"A Book" by Hannah More

A Book

I'm a strange contradiction; I'm new, and I'm old,
I'm often in tatters, and oft decked with gold,
Though I never could read, yet lettered I'm found;
Though blind, I enlighten; though loose, I am bound,
I'm always in black, and I'm always in white
I'm grave and I'm gay, I am heavy and light --
In form too I differ, -- I'm thick and I'm thin
I've no flesh and no bones, yet I'm covered with skin;
I've more points than the compass, more stops than the flute;
I sing without voice, without speaking confute.
I'm English, I'm German, I'm French, and I'm Dutch.
Some love me too fondly, some slight me too much;
I often die soon, though I sometimes live ages,
And no monarch alive has so many pages.

By Hannah More

Trouble with Reading

The August 9 issue of the Los Angeles Times contains an article called “The Lost Art of Reading” by the paper’s books editor, David L. Ulin. He writes that “Sometime late last year -- I don't remember when, exactly -- I noticed I was having trouble sitting down to read.” He notes that with his particular job this is a problem.

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After giving some of his own background of being a voracious reader since he was a teenager, he asks “So what happened? It isn't a failure of desire so much as one of will. Or not will, exactly, but focus: the ability to still my mind long enough to inhabit someone else's world, and to let that someone else inhabit mine…. I pick up a book and read a paragraph; then my mind wanders and I check my e-mail, drift onto the Internet, pace the house before returning to the page."

Toward the end of the article Ulin says “How do we pause when we must know everything instantly? How do we ruminate when we are constantly expected to respond? How do we immerse in something (an idea, an emotion, a decision) when we are no longer willing to give ourselves the space to reflect?” The last line of the article sounds both mournful and heroic, “It's harder than it used to be, but still, I read.”

Interestingly, about a year ago Nicholas Carr had an article in The Atlantic called “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” that spoke about the same problem. We may have spotted a trend. I hate to say it, but maybe we need to turn off our computers and sit down with a book.

Book Blogs

For those of you who have read every post in the 10 Books Blog, but still crave more blogs about books, I've gathered some sites I hope you like. All have published posts in the last month. If you have a book blog you'd like to recommend, I'd love to hear about it.

Bookey Wookey

Bloggin’ about Books

Book Lust

A Common Reader

Ex Libris

Farm Lane Book Blog

A Girl Walks into a Bookstore

HPL Book Hunt

HPL Great Books Reading and Discussion Group

Incurable Logophilia

Inside Books

A Life in Books

Mysteries in Paradise

Paper Cuts

Reading Matters

WSJ Article Says "Good Books Don't Have to be Hard"

I was happy to read a Wall Street Journal article by Lev Grossman entitled “Good Books Don't Have to Be Hard.”

Grossman says that most literary novels from the first half of the Twentieth Century-- by authors such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and Henry James—fall into a category literary scholars call Modernist. These authors thought that earlier novels were too neat, with all the loose ends tied up ends, and didn’t reflect how life really was. The Modernists wrote stories that sometimes didn’t have plots one could describe easily, and which sometimes seemed to end abruptly with no real conclusion. Some of their novels contained extensive inner monologues called stream of consciousness. Sometimes it was difficult to follow which character had said a particular line of dialog. Often these authors took pride in the fact that their books were difficult to read. They would not pander to the common reader. They tried to appeal to readers who didn’t mind doing some work.

The automobile, telephone, radio and psychoanalysis had revolutionized the way people of the Twentieth Century traveled, communicated and even how they thought. Modernist authors thought that these changes should be reflected in literature. Just as Modernist artists no longer felt compelled to paint “pretty pictures,” Modernist writers did not feel they needed to entertain.

Grossman writes that times have again changed, and good readable novels are back. He cites such authors as Michael Chabon, Jonathan Lethem, and Richard Price as contemporary authors who use literary language to relate riveting stories in various fiction genres. He notes that Cormac ­McCarthy, who Grossman says for years “appeared to be the oldest living Modernist in captivity,” has more recent writings that include a serial-killer novel and a work of apocalyptic science fiction..

Take a look at the article, and check some of the other authors Grossman mentions, and then check out their books at the Merrick Library.

Program Promotes Life-Long Reading

Today, I came across a New York Times article, “The Future of Reading: Students Get New Assignment: Pick Books You Like,” which profiles two teachers who are participating in a growing movement to encourage the love of reading by giving children more freedom to choose which books to read for school. OK, I’ll admit that my first reaction to the headline was sure, next they’ll be asking fifth graders what courses should be taught.

But it’s not that bad. Nancie Atwell, one of the teachers mentioned in the article lets students choose books they want to read, with certain guidelines—no Gossip Girls, no books based on video games. She has the students spend time reading during class time, during which she goes around and talks with the children about the books they are reading. She has them keep journals and report on the books they read.

