How to Read and Why

1. Reading cultivates individual judgment and prepares for change.

It matters, if individuals are to retain any capacity to form their own judgments and opinions, that they continue to read for themselves.

Independent thought. Reading empowers individuals to form their own opinions, rather than passively accepting information. This is crucial for navigating a world of endless information and conflicting viewpoints. Reading fosters critical thinking and the ability to discern truth from falsehood.

Preparation for change. Reading exposes us to diverse perspectives and experiences, preparing us for the inevitable changes in life. It allows us to consider different possibilities and adapt to new situations with greater resilience. The ultimate change, death, is also confronted through literature, offering solace and perspective.

Solitary practice. Reading is a solitary activity that allows for deep reflection and personal growth. It is a way to engage with ideas and emotions without external distractions, fostering a deeper understanding of oneself and the world.

2. Reading strengthens the self and reveals authentic interests.

Ultimately we read-as Bacon, Johnson, and Emerson agree-in order to strengthen the self, and to learn its authentic interests.

Self-discovery. Reading helps us understand our own values, beliefs, and desires. By encountering different characters and situations, we can explore our own reactions and gain insight into our inner selves. This process of self-discovery is essential for living a fulfilling and meaningful life.

Finding what resonates:

• Identify authors and works that speak to you on a personal level
• Explore different genres and styles to broaden your horizons
• Reflect on how books make you feel and what they teach you about yourself

Aesthetic pleasure. The pleasures of reading are inherently selfish, focusing on personal growth and understanding. This is not a negative thing, as self-improvement can lead to greater empathy and compassion for others.

3. Clear your mind of cant and academic ideology.

Clear your mind of cant.

Academic cant. The author urges readers to free themselves from academic jargon and ideological biases. This allows for a more direct and authentic engagement with literature, unburdened by preconceived notions or agendas.

Independent thinking:

• Question established interpretations and critical theories
• Form your own judgments based on your personal experience of the text
• Avoid reducing literature to political or social commentary

Focus on the text. By clearing your mind of cant, you can focus on the language, characters, and themes of the work itself. This allows for a deeper appreciation of the author's artistry and a more meaningful connection to the story.

4. Reading is a selfish pleasure, not a social obligation.

The pleasures of reading indeed are selfish rather than social.

Personal growth. The primary benefit of reading is self-improvement, not social betterment. Reading should be pursued for its own sake, not as a means to an end.

Rejecting social pressure:

• Resist the urge to read what others tell you to read
• Choose books that genuinely interest you, regardless of their popularity or critical acclaim
• Avoid feeling guilty for not reading "important" or "challenging" works

Solitary enjoyment. Reading is a solitary activity that should be savored for its personal rewards. It is a time for introspection, reflection, and the cultivation of one's own inner world.

5. Irony is essential for critical thinking and literary appreciation.

Since ideology, particularly in its shallower versions, is peculiarly destructive of the capacity to apprehend and appreciate irony, I suggest that the recovery of the ironic might be our fifth principle for the restoration of reading.

Loss of irony. The author laments the decline of irony in contemporary culture, arguing that it is essential for critical thinking and literary appreciation. Without irony, reading loses its discipline and surprise.

Cultivating irony:

• Seek out works that employ irony in subtle and complex ways
• Practice identifying different types of irony (e.g., verbal, situational, dramatic)
• Be open to multiple interpretations and perspectives

Irony and ideology. Ideology can be particularly destructive of the capacity to apprehend and appreciate irony. By clearing your mind of cant, you can better appreciate the nuances and complexities of literary works.

6. Great literature mirrors life and heals delirious ecstasies.

This, therefore, is the praise of Shakespeare, that his drama is the mirror of life; that he who has mazed his imagination in following the phantoms which other writers raise up before him may here be cured of his delirious ecstasies by reading human sentiments in human language.

Shakespeare's mirror. Shakespeare's plays reflect the complexities of human experience, offering insights into our emotions, motivations, and relationships. Reading Shakespeare can help us understand ourselves and the world around us better.

Curing delirious ecstasies:

• Approach literature with an open mind and a willingness to learn
• Avoid imposing your own preconceived notions or biases on the text
• Allow the work to challenge your assumptions and expand your understanding

Human sentiments. By reading human sentiments in human language, we can be cured of our "delirious ecstasies" and gain a more grounded and realistic perspective on life.

7. Short stories offer pleasures of closure and insights into isolated individuals.

Short stories are not parables or wise sayings, and so cannot be fragments; we ask them for the pleasures of closure.

