Comments on: Reading Classic Literature http://www.thummy.com/roodee/2006/09/28/reading-classic-literature/ My Wrong Opinions.. Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:56:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Sylvia http://www.thummy.com/roodee/2006/09/28/reading-classic-literature/#comment-24 Sylvia Sun, 01 Oct 2006 21:10:32 +0000 http://www.thummy.com/roodee/?p=52#comment-24 Hi! I got here via Jessica. I couldn't agree more with what you wrote. Well said. Hi! I got here via Jessica. I couldn’t agree more with what you wrote. Well said.

]]> By: Jessica (Trivium Academy) http://www.thummy.com/roodee/2006/09/28/reading-classic-literature/#comment-23 Jessica (Trivium Academy) Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:11:30 +0000 http://www.thummy.com/roodee/?p=52#comment-23 The reading of all good books is indeed like a conversation with the noblest men of past centuries who were the authors of them, nay a carefully studied conversation, in which they reveal to us none but the best of their thoughts. Rene Descartes Arguments, propositions, points of view are to be carefully studied and considered. Each book you read changes you, even if you don't think it does. Knowing what the author is saying, where he is coming from and what ends he wishes to reach - as well as how he wants to influence you, is the mark of a demanding reader. Too often we want the "easy" answer and tend to adopt an author's ideas before exploring them further for ourselves. Ask anyone if they know Aristotle or Plato, the key question is, "how do you agree or disagree with Aristotle or Plato?" I don't know many how can answer the "whys and hows" of their reading, only the "who". Reading chronologically helps to develop a better sense of how the world came to be as we know it today. The crutch of this is that we apply our "modern" beliefs, attitudes, society, etc. to the worlds that existed before ours. What is truly ironic is that when reading about cultures past, we tend to have a judgmental eye to what we agree with and don't based on our current realities. Our current realities wouldn't exist if not for the culture, history and times that we are reading about! How that for a smorgasboard of thought? Jessica The reading of all good books is indeed like a conversation with the noblest men of past centuries who were the authors of them, nay a carefully studied conversation, in which they reveal to us none but the best of their thoughts.

Rene Descartes

Arguments, propositions, points of view are to be carefully studied and considered. Each book you read changes you, even if you don’t think it does. Knowing what the author is saying, where he is coming from and what ends he wishes to reach - as well as how he wants to influence you, is the mark of a demanding reader.

Too often we want the “easy” answer and tend to adopt an author’s ideas before exploring them further for ourselves. Ask anyone if they know Aristotle or Plato, the key question is, “how do you agree or disagree with Aristotle or Plato?” I don’t know many how can answer the “whys and hows” of their reading, only the “who”.

Reading chronologically helps to develop a better sense of how the world came to be as we know it today. The crutch of this is that we apply our “modern” beliefs, attitudes, society, etc. to the worlds that existed before ours. What is truly ironic is that when reading about cultures past, we tend to have a judgmental eye to what we agree with and don’t based on our current realities. Our current realities wouldn’t exist if not for the culture, history and times that we are reading about!

How that for a smorgasboard of thought?
Jessica

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