Bookreading: Part III

To finish off this discourse on books and reading, I would like to discuss why good books are written, why that matters, and how books can change our lives.

In 2 Nephi 4:15, it says, “And upon these [plates] I write the things of my soul…for my soul delighteth in scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children.”  If you substitute the word scriptures with good books, the prophet’s words represent the intent of many authors.  Authors of the best books write the things of their souls, and they write for the learning and profit of man.  “The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts” (attributed to either Oliver Wendell Holmes or John Greenleaf Whittier).  The author writes, and speaks, and whether his or her words are meaningful depends on the listening heart and mind of the reader.  It has been said that reading a good book is like opening a window into the heart of the author (Little Women).  Although no words are spoken aloud, the author and the reader communicate, and through this medium the sincerest forms of conversation occur.  In order for this to take place, the reader must open his or her own heart and mind.  One person talking “at” another does not lead to communication unless the other person talks back.  Here, Ralph Waldo Emerson speaks clearly as to what the reader must do in order to achieve this valuable prize: “Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear; the profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader; the profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until it is discovered by an equal mind and heart.”

Yes, the reader must do some work himself if he wants to benefit from reading books.  But it is a small price to pay, for in using one’s mind and thinking about a book, one stretches his mind and gains mountains of knowledge from as little as one phrase.  In the movie Ever After, one of the characters ignorantly says, “Some people read because they cannot think for themselves.”  To her, I say along with Charles Dudley Warner, “Nothing is worth reading that does not require an alert mind.”  In order to profit from books, you have to be able to think on your own, for without your response to the words on the page, how can you and the author communicate?  Would there really be any point to reading if you didn’t think about what you read?  Edmund Burke commented, “To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.”  Similarly, Francis Bacon affirmed that “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.”  Books are written “for our profit and learning” as we liken them to us (see 1 Nephi 19:23).  I would like to add my pearls of wisdom to the words of these great individuals, but they need no elaboration.

It is also important to consider that one ought to read all good books, not solely those with which he agrees.  It is difficult to fully know your own beliefs without learning the opposing view.  Some will refuse to continue reading a book that suggests ideas or morals contrary to their views, but it is of greater value to finish the book.  In so doing, you will have a clearer understanding of your own morals.  “If you resist reading what you disagree with, how will you ever acquire deeper insights into what you believe?  The things most worth reading are precisely those that challenge our convictions” (author unknown).

In conclusion – the conclusion of only this very short discourse; indeed, one could go on for pages and pages about the magnitude of this subject – reading is necessary if we wish to remain an intelligent species.  It is through books that we pass along eternal truths and wisdom. “A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face.  It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy” (Edward P. Morgan).  I, for one, relish those times when I can have this wonderful experience, and encourage all to take opportunity to do the same.

Bookreading: Part II

In my previous post, I described a scenario—rather, a lifetime—for the modern day individual who may have enjoyed reading as a child but has no time to do so anymore.  This representative individual may ask, why read?  What’s the point?  Why, when I don’t have time?  Why, when I don’t get anything out of it besides a story in which time I could have watched multiple episodes of my favorite T.V. show?  Well, let me answer your questions.

Why read?  What’s the point?  Reading does for you what many other activities cannot.  Some of the great writers of the past have given multiple reasons for reading.  “Books support us in our solitude and keep us from being a burden to ourselves,” said Jeremy Collier.  If books are able to stop us from being lonely as well as prevent us from becoming burdens to ourselves, what else can they do?  Harold Bloom maintained that “reading well is one of the great pleasures—a healing pleasure—that solitude can afford you.”  If you don’t enjoy being alone, books support you in your solitude and also provide pleasure and healing that you would not experience otherwise in your solitude.  Even if you do enjoy being alone, reading increases that pleasure.  I love solitude, and oft times reading a book has brought me great enjoyment and peace in my reclusion.  Kafka wrote, “A book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul.”  Although I never cared for Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Kafka is a good writer, and I have seen in my own reading experience how this quote is true.  Many times while reading I have felt the words on the page prick at my heart, evoking in me peculiar and unfamiliar emotions.  I could not recount how many books have served as ice-axes to “break the seas frozen inside [my] soul.” 

