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1、TheCommonReaderHOWSHOULDONEREADABOOK?VirginiaWoolfInthefirstplace,Iwanttoemphasizethenoteofinterrogationattheendofmytitle.EvenifIcouldanswerthequestionformyself,theanswerwouldapplyonlytomeandnottoyou.Theonlyadvice,indeed,thatonepersoncangiveanotheraboutreadingistotakenoadvice,tofollowyourowni
2、nstincts,touseyourownreason,tocometoyourownconclusions.Ifthisisagreedbetweenus,thenIfeelatlibertytoputforwardafewideasandsuggestionsbecauseyouwillnotallowthemtofetterthatindependencewhichisthemostimportantqualitythatareadercanpossess.Afterall,whatlawscanbelaiddownaboutbooks?ThebattleofWaterlo
3、owascertainlyfoughtonacertainday;butisHamletabetterplaythanLear?Nobodycansay.Eachmustdecidethatquestionforhimself.Toadmitauthorities,howeverheavilyfurredandgowned,intoourlibrariesandletthemtellushowtoread,whattoread,whatvaluetoplaceuponwhatweread,istodestroythespiritoffreedomwhichisthebreatho
4、fthosesanctuaries.Everywhereelsewemaybeboundbylawsandconventions--therewehavenone.Buttoenjoyfreedom,iftheplatitudeispardonable,wehaveofcoursetocontrolourselves.Wemustnotsquanderourpowers,helplesslyandignorantly,squirtinghalfthehouseinordertowaterasinglerose-bush;wemusttrainthem,exactlyandpowe
5、rfully,hereontheveryspot.This,itmaybe,isoneofthefirstdifficultiesthatfacesusinalibrary.Whatis"theveryspot"?Theremaywellseemtobenothingbutaconglomerationandhuddleofconfusion.Poemsandnovels,historiesandmemoirs,dictionariesandblue-books;bookswritteninalllanguagesbymenandwomenofalltempers,races,a
6、ndagesjostleeachotherontheshelf.Andoutsidethedonkeybrays,thewomengossipatthepump,thecoltsgallopacrossthefields.Wherearewetobegin?Howarewetobringorderintothismultitudinouschaosandsogetthedeepestandwidestpleasurefromwhatweread?Itissimpleenoughtosaythatsincebookshaveclasses--fiction,biography,po
7、etry--weshouldseparatethemandtakefromeachwhatitisrightthateachshouldgiveus.Yetfewpeopleaskfrombookswhatbookscangiveus.Mostcommonlywecometobookswithblurredanddividedminds,askingoffictionthatitshallbetrue,ofpoetrythatitshallbefalse,ofbiographyt