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HowShouldOneReadaBook？Itissimpleenoughtosaythatsincebookshaveclassesfiction,biography,poetry——weshouldseparatethemandtakefromeachwhatitisrightthateachshouldgiveus.Yetfewpeopleaskfrombookswhatbookscangiveus.Mostcommonlywecometobookswithblurredanddividedminds.askingoffictionthatitshallbetrue,ofpoetrythatitshallbefalse,ofbiographythatitshallbeflattering,ofhistorythatitshallenforceourownprejudices.Ifwecouldbanishallsuchpreconceptionswhenweread,thatwouldbeanadmirablebeginning.Donotdictatetoyourauthor;trytobecomehim.Behisfellow——workerandaccomplice.Ifyouhangback,andreserveandcriticizeatfirst,youarepreventingyourselffromgettingthefullestpossiblevaluefromwhatyouread.Butifyouopenyourmindaswidelyaspossible,thesignsandhintsofalmostimperceptiblefineness,fromthetwistandturnofthefirstsentences,willbringyouintothepresenceofahumanbeingunlikeanyother.Steepyourselfinthis,acquaintyourselfwiththis,andsoonyouwillfindthatyourauthorisgivingyou,orattemptingtogiveyou,somethingfarmoredefinite.Thethirty-twochaptersofanovel——ifweconsiderhowtoreadanovelfirst——areanattempttomakesomethingasformedandcontrolledasabuilding:butwordsaremoreimpalpablethanbricks;readingisalongerandmorecomplicatedprocessthanseeing.Perhapsthequickestwaytounderstandtheelementsofwhatanovelistisdoingisnottoread,buttowrite;tomakeyourownexperimentwiththedangersanddifficultiesofwords.Recall,then,someeventthathasleftadistinctimpressiononyou——howatthecornerofthestreet,perhaps,youpassedtwopeopletalking.Atreeshook;anelectriclightdanced;thetoneofthetalkwascomic,butalsotragic;awholevision;anentireconceptionseemedcontainedinthatmovement.Butwhenyouattempttoreconstructitinwords,youwillfindthatitbreaksintoathousandconflictingimpressions.Somemustbesubdued;othersemphasized;intheprocessyouwilllose,probably,allgraspupontheemotionitself.Thenturnfromyourblurredandlitteredpagestotheopeningpagesofsomegreatnovelists——Defoe,JaneAusten,orHardy.Nowyouwillbebetterabletoappreciatetheirmastery.Itisnotmerelythatweareinthepresenceofadifferentperson——Defoe,JaneAusten,orThomasHardy——butthatwearelivinginadifferentworld.Here,inRobinsonCrusoe,wearetrudgingaplainhighroad;onethinghappensafteranother;thefactandtheorderofthefactisenough.ButiftheopenairandadventuremeaneverythingtoDefoetheymeannothingtoJaneAusten.Hersisthedrawing-room,andpeopletalkingandbythemanymirrorsoftheirtalkrevealingtheircharacters.Andif,whenwehaveaccustomedourselvestothedrawing-roomanditsreflections,weturntoHardy,weareoncemorespunaround.Themoorsarearoundusandthestarsareaboveourhead.Theothersideofthemindisnowexposed——thedarksidethatcomesuppermostinsolitude,notthelightsidethatshowsincompany.Ourrelationsarenottowardspeople,buttowardsNatureanddestiny.Yetdifferentastheseworldsare,eachisconsistentwithitself.Themakerofeachiscarefultoobservethelawsofhisownperspective,andhowevergreatastraintheymayputuponustheywillneverconfuseus,aslesserwriterssofrequentlydo,byintroducingtwodifferentkindsofrealityintothesamebook.Thustogofromonegreatnovelisttoanotheristobewrenchedanduprooted;tobethrownthiswayandthenthat.Toreadanovelisadifficultandcomplexart.Youmustbecapablenotonlyofgreatfitnessofperception,butofgreatboldnessofimaginationifyouaregoingtomakeuseofallthatthenovelist——thegreatartist——givesyou.“Wehaveonlytocompare”——withthosewordsthecatisoutofthebag,andthetruecomplexityofreadingisadmitted.Thefirstprocess,toreceiveimpressionswiththeutmostunderstanding,isonlyhalftheprocessofreading;itmustbecompleted,ifwearetogetthewholepleasurefromabook,byanother.Wemustpassjudgmentuponthesemultitudinousimpressions;wemustmakeofthesefleetingshapesonethatishardandlasting.Butnotdirectly.Waitforthedustofreadingtosettle;fortheconflictandthequestioningtodiedown;walk,talk,pullthedeadpetalsfromarose,orfallasleep.Thensuddenlywithoutourwillingit,foritisthusthatNatureundertakesthesetransitions,thebookwillreturn,butdifferently.Itwillfloattothetopofthemindasawhole.Andthebookasawholeisdifferentfromthebookreceivedcurrentlyinseparatephrases.Detailsnowfitthemselvesintotheirplaces.Weseetheshapefromstarttofinish;itisabarn,apigsty,oracathedral.Nowthenwecancomparebookwithbookaswecomparebuildingwithbuilding.Butthisactofcomparisonmeansthatourattitudehaschanged;wearenolongerthefriendsofthewriter,buthisjudges;andjustaswecannotbetoosympatheticasfriends,soasjudgeswecannotbetoosevere.Aretheynotcriminals,booksthathavewastedourtimeandsympathy;aretheynotthemostinsidiousenemiesofsociety,corrupters,defilers,thewritersoffalsebooks,fakedbooks,booksthatfilltheairwithdecayanddisease?Letusthenbesevereinourjudgments;letuscompareeachbookwiththegreatestofitskind.Ifthisisso,iftoreadabookasitshouldbereadcallsfortherarestqualitiesofimagination,insight,andjudgment,youmayperhaps,concludethatliteratureisaverycomplexartandthatitisunlikelythatweshallbeable,evenafteralifetimeofreading,tomakeanyvaluablecontributiontoitscriticism.Wemustremainreaders;weshallnotputonthefurtherglorythatbelongstothoserarebeingswhoarealsocritics.Butstillwehaveourresponsibilitiesasreadersandevenourimportance.Thestandardsweraiseandthejudgments