Alright, enough negativity, there were several things in the book that I liked. The first however wasn't from Ms. Fadiman. It is her quote of Virginia Woolf on page X of the preface. She says "The common reader differs from the from the critic or scholar. He is worse educated, and nature has not gifted him so generously. He reads for his own pleasure rather than to impart knowledge or correct the opinions of others. Above all he is guided by an instinct to create for himself, out of whatever odds and ends he can come by, some kind of whole. This last part is the nugget. It is a true representation of the intelligent but uneducated common man. I have been one of these readers for twelve years, since I dropped out of high-school in fact.
Coincidently I quit high-school during an English class, the only class I still needed to graduate. One credit. We were studying the russian authors and the teacher and I had a disagreement on the relative value of the lesson plan. Also our discussion touched on the topics of personal character and general hygiene. I "discovered the door" and an ongoing desire to continue my own education.
I have been a reader ever since. I devour books at an alarming, (my wife says irritating), pace. For instance here is the list of books I have read since I was injured on Oct. 25th 2007. (I had to go back down to the public library and find some of these so I could remember the exact names and authors)
Non-Fiction:
Flushed
-W. Hodding Carter
The Battle for God
A History of God
-Karen Armstrong
God: A Biography
-Jack Miles
The Gnostic Gospels
The Origins of Satan
-Elaine Pagels
Evil: A Primer
-William Hart
Letter to a Christian Nation
-Sam Harris
Under the Banner of Heaven
-Jon Krakour
Mere Christianity (Reread)
Prince Caspian (reread to my sons)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (reread to my sons)
-C.S. Lewis
A Room of One's Own
-Virginia Woolf
The Story of Philosophy
-Will Durant
From Plato To Nietzsche (I only read part of this)
-Walter Kaufman & Forrest E. Baird
Closing the Ring
-Winstons Churchill
Jimmy Stewart: A Biography
-Elliot Mare
Beowulf (From a collection of mythology)
-Seamus Heany (Translation)
Fiction:
The Good Shepherd
-C.S. Forester
Gulliver's Travels (reread to my sons)
-Jonathan Swift
She
King Soloman's Mine
-H. Rider Haggard
Bloodring
Seraphs
Host
-Faith Hunter
Dragonwing
Elven Star
Fire Sea
Serpent Mage
The Hand of Chaos
Into the Labyrinth
The Seventh Gate
-Margret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Fire Logic
Earth Logic
Water Logic
-Laurie J. Marks
The Face of Apollo
The Arms of Hercules
Ariadne's Web
God of the Golden Fleece
Gods of Fire and Thunder
-Fred Saberhagen
Assassin's Apprentice
Royal Assassin
Assassin's Quest
-Robin Hobb
I grant that all the fiction is not of the highest caliber, but I was hurt and sometimes I just want a book I can escape into. Especially when I'm recovering from surgery in a small house with two young boys and a slightly shrewish wife who resents inactivity. But the great thing about choosing my own reading list is that I don't have to justify it to anyone, not even the Federal Government. I found out our public library doesn't keep track of the books I check out, much to my chagrin, so they can't be forced to produce them in response to the Patriot-Act.
So I have learned to educate myself. Exactly like Ms. Woolf says of the common reader.
The second part of Ex Lebris that I think has merit is the small scene in "Scorn Not The Sonnet" in which the father and daughter, while trying to remember the lines to the sonnet are brought closer together. When I consider how my light is spent...
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