Reading is one of the things that many people hold in common. In Thoreau’s book Walden he writes a chapter on reading. He starts out by saying that all people are students and observers. Their destinies and nature are all alike. Thoreau seems to think that his residence of reading is more favorable to anyone else because he does “serious” reading more than that of a university. While he was writing Walden he read “one or two shallow books of travel.” This made him ashamed of his work and he started to question where exactly was he living and what was he living for.
Thoreau says that “to read well, that is, to read true books in a true spirit, is a noble exercise, and one that will task the reader more than any exercise which the customs of day esteem. He says that the classics that were written in Greek or Latin are the most noble things to read, such as the Iliad. “Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations of nations.” Through reading these kinds of books we understand more about our culture, genius learning, paintings, statuary, music, and philosophical instruments. According to Thoreau “New England can hire all the wise men in the world to come and teach and broaden their views of the world.” This is the kind of “uncommon” school that Thoreau wants.
For me on the other hand reading is an experience like no other. Right now I am in the middle of reading Tami Hoag’s Guilty as Sin. I don’t why this book is so intriguing. Maybe it is because of all the plot twists, the evil lurking in the shadows, or the curiosity of who the cold-blooded kidnapper is. Interesting enough through the pages of this mystery novel one of the main characters, who is writing about the case states that his writing is “no more so than picking up a Stephen King novel or Agatha Christie mystery. To that reader my book is just a story, something to get lost in and ponder; all the more interesting because it happened.” This is how I look at reading a way to escape the normal world and to dive into something that is larger than yourself. Thoreau’s observations are respected, but many find it hard to live up to the ideal that Henry David Thoreau has put into place.
