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1、HowShouldOneReadaBook?Itissimpleenoughtosaythatsincebookshaveclassesfiction,biography,poetry——weshouldseparatethemandtakefromeachwhatitisrightthateachshouldgiveus.Yetfewpeopleaskfrombookswhatbookscangiveus.Mostcommonlywecometobookswithblurredanddividedminds.askingoffiction
2、thatitshallbetrue,ofpoetrythatitshallbefalse,ofbiographythatitshallbeflattering,ofhistorythatitshallenforceourownprejudices.Ifwecouldbanishallsuchpreconceptionswhenweread,thatwouldbeanadmirablebeginning.Donotdictatetoyourauthor;trytobecomehim.Behisfellow——workerandaccompli
3、ce.Ifyouhangback,andreserveandcriticizeatfirst,youarepreventingyourselffromgettingthefullestpossiblevaluefromwhatyouread.Butifyouopenyourmindaswidelyaspossible,thesignsandhintsofalmostimperceptiblefineness,fromthetwistandturnofthefirstsentences,willbringyouintothepresenceo
4、fahumanbeingunlikeanyother.Steepyourselfinthis,acquaintyourselfwiththis,andsoonyouwillfindthatyourauthorisgivingyou,orattemptingtogiveyou,somethingfarmoredefinite.Thethirty-twochaptersofanovel——ifweconsiderhowtoreadanovelfirst——areanattempttomakesomethingasformedandcontrol
5、ledasabuilding:butwordsaremoreimpalpablethanbricks;readingisalongerandmorecomplicatedprocessthanseeing.Perhapsthequickestwaytounderstandtheelementsofwhatanovelistisdoingisnottoread,buttowrite;tomakeyourownexperimentwiththedangersanddifficultiesofwords.Recall,then,someevent
6、thathasleftadistinctimpressiononyou——howatthecornerofthestreet,perhaps,youpassedtwopeopletalking.Atreeshook;anelectriclightdanced;thetoneofthetalkwascomic,butalsotragic;awholevision;anentireconceptionseemedcontainedinthatmovement.Butwhenyouattempttoreconstructitinwords,you
7、willfindthatitbreaksintoathousandconflictingimpressions.Somemustbesubdued;othersemphasized;intheprocessyouwilllose,probably,allgraspupontheemotionitself.Thenturnfromyourblurredandlitteredpagestotheopeningpagesofsomegreatnovelists——Defoe,JaneAusten,orHardy.Nowyouwillbebette
8、rabletoappreciatetheirmastery.Itisnotmerelythatweareinthepresenceofadifferentperson——Defo