Chapter 2 reading should be a pleasure

As the saying goes, "Misfortune comes from the mouth".When I mentioned in "Summary" that I was often asked by young people what books to read, I did not realize the impact of my answers.Then I got letters from various readers asking what kind of advice I had given.I try my best to answer by letter, but it is impossible to express my thoughts in a short letter.There are so many readers with such needs, so I thought, simply write those book selection suggestions that I have summed up based on experience, to help readers enjoy reading and benefit from it. First of all, I want to emphasize that reading should be a kind of enjoyment.Of course, sometimes, there are many books that people have to read in order to pass an exam, or to obtain information.However, such books are read for education, not for enjoyment, and at best we hope to read them without feeling bored.Read these books out of necessity, not for pleasure.But that's not the "reading" I'm talking about.The books which follow will neither help you get a degree nor teach you how to earn a living, teach you how to steer a ship, nor tell you how to fix a broken engine, but if you can really Enjoy these books, they will enrich your life.

The "you" I mean are adults who have spare time and are willing to read good books that would be a loss to miss.Bookworms are not part of "you" because they are driven by curiosity and find great satisfaction in finding out by themselves off-the-beaten-track paths and discovering good books that have long been neglected.What I want to talk about here are real masterpieces, recognized as the best since ancient times.Each of us should read these books, but unfortunately, very few people really do.But there are also masterpieces whose worth has been affirmed by all the best critics and given a place in the history of literature.They are important classics for students, but for ordinary people, they are really boring to read.Times have changed, and reading tastes have changed, and these masterpieces are no longer as gripping as they used to be, and today, unless the mind is very determined, the average reader finds them too much to swallow.For example, I read George Eliot's "Adam Bede", and I cannot tell you against my will that I read it with joy.I read this book mainly out of a sense of responsibility, yet I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when I finished.

I have nothing to say about this type of book.Everyone has their own standards of appreciation.Whatever the pedants may say about a book, even if they praise it in unison, it is in vain if it does not really interest you.Don't forget that critics make mistakes from time to time. In the history of literary criticism, there are many obvious fallacies that come from the mouths of famous critics.Only you know how much the book you are reading means to you.The same applies to the books I'm about to recommend to you. Everyone's views will not be exactly the same as everyone else's, but at most they will be somewhat similar.It would be quite unreasonable to think that some books that mean a lot to me should mean exactly the same to you.

Though I have benefited greatly from reading these books, and I would not be where I am if I had not read them; yet I beg you, if after reading them you find them unpalatable, put them aside Go ahead, because reading them is useless unless you can actually enjoy them.Nobody is obligated to read poetry, novels, or anything else that could be classified as belles-letter (I would have liked to find a better word, but I'm afraid that's all I can think of).One must read for pleasure, but who can guarantee that what pleases one will please another! Don't think the pursuit of fun is immoral.All pleasures are good in themselves, but the pursuit of pleasures will have some negative consequences, so wise people abstain from certain pleasures; not because pleasures are boring, they only stay at the level of sensory enjoyment.The real wise men of an era are those who find that acquiring knowledge is the greatest and longest-lasting satisfaction.Cultivate the habit of reading, people benefit endlessly.There are few sports that satisfy a man well past his prime.

With the exception of solitaire, chess, and crosswords, there is no game that does not require a playmate.Reading has no such disadvantages.First of all, reading is very free, it will not interfere with other things you do (except needlework, but your restless mind is free at that time), you can hold a book anytime, anywhere, and do other important things , and can put it down at any time.Secondly, in this happy age, with public libraries and cheap popular books, reading has become a convenient and simple thing.To form the habit of reading is to build a refuge for yourself.Of course, reading a book won't make you hungry or assuage the pangs of a broken relationship, but having a half-dozen good detective stories close at hand and a hot water bottle in your arms can make you forget the pain of a bad cold.But who can develop the habit of reading for reading's sake, if he is forced to read boring books?

It might be more convenient to arrange the books I'm going to recommend next in chronological order, but I don't think you should read them in that order.I think it's better to read as you like, and don't just read one book at a time.As far as I am concerned, I am more in favor of reading four or five books together. After all, tomorrow's reading mood will be different from today's, and you will not be willing to read a book all day.These are issues that should be considered, so I chose the reading program that suits me best.Before work in the morning, I like to read some scientific or philosophical books, because my mind is clearest at this time.Then a new day begins.Then, when I'm done with work and don't want to bother mentally with some indomitable character, I read history, essays, reviews, or biographies.In the evening I read novels.Besides, I always have a volume of poetry close at hand, which I take out whenever I feel the mood for poetry.I always have a book next to my bed that I can start reading from any paragraph and stop at any paragraph without affecting my mood.Oh, what a rare book this is!