Why read, when we don’t have time?  Sherri Chasin Calvo said, “If you have never said ‘Excuse me’ to a parking meter or bashed your shins on a fireplug, you are probably wasting too much valuable reading time.”  Although this was said with a smile, the principle is true.  If you are not taking the time to read books, you are wasting time.  Make reading a priority.  If you absolutely cannot find the time to sit down and read a book, use audio books while driving or exercising instead of listening to music or watching television.  Take a book with you to work to read during your lunch break.  When your junior high and high school aged children read books for school, read those books at the same time so that you can talk about them together (this will provide the added benefit of family time and closeness).  There is always time to read; you just have to look for it. 

Why else ought we to read?  What do we get out of it besides a story?  Those of you who are Latter-day Saints have likely Doctrine and Covenants 88:118, which reads, “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”  This is a commandment direct from God!  Along with the fact that reading is a commandment, 1 Nephi 3:7 tells us that God will give no commandments unto the children of men without preparing a way for them to accomplish those commandments.  Therefore, one cannot argue that there is no time to read because the Lord will always help those who seek to obey His commandments.  And if we want to learn words of wisdom, Heavenly Father would have us read the best books.  You know how to recognize a good book when you read one, and “It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it” (Oscar Wilde).  Books can indeed have this profound an effect on your person.  It has been said that “fiction reveals truths that reality obscures” (attributed to either Jessamyn West or Ralph Waldo Emerson).  How many of us have learned the truth from Huckleberry Finn that “You can’t pray a lie”?  Who has not learned the value of trust from Shakespeare’s Othello, or the dangers of revenge from The Count of Monte Cristo?  As we read, book after book teaches us important lessons and truths: “From every book invisible threads reach out to other books; and as the mind comes to use and control those threads the whole panorama of the world's life, past and present, becomes constantly more varied and interesting, while at the same time the mind's own powers of reflection and judgment are exercised and strengthened” (Helen E. Haines).  And it is not important just to be well-read: one ought to reread good books, for as Clifton Fadiman says, “When you reread a classic you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than was there before.”  As you read, you change.  This is the power of books, and it is true for both good and bad books.  Oscar Wilde knew that, which is why he held that what you voluntarily read makes you who you are.  Books can make you into a better person if you choose to read good ones and let them change your life.

Bookreading: Part I

It is likely that some of your earliest memories include being read stories by your mommy or daddy.  Perhaps you had an obsession with Dr. Seuss or Richard Scarry books, or Laura Numeroff’s “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”, or maybe you liked Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad series as I did.  You probably tore through so many Little Golden Books that your parents were fervently grateful for how inexpensive they are.  At some point you began to read the books yourself, and you progressed through various children’s series as your reading skills improved.  You might have read Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Babysitter’s Club, Goosebumps, the Boxcar Children, and more.

Unfortunately, at some point, books may have become less of a priority for you.  There were so many video and computer games to play, and the Internet to surf, and T.V. shows and movies to watch.  These provided you with more instant gratification, and subconsciously you may have thought, Why should I waste the time to read a long book when I can just watch a 30-minute show? or Why read the book when I can just watch the movie about it?

When you got to high school, teachers began assigning you books to read.  Some days you had enough time to read them, but other days you didn’t, and perhaps more often than not you found yourself looking up Sparknotes chapter summaries or forgetting it altogether so that you could spend more time doing other things.  It got worse in college; you were so busy enjoying the college life and trying to do the bare minimum to get the grades you wanted in your classes that you neglected to read even the articles your professors posted for you.  At best, you’d “carefully” skim the required readings; you figured no one had time to actually read the whole book, and the professors couldn’t expect any more with your busy lives.  Maybe when the time rolled around for New Year’s Resolutions, you promised yourself, Okay, I WILL read at least one book outside of my required coursework each semester.  Or maybe just one this year.  But of course, you never got around to it…and when you graduated, you couldn’t find the time to read a book around your job, raising a family, and everything else you had to do.  The only things you would read would be those childhood favorites that your parents read to you, and you would read them to your child at bedtime.

Now, I realize that what I have described here may not be the case for everyone, or maybe not even for half of you out there.  But this situation or a similar one is the case for enough people today (including myself, unfortunately), and it should be a concern for all of us.  What has happened to our literary world?  Why don’t we read books anymore?  Are we too busy with things that are genuinely more important?  Are we too distracted and no longer have the mental capacity to do something like read a book for more than thirty minutes?  Would we rather sit on the couch watching the boob tube because we are too lazy to hold a book and physically turn the pages?