[...] Όποιος ρίχνεται με τα μούτρα στο διάβασμα και διαβάζει σχεδόν ολόκληρη την ημέρα αλλά περνά τον ενδιάμεσο χρόνο του χωρίς διόλου να στοχάζεται, χάνει με τον καιρό την ικανότητα να σκέφτεται μόνος του - όπως κάποιος που, κυκλοφορώντας μονίμως καβάλα στο άλογο, ξεχνά στο τέλος πως να βαδίζει. Τέτοια είναι, όμως, η περίπτωση ουκ ολίγων λογίων: από το πολύ διάβασμα έχουν αποβλακωθεί. [...] Όπως η πολυφαγία καταστρέφει το στομάχι και βλάπτει ολόκληρο το σώμα μας, έτσι και το πνεύμα φράζει ασφυκτικά από την υπερβολική πρόσληψη πνευματικής τροφής. [...] Στη λογοτεχνία, τα πράγματα δεν είναι διαφορετικά απ’ ότι στη ζωή. Όπου και να στρέψουμε το βλέμμα, ερχόμαστε ευθύς αντιμέτωποι με τον αδιόρθωτο όχλο της ανθρωπότητας, που ξεχύνεται λεφούσι στους δρόμους, συρρέοντας από παντού κι λερώνοντας τα πάντα, σαν τις μύγες το καλοκαίρι. Εξού και το αναρίθμητο πλήθος κακών βιβλίων, τούτο το θρασεμένο ζιζάνιο της λογοτεχνίας, που απομυζά το σιτάρι από τις θρεπτικές ουσίες και το πνίγει. Τέτοιου είδους βιβλίου ληστεύουν από το αναγνωστικό κοινό τον χρόνο, το χρήμα και την προσοχή - όλα όσα ανήκουν δικαιωματικά στα καλά βιβλία και στους ευγενείς σκοπούς τους, μιας και τα κακά βιβλία έχουν γραφτεί με μοναδική πρόθεση να αποκομίσουν κέρδη ή να αποκτήσουν δόξα. Επομένως, δεν είναι μόνο άχρηστα αλλά και σαφώς βλαβερά. Τα εννέα δέκατα της σύγχρονης λογοτεχνίας μας δεν έχουν άλλο σκοπό παρά να αποσπάσουν επιτήδεια μερικά σελίνια από τις τσέπες του βιβλιόφιλου κοινού. Συγγραφείς, εκδότες και βιβλιοκριτικοί έχουν συνωμοτήσει για την επίτευξη αυτού του στόχου. [...] Όσον αφορά τα αναγνώσματά μας, πρωταρχική σημασία έχει η τέχνη της αποχής από την ανάγνωση. Η άσκηση αυτής της τέχνης προϋποθέτει από εμάς να μην αγγίζουμε οποιοδήποτε βιβλίο απασχολεί κάθε φορά το ευρύ κοινό, μόνο και μόνο επειδή τη συγκεκριμένη εποχή τυχαίνει να κάνει πάταγο ή να επανεκδίδεται ξανά και ξανά κατά το πρώτο και τελευταίο έτος της ύπαρξής του.
Arthur Schopenhauer was born in the city of Danzig (then part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; present day Gdańsk, Poland) and was a German philosopher best known for his work The World as Will and Representation. Schopenhauer attempted to make his career as an academic by correcting and expanding Immanuel Kant's philosophy concerning the way in which we experience the world.
I'm making my way through a number of works by Arthur Schopenhauer. This particular essay counts as among my favorites. Since we are all booklovers here on Goodreads, I wanted to share my comments linked with specific quotes from the great German thinker. Here goes:
“When we read, another person thinks for us: we merely repeat his mental process.”
Lets take Ned who is interested in philosophy, specifically questions relating to epistomology, the scope and limits on how we know what we know. Instead of working things out for himself, Ned immediately spends all his time reading what other philosophers have written on the subject. And when, in turn, Ned speaks to people, he simply quotes the great philosophers rather than sharing his own thinking. This is what Schopenhauer is driving at here.
