Saturday, June 25, 2011

Immersed in Reading

Aravis and I finished How to Read Slowly. Mr. Sire is a kindred spirit.

'How do you find time to read so many books?'

...I have a problem. I read too much. I pay attention to plot, image, character and theme when I should be paying attention to wife, sons and daughters, the peeling house paint and the leaking toilet tank. Actually, I need advice about how to spend time not reading...


Yep. And another great quote:

...all truth is God's truth and therefore there is nothing to fear from learning anything which is true. The major problem is error masquerading as truth.


And a really fabulous quote about the world of the book:

As a child "listener" and later, as a reader, I never asked, Is the story true? Do rabbits really talk? Do dark red houses appear and disappear in various parts of the forest? No, for the time of the story all of us children entered its world, and we stayed there until the last sentence became an echo. The story had made for us a separate reality, and we really "believed" it right up to the final line. Yet, never beyond. When the story was over, we asked Mom for cookies and she reminded us of the chores...

As readers it is our task as well as our delight to enter that world with open eyes, accept it on its own merit, learn its rules and see it function.


This is something we become in danger of losing once we learn literary analysis. But if we are aware of its value, perhaps we needn't lose it.

I reminded Aravis that this copy of How to Read Slowly is borrowed and must be returned. I recommended she put in her commonplace book whatever quotes she wants to keep. She responded that she wanted to keep all of it, and is going to look for her own copy at Half Price Books. I love it when that happens.

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