Books
I love to read. One of the greatest boons of my time in Iraq has been having lots of time for it. Reading is a great activity - it passes the time, it’s enjoyable, it can be educational, and when reading a novel, I can be somewhere else for a while.
A good novel is as inviting as a cool blue pool on a hot summer’s day. Especially here, it is delightful to slip into the depths of a well-crafted story, emerging only when necessary and feeling a sense of loss when the last page comes and it’s time to climb back into reality.
I have always enjoyed re-reading novels, something that some people might find boring or a waste of time. I find it relaxing and enjoyable, like walking along a familiar path. Each new reading can bring a new message, a new interpretation. At different times in my life, some books have spoken to me in different ways. Other books seem to hold the same meaning every time.
Reading a new novel by a familiar author is also great fun, unless it’s a dud. It’s like walking on a new path in some familiar woods, one which might meander near or cross other favorite paths, or perhaps branch off from an old favorite.
I have recently undertaken a reading project that promises to be both enjoyable and educational. A friend in Virginia has started a book club utilizing Susan Wise Bauer’s book The Well Educated Mind. This book holds the promise of a classical self-education from reading literature using the classical trivium method. The trivium comprises three stages of learning: grammar (understanding), logic (analysis), and rhetoric (evaluation). Reading with this method promises to enhance a person’s understanding and recollection of books, as well as promoting critical thinking and reasoning.
Reading a book at the grammar stage is not much different from what most of us do – just finishing the book is the important thing. Using the trivium method, however, this first reading is accompanied by brief note-taking, summarizing each chapter, and coming up with one’s own titles for the chapters and the book, which summarize the basic ideas of the book. Reading at the logic stage allows the reader to go back to the book and her notes, reexamine questions that arose during the grammar stage reading, and analyze how well the book accomplishes its goals. At the rhetoric stage, the reader discusses the book with others and evaluates how it made him feel, and what he thinks about it.
The greatest thing about this book club I’ve joined is that it’s virtual as well as actual – I can participate from here as well as when I return to Virginia! Thank you Kate. I am looking forward to this new way of approaching books and reading, and to the sharing the joy of learning with others.
A good novel is as inviting as a cool blue pool on a hot summer’s day. Especially here, it is delightful to slip into the depths of a well-crafted story, emerging only when necessary and feeling a sense of loss when the last page comes and it’s time to climb back into reality.
I have always enjoyed re-reading novels, something that some people might find boring or a waste of time. I find it relaxing and enjoyable, like walking along a familiar path. Each new reading can bring a new message, a new interpretation. At different times in my life, some books have spoken to me in different ways. Other books seem to hold the same meaning every time.
Reading a new novel by a familiar author is also great fun, unless it’s a dud. It’s like walking on a new path in some familiar woods, one which might meander near or cross other favorite paths, or perhaps branch off from an old favorite.
I have recently undertaken a reading project that promises to be both enjoyable and educational. A friend in Virginia has started a book club utilizing Susan Wise Bauer’s book The Well Educated Mind. This book holds the promise of a classical self-education from reading literature using the classical trivium method. The trivium comprises three stages of learning: grammar (understanding), logic (analysis), and rhetoric (evaluation). Reading with this method promises to enhance a person’s understanding and recollection of books, as well as promoting critical thinking and reasoning.
Reading a book at the grammar stage is not much different from what most of us do – just finishing the book is the important thing. Using the trivium method, however, this first reading is accompanied by brief note-taking, summarizing each chapter, and coming up with one’s own titles for the chapters and the book, which summarize the basic ideas of the book. Reading at the logic stage allows the reader to go back to the book and her notes, reexamine questions that arose during the grammar stage reading, and analyze how well the book accomplishes its goals. At the rhetoric stage, the reader discusses the book with others and evaluates how it made him feel, and what he thinks about it.
The greatest thing about this book club I’ve joined is that it’s virtual as well as actual – I can participate from here as well as when I return to Virginia! Thank you Kate. I am looking forward to this new way of approaching books and reading, and to the sharing the joy of learning with others.
posted by Greg at 12/18/2004 10:52:00 AM
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