However, Schopenhauer's observation doesn't address the entire spectrum of what it means to read. For example, Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities can act as the raw material where a reader will create each city based on the power of imagination. “Diomira, a city with sixty silver domes, bronze statues of all the gods, streets paved with lead, a crystal theater, a golden cock that crows each morning on a tower.” Oh, the city we as reader can envision, including the shape of each silver dome, the number and style of those bronze statues, the theater's gleaming crystal architecture, the complexity (or elegant simplicity) of intertwining streets, all the ways a golden cock might crow.
“So it comes about that if anyone spends almost the whole day in reading, and by way of relaxation devotes the intervals to some thoughtless pastime, he gradually loses the capacity for thinking; just as the man who always rides, at last forgets how to walk.”
Not true! How many books did Anthony Burgess or Michiko Kakutani or James Wood read? Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, for sure. And reading all those books contributed to the depth of their insights, their ability to shape language and, of course, developing their own unique writing style.
“This is the case with many learned persons: they have read themselves stupid. For to occupy every spare moment in reading, and to do nothing but read, is even more paralyzing to the mind than constant manual labor, which at least allows those engaged in it to follow their own thoughts.”
I wonder how Schopenhauer would judge time spent reading in our current day where a huge swath of humanity spends the majority of their time in front of a television set and on their cell phone.
“Herodotus relates that Xerxes wept at the sight of his army, which stretched further than the eye could reach, in the thought that of all these, after a hundred years, not one would be alive. And in looking over a huge catalogue of new books, one might weep at thinking that, when ten years have passed, not one of them will be heard of.”
Ha! Sorry to say, there is great truth in Schopenhauer's observation. Take a look at a best seller list from the 1990s. How many titles do you recognize? This to say, a wise reader will devote a considerable amount of time to reading the classics.
“What can be more miserable than the lot of a reading public like this, always bound to peruse the latest works of extremely commonplace persons who write for money only, and who are therefore never few in number?”
This quote links up nicely with a Schopenhauer aphorism I'm especially fond of, where he says good books are not like bread, the fresher the better, but like wine, the more aged the better.
"...και όπως η πολυφαγία...βλάπτει ολόκληρο το σώμα μας, έτσι και το πνεύμα φράζει ασφυκτικά από την υπερβολική πρόσληψη πνευματικής τροφής. Διότι όσο περισσότερο διαβάζουμε τόσο λιγότερα ίχνη αφήνει στο πνεύμα μας το ανάγνωσμα..."
Κατά το πνεύμα του γέρο Σοπενχάουερ λοιπόν πολλές ευχές σε γνωστούς και άγνωστους φίλους για μια χρονιά με λιγότερες αλλά πιο ουσιαστικές αναγνώσεις και κυρίως για καθημερινές περιπέτειες πιο ονειρικές και από την πιο ευφάνταστη λογοτεχνία!
Με ένα κυρίως θέμα πολύ ενδιαφέρον και ενδεχομένως ανεξάντλητο, η συγκεκριμένη έκδοση των 60 σελίδων με τις μισές να αφιερώνονται στην βιογραφία του Schopenhauer μοιάζει απλώς σαν μια πρόγευση των όσων θα μπορούσε κάποιος να διαβάσει επί του ζητήματος.
If you are an avid reader I highly recommend this essay. Schopenhauer is a bit of a misanthrope, but this read is full of quotes that have left me thinking.
"When we read, another person thinks for us: we merely repeat his mental process. It is the same as the pupil, in learning to write, following with his pen the lines that have been pencilled by the teacher. Accordingly, in reading, the work of thinking is, for the greater part, done for us. This is why we are consciously relieved when we turn to reading after being occupied with our own thoughts. But, in reading, our head is, however, really only the arena of some one else’s thoughts. And so it happens that the person who reads a great deal — that is to say, almost the whole day, and recreates himself by spending the intervals in thoughtless diversion, gradually loses the ability to think for himself; just as a man who is always riding at last forgets how to walk. Such, however, is the case with many men of learning: they have read themselves stupid. For to read in every spare moment, and to read constantly, is more paralyzing to the mind than constant manual work, which, at any rate, allows one to follow one’s own thoughts."
"One can never read too little of bad, or too much of good books: bad books are intellectual poison; they destroy the mind."
