Rambles

Articles and Speeches

Books I've Read

Robert A Heinlein

Georgette Heyer

Rudyard Kipling

C S Lewis

Robert Anton Wilson

Reading is another way of traveling and wondering. We can go far beyond our physical and fiscal capabilities when we read. I can remember as a child hiding while I read a book so I wouldn't have to go outside and play. I can remember finishing a book and having a sense of disorientation as I looked up and had to get back into the real world. You can use reading as a way to escape from the real world, which is not all bad, as long as you don't escape completely, and as a way to find the world.

I enjoy movies and television also, but I find that I don't use my imagination as much with them as with reading. When I see a character in a movie, I just see him. He's there and I can't change him. When I read about a character I can envision them to be whatever seems right at the time. Once I've envisioned a character in a book they seem to stay pretty much the same, but if I had read the book at a different time, I think it might have been different. Movies tell us what the person looks like, but books can only give a superficial description without going into mind numbing detail, and we, the readers, get to fill in the spaces.

Reading opens our minds to new ideas. It's very difficult to read and not get new ideas in your mind. I think that John D Mcdonald said it best in his essay "Reading for Survival" . I have evolving positions on a variety of subjects as I read different views of the subject and slowly integrate them in my mind. I don't think you can truly read with an open mind and not change your views. Sometimes it will be just a minor adjustment or a better understanding, but other times it will turn what you thought upside down.

Lest you all get the idea that I only read SERIOUS books, I read all kinds of books: mysteries, science fiction, good old bodice ripping romances, biographies, history, theology, and more. This is the reason that I am strongly in favor of public libraries. I like to get a stack of books then start going through them. Some I like, some I don't. Some I finish, but many I just put aside. I couldn't afford to do this if I had to buy all the books I read. This way I don't just read things that I FEEL THAT I SHOULD or that I think I would like. This way I read things that just catch my eye, or on a subject that might be interesting and such like.

But the main reason I read is because it teaches me to have a sense of wonder, so, may you have Good Reading and Comfortable Chairs to do it in.

This Avid Reader Web Ring site is owned by Rachel Aschmann . [ Prev | Skip It | Next 5 | Random | Next ] [ Join | Skip Next | List Sites in Ring ]

	This Readers Ring site is owned by Rachel Aschmann Want to join the ring? Get the info here The Readers Ring Page
[ Prev 5 ] [ Prev ] [ Next ] [ Next 5 ] [ Random ] [ List Sites ]