![]() For though reading seems so simple-a mere matter of knowing the alphabet-it is indeed so difficult that it is doubtful whether anybody knows anything about it. Here simple and learned, man and woman are alike. Here in this room, if nowhere else, we breathe the air of freedom. One may think about reading as much as one chooses, but no one is going to lay down laws about it. But you will notice the note of interrogation at the end of my title. What am I to do to get the utmost possible pleasure out of them? And is it pleasure, or profit, or what is it that I should seek? I will lay before you some of the thoughts that have come to me on such an occasion as this. My appetite is so fitful and so capricious. Now, one may well ask oneself, strolling into such a room as this, how am I to read these books? What is the right way to set about it? They are so many and so various. Novels, poems, histories, memoirs, dictionaries, maps, directories black letter books and brand new books books in French and Greek and Latin of all shapes and sizes and values, bought for purposes of research, bought to amuse a railway journey, bought by miscellaneous beings, of one temperament and another, serious and frivolous, men of action and men of letters. As casually, as persistently, books have been coming together on the shelves. Let us imagine that we are now in such a room that it is a sunny room, with windows opening on a garden, so that we can hear the trees rustling, the gardener talking, the donkey braying, the old women gossiping at the pump-and all the ordinary processes of life pursuing the casual irregular way which they have pursued these many hundreds of years. But in some houses they have become such a company that they have to be accommodated with a room of their own-a reading room, a library, a study. Visit our report for more on the rise of e-reading and the general reading habits of Americans and browse through the host of resources on the new libraries section of our site: /internet.At this late hour of the world’s history, books are to be found in almost every room of the house-in the nursery, in the drawing room, in the dining room, in the kitchen. One compelling summary thought came from a respondent who declared: “I love being able to get outside myself.” Those who talked about personal enrichment used phrases like “being able to experience so many times, places, and events.” Others expressed pleasure at living a “life of the mind.”įor many, reading was a proud lifestyle choice: “It’s better for me to imagine things in my head than watch them on TV.” Those who talked about quiet entertainment tended toward phrases like “a stress-free escape,” “a nice way to relax,” “I read because it’s not work,” “diverting, entertaining and educational,” and “It draws me away from reality.” That was echoed by a respondent who said reading “takes you away, like a movie in your head.” One wryly said he liked reading “because it helps me with my temper and relaxes me.” One respondent noted: “I am an English teacher, so I read to save my sanity from grading essays.” In their own words, respondents were eloquent and touching. ![]()
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