"Any kind of important book should immediately be read twice, partly because one grasps the matter in its entirety the second time, and only really understands the beginning when the end is known; and partly because in reading it the second time one’s temper and mood are different, so that one gets another impression; it may be that one sees the matter in another light."
I really liked the last bit as I often reread books at different times but have never immediately reread a book.
All readers should read this for its eternal wisdom. His comments on popular literature is still relevant and his advice on non reading so true. Will come back to this again and again.
I am familiar with some of the works of Arthur Schopenhauer and when I heard deep praise for this essay, I knew I had to read it.
Reading about reading is a pleasure of mine, and I am happy to report that this essay, though brief, is full of deeply precise insights which bring to light much of what we readers deeply feel int he first place.
For example, Schopenhauer speaks about how the act of reading is merely repeating the mental process of the author. It does not necessarily engage our mind in a back and forth conversation when the act is occurring in real time. Rather we relax our mental muscles and let ourselves be gently guided by whatever we are reading. I imagine it is much like how a child may trace over an image in order to reproduce it. He goes on to explain that this is why so many of us find repose in reading after a strenuous day, we retire the faculties of our minds and submit it to what we read.
This is a double-edged sword however, for Schopenhauer goes on to mention that the person who reads voraciously is in grave danger of paralysing his mind, leaving it incapable of thinking for itself. Much like how a child used to riding a bike with stabilisers for years is unable to ride without them. This concept was interesting for me to read, since it so gracefully flies in the face of conventional understanding. The one who sees himself as an avid reader can barely see any downside to the fact, but once we realise we are simply having our minds pushed along guided rails the entire time, we are able to realise how important it is for us to withdraw from reading for short periods of time so that the knowledge can sink in and allow space for wisdom to take root.
Another interesting idea is that some books can express a positive harm over its reader. Typically we do not think of books in this way, either they provide benefit or they are seen as inapplicable or useless, and the reader is typically able to discard it in the case of the latter. But in some cases a book may contain ideas that are positively harmful to a man while he enthusiastically absorbs them. Perhaps the ideas contain instructions not applicable to his stage in life or maybe they are simply not suited to his temperament despite their overall truthfulness.
We as readers should have an extra cognitive layer with us that allows us to discern which books are which and to identify anything that may be harmful, though they may seem innocent enough.
I recommend the reading of this short work for anyone who wishes to collect and implement some very interesting insights into the art of reading. There is always something to learn about this topic no matter how much we consider ourselves veterans.
It is a very easy read and can be finished in a single sitting.
λίγα και καλά... αλλά πολύ καλά. Δεν υπάρχουν πολλά σχόλια για τέτοια συγγράμματα. Για ακόμα μια φορά ο A. Schopenhauer είναι "εδώ", στο παρόν και έχει άποψη για το διάβασμα και τα βιβλία. Και ευτυχώς που βρέθηκε στα χέρια μου, ευτυχώς που ο χρόνος μου για το διάβασμα αυτού του βιβλίου, ανασκεύαζε θέσεις και απόψεις για τη συνέχεια της βιβλιοθήκης.
Ένα απολαυστικότατο και απίστευτα επίκαιρο μπιζουδάκι! Προτείνω να βρίσκεται κάτω απο το μαξιλάρι κάθε αναγνώστη και ειδικά των αναγνωστών που συμμετέχουμε στο Goodreads :)
É um livro com ótimos pensamentos que são bem sustentados, ultrapassou o tempo dele pois serve atualmente ainda, a parte sobre best-sellers principalmente, na maioria das vezes são livros extremamente superficiais e com uma linguagem superficial, que me dói chamar a pessoa que fez aquilo de "escritor", tira o mérito que a palavra deveria ter.
Mas continuando eu tenho um comentário, a minha critica ao livro do Schopenhauer sobre escrita é que ele espera que todos escrevam bem, nessa época em que falo, com 8 bilhões de humanos vivos, já aprendi que nem todo mundo quer ter a capacidade que ele espera e presume, assim como antigamente, ele fala antigos como se tudo o que os antigos escreveram fosse bom, mas existem livros e pessoas incrivelmente medíocres(no pior sentido da palavra) que um dia se disseram escritores, apenas poucos podem fazer algo genial, não se pode colocar um cachorro que fala duas palavras em frente á intelectuais e esperar que este lhe dê uma palestra.
