On the Art of Reading Well

     Greetings Reader! I am indeed fortunate if you have, for a third time, stumbled onto my writing. I am very grateful for your presence and delighted to have made your acquaintance. Or rather, I am glad that you have made mine, for I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting you. If you would like to introduce yourself, please do so in the comments. :) And now, let the reading commence. Actually, let it continue.

    

    Today, Reader, I will be writing about reading. And you will be reading about reading. I do so hope you enjoy it. 

    I used to be of the opinion that any book I was ever forced to read, for school or other reasons, would automatically be distasteful to me. However, after many battles with myself, I find that this is no longer true. I have recently enjoyed many writings which I was forced to read. Most of those I did not expect to like at all. I believe that the key to having fun with reading things you would not choose is an open mind. 

    Last year, for my sophomore year of high school, I was required to read speeches of several Great American Leaders. I expected them to be outdated and boring. But those men knew how to write. They held an audience. They interested me, a person who is not a particular fan of nonfiction, let alone speeches from the American Revolution. 

    I think a well-worded quote about this comes from C. S. Lewis. He says:

    "The first demand any work of any art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way. (There is no good asking first whether the work before you deserves such a surrender, for until you have surrendered you cannot possibly find out.)”

    I particularly love this quote because it reminds us that our expectations often guide what we see. When we begin a book thinking that it will be dull and not applicable to us, that is what we find. However, when we abandon our expectations and just let the work be what it is, we find many things we never would have otherwise seen. 

    This is not to say that you will always enjoy everything you are assigned to read. But using this method of reading allows you to get at least something out of everything. The something need not be very big. A clever expression, a new word, or an admirable standard: all these can be found as long as one takes the time to look. 

    

    Thank you for stopping by again! Let me know your opinion on the books you read in high school in the comments if you feel so led. I will see you next time, and until then, read boldly, and let the books speak for themselves (goodness knows they have enough words for it).

*Notice: The quote in this post comes from C.S. Lewis’ The Reading Life. I completely recommend. It will make you want to map your own books as he does his. :)

*Disclaimer: All thoughts, opinions, and jokes are the property of Thea Knightley. She is endorsed by no one and does not pretend to be. All content is created for the enjoyment of Thea herself and other likeminded individuals.