Tuesday, September 6, 2011
A History of Reading II
As this book has progressed, I have begun to find it quite thought provoking. I can hardly believe I once thought the topic a bit narrow. This book has made me realize how much I took reading for granted. For example, I never fully understood how threatening some people find reading, how subversive. To me, this illustrates the overwhelming power of reading and writing. I also enjoy feeling connected to the various readers that Manguel indroduces.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
For me, I think that since I have been reading almost my whole life it becomes second nature so it's easy to forget how important and lucky I am to be able to read and to read freely. There are so many places where reading is either censored or in some cases banned completely, and I can't even imagine what that must be like for them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the book has definitely opened up since the beginning. Not only did Manguel do a good job of talking about the history of reading and recording literature, but he also made it applicable. I feel like, maybe the whole point of this book was not necessarily just to talk about the history of reading, but also to look at why it's important. If nothing else, I'd say I've learned just how lucky I am to even have literature so readily available when there's book burnings across the world and even cultures where reading is simply not seen as a necessary or valuable tool.
ReplyDelete