Sunday, August 21, 2005

Lost in imagination

Today I have neglected all things except my imagination. Some might call it being lazy, I do not disagree. I have locked myself into the four walls of my imagination while managing to read about half of Pride and Prejudice this afternoon. I don't speed read, I don't skip over "useless" words and pick out the important information. I feel that if the author wished for us to speed-read, said author would have written it in speed-reading format. Each and every words has been considered, such as mine now.

So far I am enthralled and I'm sure this story will end well. However, from time to time I find myself a little lost in translation though, English as it may be, so I sometimes reread certain parts to make sure I fully understand what Ms. Austen is trying to say. I have also started Don Quixote by Cervantes. I read most of it in my Spanish 4 class my senior year, but it was in Spanish and I'm afraid I spent more time translating words then absorbing them. The copy I bought recently is in English, that should help. I'm open to ideas of what other great books I should read before I die.

"What is reading but silent conversation?" -- Walter Savage Landor
"When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls. What is to happen next will take place within the four walls of the story. And this is possible because the story's voice makes everything its own." -- John Berger

1 comment:

Dr. Mike Kear said...

I'm like you, I read purposefully. I want to extract all the intended meaning out of each and every word.

I've never read Don Quixote, although I have considered it for years. You might just inspire me to finally do so.

As to books you should read before you die, a few of the great ones that I have stumbled upon are Moby Dick by Herman Melville, The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck (in fact, anything by Steinbeck), The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis (and then move on to his non-fiction books), Watership Down by Richard Adams, Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

I'm currently working my way through Tolstoy's War and Peace. Very, very slowly. I also recently read Life of Pi by Yann Martel. That's a good read.