Closure and isolation. Unlike novels, short stories provide a sense of closure in a concise format. They often focus on isolated individuals, offering insights into the human condition.

Modern masters:

• Turgenev, Chekhov, Maupassant, Hemingway
• Joyce, Lawrence, Babel, Borges, Nabokov, Mann, Welty, O'Connor, Landolfi, Calvino

Reading short stories. Short stories demand active engagement from the reader, requiring them to discern explanations and fill in gaps. They offer a unique form of literary pleasure that is both intimate and profound.

8. Chekhov's stories reveal tragic humor in banality.

It seems to me that in the presence of [Chekhov], everyone felt an unconscious desire to be simpler, more truthful, more himself.

Shakespearean inwardness. Chekhov's stories possess a Shakespearean inwardness, exploring the unlived life with formal delicacy and somber reflectiveness. His characters' actions, conversations, and meditations are sufficient, requiring no explanations from the author.

Tragic humor:

• "The Kiss": Explores the torment of unrequited love and the incoherence of life
• "The Student": A dark lyric about suffering and change, finding joy in the face of misery
• "The Lady with the Dog": A laconic tale of adultery, universal in its banality and tragic joy

Truth and despair. Chekhov's gospel is that you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you despair, except that this gloomy genius insists upon being cheerful. His stories offer a unique blend of tragic humor and profound insight into the human condition.

9. Hemingway's style emphasizes extraordinary reality and emotional impact.

[Hemingway is] "the most significant of living poets, so far as the subject of extraordinary reality is concerned."

Consciousness over imagination. Hemingway's short stories are characterized by a poetic realm in which consciousness takes the place of imagination. His style is economical, direct, and emotionally resonant.

Masterpieces of brevity:

• "Hills Like White Elephants": A dialogue-driven sketch about a couple facing an abortion decision
• "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen": A rancid and brilliant conversation between two physicians on Christmas Day
• "The Snows of Kilimanjaro": A dying writer's meditation on failure and loss

Irony and self-acceptance. Hemingway's stories often feature a subtle irony and a nuanced self-acceptance. His characters grapple with difficult choices and face the consequences of their actions with stoicism and grace.

10. O'Connor's grotesque art shocks into moral imagination.

Trust the tale, not the teller.

Southern Gothic. Flannery O'Connor's stories blend Southern Gothic elements with severe Roman Catholicism, creating a unique and unsettling vision of the South. Her characters are often grotesque and violent, serving as instruments of Catholic grace.

The damned:

• O'Connor's stories are populated by the damned, a category in which she cheerfully includes most of her readers
• Her tales are designed to shock us into a need for traditional faith
• Her comic genius and propulsive gusto make her stories both entertaining and disturbing

Moral imagination. O'Connor's best tales enforce no moral except an awakened moral imagination. Her stories challenge our assumptions and force us to confront uncomfortable truths about ourselves and the world.

11. Nabokov's aestheticism plays with spiritualism and literary allusion.

I could isolate, consciously, little. Everything seemed blurred, yellow-clouded, yielding nothing tangible. Her inept acrostics, maudlin evasions, theopathies-every recollection formed ripples of mysterious meaning. Everything seemed yellowly blurred, illusive, lost.

Baroque textures. Nabokov's stories are characterized by their baroquely rich textures and self-conscious artifice. He often employs literary allusions and plays with spiritualism.

"The Vane Sisters":

• A ghost story that explores the themes of memory, loss, and the afterlife
• Features a finicky aesthete narrator and two charmingly mischievous ghosts
• Overcomes skepticism with the curious charm of the Vane sisters

Whimsical ghosts. Nabokov's ghosts are persuasive precisely because they are so uninsistent upon persuasion. His stories offer a unique blend of aestheticism and whimsy.

12. Borges's fictions explore the nature of reality and the power of imagination.

What greater glory for a God, than to be absolved of the world?

Self-conscious artifices. Borges's fictions insist always upon their self-conscious status as artifices. His stories are haunted by a plethora of literary voices, forerunners.

"Tlon, Ugbar, Orbis Tertius":

• A sublimely outrageous story that seduces the reader into finding the incredible credible
• Explores the power of imagination to shape reality
• Warns against the dangers of symmetry and systems with an appearance of order

Benign labyrinths. Borges's fictions are benign labyrinths, destined to be deciphered by men. His stories offer a unique blend of intellectual stimulation and imaginative delight.

Last updated: April 9, 2025