ToMartaBook
佚名/Anonymous
Youknowyouhavetoread「betweenthelines」togetthemostoutofanything.Iwanttopersuadeyoutodosomethingequallyimportantinthecourseofyourreading.Iwanttopersuadeyouto「writebetweenthelines」.Unlessyoudo,youarenotlikelytodothemostefficientkindofreading.
Icontend,quitebluntly,thatmarkingupabookisnotanactofmutilationbutoflove.
Therearetwowaysinwhichonecanownabook.Thefirstisthepropertyrightyouestablishbypayingforit,justasyoupayforclothesandfurniture.Butthisactofpurchaseisonlythepreludetopossession.Fullownershipcomesonlywhenyouhavemadeitapartofyourself,andthebestwaytomakeyourselfapartofitisbywritinginit.Anillustrationmaymakethepointclear.Youbuyabeefsteakandtransferitfromthebutcher』siceboxtoyourown.Butyoudonotownthebeefsteakinthemostimportantsenseuntilyouconsumeitandgetitintoyourbloodstream.Iamarguingthatbooks,too,mustbeabsorbedinyourbloodstreamtodoyouanygood.
Therearethreekindsofbookowners.Thefirsthasallthestandardsetsandbest-sellers-unread,untouched.(Thisdeludedindividualownswood,pulpandink,notbooks.)Thesecondhasagreatmanybooks—afewofthemreadthrough,mostofthemdippedinto,butallofthemascleanandshinyasthedaytheywerebought.(Thispersonwouldprobablyliketomakebookshisown,butisrestrainedbyafalserespectfortheirphysicalappearance.)Thethirdhasafewbooksormany—everyoneofthemdogearedanddilapidated,shakenandloosenedbycontinualuse,markedandscribbledinfromfronttoback.Thismanownsbooks.
Whyismarkingupabookindispensabletoreadingit?First,itkeepsyouawake.AndIdon』tmeanmerelyconscious;Imeanwideawake.Inthesecondplace,reading,ifitisactive,isthinking,andthinkinglendstoexpressitselfinwords,spokenorwritten.Themarkedbookisusuallythethought-throughbook.Finallywritinghelpsyourememberthethoughtsyouhad,orthethoughtstheauthorexpressed.
Ifreadingistoaccomplishanythingmorethanpassingtime,itmustbeactive.Youcan』tletyoureyesglideacrossthejnnsofabookandcomeupwithanunderstandingofwhatyouhaveread.Thebooksyoureadforpleasurecadbereadinastateofrelaxation,andnothingislost.Butagreatbookrichinideasandbeauty,abookthatraisesandtriestoanswergreatfundamentalquestions,demandsthemostactivereadingofwhichyouarecapable.If,whenyou』vefinishedreadingabookthepagesarefilledwithyournotes,youknowthatyoureadactively.
Butyoumayask,whyiswritingnecessary?Well,thephysicalactofwriting,withyourownhand,bringswords,andsentencesmoresharplybeforeyourmindandprotrayesthembetterinyourmemory.Tosetdownyourreactiontoimportantwordsandsentencesyouhaveread,andthequestionstheyhaveraisedinyourmind,istopreservethosereactionsandsharpenthosequestions.