Importance of reading / books — an essay

Why does one read books?

Ultimately it is to understand life.

Our individual experiences are narrow.

But books give us the experiences of others,

often the wisest of their generation,

and lift us out of our narrow ruts.

 

Gradually as we go up the mountainsides,

fresh vistas come into view,

our vision extends further and further,

and a sense of proportion comes to us.

We are not overwhelmed by

our petty and transient loves and hates

and we see them what they are

hardly noticeable ripples

on the immense ocean of life.

This larger vision enables us

to see life whole and live it well.

 

This vision and sense of proportion are essential

to keep us on the right path

and steady us when storms and heavy winds

bear down on us.

 

There is a strange magic about good literature.

This magic comes to us slowly

as we make friends with good books;

and when we have begun to feel it,

we have found the key

to the wonderland of books.

They never fail us, these friends

That neither age nor change.

 

I have got more pleasure from books

than from almost anything.

There is only one other thing which is,

in its own way more magical.

And that is music.

 

Literature, art, music, science—

all make our life rich and deep;

they teach us how to live.

 

Mountains of new books continue to appear.

Many of them are boomed up for a while

and then forgotten.

The avalanche of books

that is descending on us

is very largely trash,

and it is not easy to separate

the chaff from the grain.

 

A lapse of period will sift the good

from the bad and the indifferent;

and a book that has survived the test of time

is likely to be good, to be literature.

 

It is far safer to read

the famous classics of old

that have influenced thought for so long.

With that background it is easier

to exercise a wise choice in modern literature.

 

A worthwhile book deserves time and attention.

Think of the pains

and the great deal of thinking

that the author has put behind

what he has written;

and we just rush through it,

and forget soon enough what we read.

 

A very good habit to develop is

to keep a notebook in which

we can jot down anything

that strikes us specially in a book we read.

These notes help us to remember much.