing with with someone else - even though itsometimes produces rather fierce arguments (Letter to Arthur Greeves, March 14, 1916)
Goodreads says:
p. 145 About re-reading books: I find like you that those read in my earlier 'teens ofte nhave no appeal, but this is not nearly so often true of those read in earlier childhood. Girls may develop differently, but for me, looking back, it seems that the glories of childhood and the glories of adolescence are separated by a howling desert during which one was simply a greedy, cruel, spiteful little animal and imagination, in all but the lowest form, was asleep. (Letter to Rhonda Bodle, December 26, 1953)
p. 150 Talking about books: When one has read a book, I think there is nothing so nice as discussing with with someone else - even though itsometimes produces rather fierce arguments (Letter to Arthur Greeves, March 14, 1916)
p. 158 Mapping My Books: To enjoy a book like that thoroughly I find I have to treat it as a sort of hobby and set about it seriously. I begin b making a map on one of the end leafs: then I put in a geneologial tree or two. Then I put a running headline at the top of each page: finally, I index at the end of all the pages I have for any reason underlined. I often wonder - considering how people enoy themselves developing photos or making scrapbooks - why so few people make a hobby of thei reading in this way. Many an otherwise dull book which I had to read have I enjoyed this way, with a fine-nibbed pen in my hand: one is making something all the time and a book so read acquires the charm of a toy without losing that of a book. (Letter to Arthur Greeves, February 1932)
p. 167 Good Reading: A good shoe is a show you don't notice. Goodreading becomes possible when you need not consciously think about eyes, light, or print, or spelling. (Letters to Mlcolm, Chiefly on Prayer, from chapter 1)
p. 169 Journal exercises for reflecting on your reading life
- List the ten books that have most shaped who you are tdoay and write down a few sentenes per book of how they have shaped you.
- Lewis often describes the gift of reading as the opportunity to "see through others' eyes." Which books have you read that have revealed to you a very different view of the world from your own? How did these experiences change you?
- Which books should you read that woud open up other worlds you are not familiar with - allowing that the idfferences could be cultural, racial, religious, historical, or somethng else?
- Lewis highly values re-reading old books, even books from childhood. Which books have you re-read, and why did you choose to re-read them? Whichbooks have you read more than twice? How have these books affected you?
- Write down your earliest childhood memories of books that transported you and created in you a love of books? Have you re-read these titles lately? Were they still magical? How did these early experiences influence you?
- List the "old books" you will commit to read as a break from reading all contemporary ones.
- What do you think of the genre of books called fairy stories or books of fnatasy and magic - of which Lewis had much to say? Which titles have influenced you most and what do you think they have taught you about the "real" world?
- Lewis writes mogingly about the discovery of his favorite author, George MacDonald. Who would you say if your favorite author, and what rold has he or she played in your life?
- Lewis emphasizes the importance of reading for pleasure. What kinds of books do you read solely for this purpose (even if they are guilty pleasures)? Why do you think this type of reading is important?
Goodreads says:
The revered teacher and bestselling author of such classic Christian works as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters reflects on the power, importance, and joy of a life dedicated to reading books in this delightful collection drawn from his wide body of writings.
More than fifty years after his death, revered intellectual and teacher C. S. Lewis continues to speak to readers, thanks not only to his intellectual insights on Christianity but also his wondrous creative works and deep reflections on the literature that influenced his life. Beloved for his instructive novels including The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, and The Chronicles of Narnia as well as his philosophical books that explored theology and Christian life, Lewis was a life-long writer and book lover.
Cultivated from his many essays, articles, and letters, as well as his classic works, How to Read provides guidance and reflections on the love and enjoyment of books. Engaging and enlightening, this well-rounded collection includes Lewis’ reflections on science fiction, why children’s literature is for readers of all ages, and why we should read two old books for every new one.
A window into the thoughts of one of the greatest public intellectuals of our time, this collection reveals not only why Lewis loved the written word, but what it means to learn through literature from one of our wisest and most enduring teachers.
No comments:
Post a Comment