A história da humanidade é, em sua maior parte, o catálogo de um gabinete de coisas superficiais, Os poucos nascimentos bem sucedidos, no entanto, não devem ser procurados ali: eles continuam vivos e se encontram em toda parte do mundo, onde eles caminham em uma juventude eternamente, muito dispersos, poucos tem o privilégio de conhecer pessoas tão interessantes quanto, isso que eu falei não é um defeito, deve ser visto mais como uma adição que poderia ou não ter sido colocada.
Most of this is a useless tirade against "commonplace minds" and the garbage books (or other works) that they produce, but there are actually a couple of good ideas in here. I'm guilty of not following all of them most of the time.
1. Reading itself isn't very useful; it's just like tracing over what someone else has written. The important part is to think about and digest what we read. Only in this way does it become a part of us and something that we can actually put to use. This step is far more difficult and uncomfortable than just reading the book, and as a result I mostly avoid it. Even summarizing this short essay in my own words is fairly painful.
2. Good books should be re-read many times, and probably once immediately after the first reading. This aids in implementing idea (1), since after we have been exposed to all of the ideas in the work, we can see each constituent piece in a new light. We can therefore break down and digest the content further.
3. Buying books should not be confused with internalizing their contents. Unfortunately, >90% of textbooks I've bought probably fall into this category. Whoops 😬
The most famous writers write to appease the dumb majority.
Only the writers whose words are passed throughout the centuries have foretold something that is of value for all generations.
The poor man is restrained by poverty and need: labor occupies his thoughts, and takes the place of knowledge. But rich men who are ignorant live for their lusts only, and are like the beasts of the field; as may be seen every day: and they can also be reproached for not having used wealth and leisure for that which gives them their greatest value.
So it comes about that if anyone spends almost the whole day in reading, and by way of relaxation devotes the intervals to some thoughtless pastime, he gradually loses the capacity for thinking; just as the man who always rides, at last forgets how to walk. This is the case with many learned persons: they have read themselves stupid.
The strata of the earth preserve in rows the creatures which lived in former ages; and the array of books on the shelves of a library stores up in like manner the errors of the past and the way in which they have been exposed.
"There is for the mind no greater relaxation than reading the ancient classics. As soon as we have taken up any one of them even for only half an hour, we at once feel revived, relieved, purified, elevated, and strengthened [...]"
Preach, Schopenhauer, preach: "It is the same in literature as in life; wherever we turn, we at once encounter the incorrigible rabble of mankind, everywhere present in legions, filling and defiling everything, like flies in summer. Hence the immense number of bad books, these rank weeds of literature, which deprive the wheat of nourishment and choke it.Thus they use up all the time, money, and attention of the public which by right belong to good books and their noble aims, while they themselves are written merely for the purpose of bringing in money or for procuring posts and positions. They are, therefore, not merely useless but positively harmful. Nine-tenths of the whole of our present-day literature have no other object than to extract from the pockets of the public a few shillings. Author, publisher, and reviewer have positively conspired to bring this about." And the same applies to all the pseudo-art in mainstream culture.
This was a strange one. Might be, that I have to read more by Schopenhauer, to full ygrasp this very short novel. But one insight sticked: There are only a couple of books every 50 years, mankind produces, that are worth while and endure time. It sounds very harsh at first, and I am to young and haven't read enough to justify that theses. But it makes me think twice, when sitting infront of my computer writing my own stuff :-)
One of the things the author wrote about in this book that I feel to be correct even without having evidence for it myself yet, is that reading too much without thinking can make you dumb. Reading can give you the necessary kick when you need to "think with someone else's head", as Schopenhauer writes, but you need to make time to think about what you read and adopt it within yourself, otherwise you're just a poorly tossed salad of other people's thoughts.
كتاب جيد أهم النقاط العملية التي استخلصتها: * لا تقرأ كثيرا ليتسنى لك التفكير الحر. * فكر فيما قرأته لتستوعب. * ركز على الكلاسيكيات. * إقرأ النصوص الرئيسية.(تجنب النقد و الشروحات و الحشو) * إقرأ الكتب الجيدة مرتين. * الكتب الرديئة سم.