Part of the process with this program involves teachers nudging the students to read higher quality books. For instance, when one student finished a book, Chaka! Through the Fire, a memoir by singer Chaka Khan, Lorrie McNeill, the other teacher mention in the article, suggested the student might now read Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Despite the increased freedom in her classroom, Atwell’s teaching method remains rigorous. Speaking with one boy, she said “I keep trying to get you to read things other than James Patterson,” Ms. Atwell said, pointing to the book he was reading, “But if you are going to write a book review of substance, you are going to have to find substance in the book.”

Not everyone agrees with Atwell’s approach. Most teachers still assign “classic” books, but if one of the goals in education is to encourage lifelong reading, maybe these caring teachers’ approach deserves a try. What do you think about letting students choose what they want to read?

Presidential Reading

With summer winding down, President Barack Obama is on vacation on Martha's Vinyard. At this blog, of course, we are interested in what he's reading. Slate, the online magazine, has answered this question in an article called "Barack's Book Bag."

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We'd love to hear which books you're spending time with this summer. Personally, I'm reading Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography and listening to Silks, by Dick Francis.

Some Thoughts about Reading

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
Richard Steele

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man;
and writing an exact man.
Francis Bacon

Les livres cadrent mal avec le mariage.
(Reading and marriage don't go well together.)
Moliere

The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading;

in order to write, a man will turn over half a library to make one book.
Samuel Johnson

The reading of good books is like a conversation with the best men of past centuries—in fact like a prepared conversation, in which they reveal only the best of their thoughts.
Rene Descartes

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.
Logan Pearsall Smith

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I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

Groucho Marx

Poetry is not the most important thing in life…
I'd much rather lie in a hot bath reading

Agatha Christie and sucking sweets.
Dylan Thomas

If you have a favorite quote about reading, we'd love to hear it. Please add it to comments.

Summer Reading

Those of you who have gone though our 10 Books to Read before You Die and are looking for some further guidance might want to try Rebecca’s Pocket's Summer Reading 2009. This posting includes links to a variety of recommended reading lists including Smart Summer Reading from UC Davis and Excellent Summer Reading Recommendations for Brides-to-Be. Rebecca also has lists of books for Young Adults, such as Summer Reading for Tweens from the Kansas City Star.

Of course, once you find a book to read you can check our holdings in Merrick Library's catalog.

I found Rebecca’s Pocket listed on the Librarians’ Internet Index, a great source for useful websites.

Ray Bradbury and Libraries

The front page of today’s New York Times features an article about Ray Bradbury’s fight to keep a California public library open. A number of the state’s public libraries may be forced to close because of the current fiscal crisis. Bradbury is focusing his efforts on the H. P Wright Library in Ventura County, which has been told that it must raise $280,000, or it will be forced to close.

When he was young, Bradbury, now 88 years old, could not afford to go to college, so he went to libraries three days a week for ten years. “I don’t believe in colleges and universities,” Bradbury says, “I believe in libraries.” Though the author of such books as Fahrenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes didn’t make our list of 10 Books to Read before You Die, we’ll have to give Bradbury an honorable mention for his support of libraries and reading. Here’s to you Ray!

Reading during the Great Depression

In the midst of the current international economic crisis, there has been much harkening back to see what happened during the Great Depression. In this vein, National Public Radio recently broadcast a segment called "What Were People Reading during the Depression?" The people at NPR went through some issues of Publishers Weekly from the period to see what books were popular.

Though we often ponder how things have changed in the last seventy years, much seems to be the same in the area of popular reading-- chick lit, commentaries by noted politicians, vampire novels, and books about dogs, including a fictional biography of a dog named Flush, by Virginia Woolf of all people.

Oh, yes, and like today, public libraries back then recorded marked increases in their circulation statistics. So join the crowd. Come on into the library and borrow a book.

Reading, Not Readings

As the main purpose of this blog is to encourage reading, we wanted to note a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article by Mark Edmundson entitled "Against Readings." That's readings with an "s." "By a reading," Edmundson writes,"I mean the application of an analytical vocabulary — Marx's, Freud's, Foucault's, Derrida's, or whoever's — to describe and (usually) to judge a work of literary art." In other words, let's get back to reading books, without getting wrapped up in literary theory.

I remember reading another article about a young woman's disappointing experience as a graduate student in literature at Yale. At one point she asked one of her professors who her favorite authors were. The professor replied, "I don't read for pleasure anymore." Yikes!

Why 10 Books?

We were inspired to ask the Library staff for their choices for 10 Books to Read Before You Die by an article on AOL. When we read AOL's list, we thought "Hmm, wonder what our staff would come up with?" So, we asked, and we received a very enthusiastic response. So then we said 'Hmm, wonder what our patrons would come up with?". This is how we thought we could find out. Just post your picks as a comment-what could be easier?