A History of Reading is an amazing book. I find myself completely engrossed in Alberto Manguel's every word. Everything from his diction to his anecdotes is so wonderfully written, and I have enjoyed reading his writing very much so far. There are a couple of quotes that have really stood out to me at this point.
The first quote that I enjoyed very much was, "'Go out and live!' my mother would say when she saw me reading, as if my silent activity contradicted her sense of what it meant to be alive" (Manguel 21). This quote appeals to me because it describes my childhood. When I was young, I would have preferred to sit inside and read about a person's adventures than to have my own. Reading made me, like Manguel, feel alive and still does to this day. I enjoy being able to connect to Manguel on such a level that only a love of reading can allow me to make.
Another part of the book that really struck me was when Manguel was discussing how some of the idioms we use today still relate to listening rather than reading them. I found it very interesting when he pointed out that we still say things like, "That doesn't sound right," when we mean, "It isn't well written" (Manguel 47). Words have the ability to be one thing and mean another. I love that we can use some words to describe something quite opposite of what the word actually means. It's quite the intriguing paradox.
Savannah,
ReplyDeleteYou probably speak (an example of using an oral term when I actually mean, "write") for the entire class when you wrote, "When I was young, I would have preferred to sit inside and read." My childhood was spent curled up with my nose stuck in a book, praying that my younger, and more active, sister would not discover my hiding place. Finding myself in a classroom of fellow readers gives me an immediate sense of community. I felt that same affinity towards Manguel from the very first chapter because he is obviously a passionate reader. It is strange than reading, a solitary activity, can so easily transform into a group exercise.