I wrote a comment earlier but I don't see it. Growing up there was not a single book in the house. my thirst for knowledge and reading was so great that I could hardly wait to start school so I could have access to books. I even pleaded with the School Board to start school earlier( then, you started school at age 6) but to no avail. My books are my treasured possessions. They have been there in times of great needs. Angels in disguise, if you wish. Thank you for sharing!
My Dad took pleasure in reading to me at an early age--Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer--and would give the characters different voices. This was magical and I desperately wanted to know how to read in order to duplicate that. "There is no friend as loyal as a book". ~~E. Hemmingway
As a child, comic books were what I devoured. Not just 'Batman' and that genre, but some called 'Classics Illustrated' which, IIRC, were a tad more highbrow. I'd regularly piss off my Mom by reading these at the dinner table. To this day, all my meals (if alone) include something to read.
And the reader always has the option to read, reread and even re-reread what’s written to glean further insight into what’s said. It’s the present moment frozen in time.
I completely agree with you Thomas. I am often surprised by how much pleasure I derive from rereads. I enjoy poetry and would say that for most poetry it is only after a number of reads I gain an understanding of what the poem / poet means to me.
I like the quote ''A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies'' and this one also ''Yo can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me''.
I agree and the Hassam painting reminded me of breakthrough reading on summer on a porch swing on vacation. I was 12, an early reader anyway, but that summer I advanced beyond where I'd been.
Good on ya for mentioning Montaigne. Those French philosophers who lived during tumultuous violent times seem to have derived a level of insight & wisdom that we’re gonna need before long here in Los Estados DesUnindos. We all need to read Montaigne’s Essays and Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Camus & Simone de Beauvoir.
Immersion in a world created by another person is consistently fascinating and frequently highly pleasurable. I enjoy the bookshop experience, the reading that I could do, but also appreciate looking at my own shelves to remind myself as to what I have read and to consider what I might reread.
Poetic Outlaws - another wonderful piece of writing. I would love to go to Shakespeare & Co.
I wrote a comment earlier but I don't see it. Growing up there was not a single book in the house. my thirst for knowledge and reading was so great that I could hardly wait to start school so I could have access to books. I even pleaded with the School Board to start school earlier( then, you started school at age 6) but to no avail. My books are my treasured possessions. They have been there in times of great needs. Angels in disguise, if you wish. Thank you for sharing!
My Dad took pleasure in reading to me at an early age--Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer--and would give the characters different voices. This was magical and I desperately wanted to know how to read in order to duplicate that. "There is no friend as loyal as a book". ~~E. Hemmingway
I agree with E. Hemmingway. You were very fortunate to have a father such as yours.
Wow, that's amazing, a big shout-out to your Dad.
My Dad read my older bro Matt and I The Odyssey one summer on the back deck. I've read it 2-3 times since...
As a child, comic books were what I devoured. Not just 'Batman' and that genre, but some called 'Classics Illustrated' which, IIRC, were a tad more highbrow. I'd regularly piss off my Mom by reading these at the dinner table. To this day, all my meals (if alone) include something to read.
I’m going to incorporate this ‘reading something at meals” into my program.
And the reader always has the option to read, reread and even re-reread what’s written to glean further insight into what’s said. It’s the present moment frozen in time.
I completely agree with you Thomas. I am often surprised by how much pleasure I derive from rereads. I enjoy poetry and would say that for most poetry it is only after a number of reads I gain an understanding of what the poem / poet means to me.
I like the quote ''A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies'' and this one also ''Yo can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me''.
'' Reading books is the most glorious pastime that humankind has yet devised''. I agree!
I agree and the Hassam painting reminded me of breakthrough reading on summer on a porch swing on vacation. I was 12, an early reader anyway, but that summer I advanced beyond where I'd been.
Good on ya for mentioning Montaigne. Those French philosophers who lived during tumultuous violent times seem to have derived a level of insight & wisdom that we’re gonna need before long here in Los Estados DesUnindos. We all need to read Montaigne’s Essays and Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Camus & Simone de Beauvoir.
eloquent and urgently necessary in an age of Iron like ours.
Immersion in a world created by another person is consistently fascinating and frequently highly pleasurable. I enjoy the bookshop experience, the reading that I could do, but also appreciate looking at my own shelves to remind myself as to what I have read and to consider what I might reread.
Poetic Outlaws - another wonderful piece of writing. I would love to go to Shakespeare & Co.
There's no substitute for knowledge and reading is one of the best—if not the best way—to acquire knowledge.
"He’s permitted to read intelligent books, from which he will benefit, as well as stupid ones, from which he may also learn something."
This 📌😆😂.
Mom and grandma started me on the King James Bible at 3.
I wholly agree.
I love all Szymborska!
It is glorious but it deserves a higher attribute than “pastime.” We must thank the Greek civilization.