{"id":9523,"date":"2016-10-06T11:49:45","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T18:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/?p=9523"},"modified":"2016-10-06T11:49:45","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T18:49:45","slug":"no-shame-in-not-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/no-shame-in-not-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"No Shame in Not Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that we understand \u201cHow to Read a Book\u201d we can learn how \u201cNot to Read a Book\u201d and still talk about it!!! What a time saver for poor, tired students! In “How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read” Pierre Bayard encourages us to learn why we strive for an image of cultural literacy. We need to come to grips with our motivation so that we can “survive the avalanche of fragments of books that threatens to engulf us..” (p. 120)<\/p>\n

Overview <\/u><\/p>\n

In spite of the opening quip, I believe that Bayard tried to convey some things about reading that were important to him. Part One \u2013 \u201cWays of Not Reading\u201d is actually in Swiftian fashion a recounting of the ways that we actually handle books. We are \u201cgiven permission\u201d to read, skim, or glance at books. The important thing is that we remain true to ourselves by looking for what we want to get out of the book. Part Two \u2013 \u201cLiterary Confrontations\u201d is very humorous, yet good advice is given when actually speaking to the author of a book, \u201c\u2026praise it without going into detail.\u201d If you can\u2019t even feel comfortable doing that then in Part Three \u2013 \u201cWays of Behaving\u201d we are invited into the realm of \u201cauthentic creativity\u201d (Bayard, p. 166). \u201cFor knowing how to speak with finesse about something with which we are unacquainted has value far beyond the realm of books\u201d (Bayard, p. 184).<\/p>\n

Bayard\u2019s purpose is to encourage students to go beyond the mere reading of books to discover their own “inner book”. Bayard’s\u00a0book was engaging and effective and I believe Bayard succeeded.<\/p>\n

Analysis<\/u><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry, Monsieur Bayard, but your book was too enjoyable and I read the whole thing!!<\/p>\n

Here are some reflections:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Page 31 \u2013 \u201c\u2026 it is only by maintaining a reasonable distance from the book that we may be able to appreciate its true meaning.\u201d This is a skill that I will need to work on. I still feel that I need to read a whole book, especially if the Professor has assigned it. Out of the thousands of books that Jason could assign, he chose this one. There\u2019s a reason and unless I am truly overwhelmed with reading I will probably still read the whole book. This part ties in with Adler\u2019s \u201cInspectional Reading\u201d. One should decide whether the book \u201ccontains matter you still want to dig out, or whether it deserves no more of your time and attention.\u201d (Adler, p. 35)<\/li>\n
  2. Page 46 \u2013 \u201c\u2026 the book is an undefined object that we can discuss only in imprecise terms, and object forever buffeted by our fantasies and illusions.\u201d\u00a0 While I am sure that there are many who consider the Bible to be a collection of myths, I don\u2019t. And I believe that we can discuss God\u2019s Word relying on its truth. I understand the gist of what Bayard is trying to say, but it doesn\u2019t apply to every book.<\/li>\n
  3. Page 82 \u2013 The \u201cinner book\u201d, an imaginary book, acts as a filter to us for what we may read. I think this point is really important. We all come to any book that we read with a set of presuppositions that were formed during our lives. Past experiences will influence what we remember or don\u2019t remember when we read.<\/li>\n
  4. Pages 109,110 \u2013There were serious undertones in this otherwise witty book. Several times throughout Bayard\u2019s book the importance of humility comes through. Though Bayard is humorous and borders on sarcasm in his illustrations, for me anyway, the importance of thinking of others comes through, even if in the end it is for selfish reasons. In \u201cGroundhog Day\u201d the character Phil \u201cchanges and loses his arrogance toward others.\u201d When Phil becomes interested in others, \u201che himself becomes interesting, and he manages, through his kindness, to win Rita\u2019s heart in a single day.\u201d The lesson is learned and whether Bayard intended it or not, it is a Christian principle.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There are many more interesting points. I really enjoyed Bayard\u2019s references to so many classics that I have read. And whether he would approve or not there are now one or two more that he covered (did he read them?) that I want to get, and yes, I will probably read in their entirety, just for the sheer pleasure of it!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Now that we understand \u201cHow to Read a Book\u201d we can learn how \u201cNot to Read a Book\u201d and still talk about it!!! What a time saver for poor, tired students! In “How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read” Pierre Bayard encourages us to learn why we strive for an image of cultural literacy. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}