Unit-2-A-good-read

Unit2AgoodreadActivereading(1)Danger!Booksmaychangeyourlife1LikeLewisCarroll'sAlice,whofallsintoarabbitholeanddiscoversamysteriouswonderland,whenwepickupabookweareabouttoenteranewworld.Webecomeobserversoflifefromthepointofviewofapersonolderthanourselves,orthroughtheeyesofachild.Wemaytravelaroundtheglobetocountriesorcultureswewouldneverdreamofvisitinginreallife.We'llhaveexperienceswhicharenew,sometimesdisconcerting,maybedeeplyattractive,possiblyunpleasantorpainful,butneverlessthanliberatingfromtherealworldwecomefrom.2TheEnglishpoetWilliamCowper(1731–1800)saidVariety'stheveryspiceoflife,/Thatgivesitallitsflavouralthoughheneglectedtosaywhereorhowwecouldfindit.Butweknowhewasright.Weknowweliveinaworldofvarietyanddifference.Weknowthatpeoplelivevariousdifferentlives,spendtheirtimeinvariousdifferentways,havedifferentjobs,believeindifferentthings,havedifferentopinions,differentcustoms,andspeakdifferentlanguages.Normally,wedon'tknowtheextentofthesedifferences,yetsometimeswhensomethingunusualhappenstomakeusnotice,varietyanddifferenceappearmoreasathreatthananopportunity.3Readingbooksallowsustoenjoyandcelebratethisvarietyanddifferenceinsafety,andprovidesuswithanopportunitytogrow.Tointeractwithotherpeople'slivesinthepeaceandquietofourhomesisaprivilegewhichonlyreadingfictioncanaffordus.Weevenunderstand,howeverfleetingly,thatwehavemoreincommonwithotherreadersofbooksinotherculturesthanwemightdowiththefirstpersonwemeetwhenwestepoutofourfrontdoors.Welearntolookbeyondourimmediatesurroundingstothehorizonandalandscapefarawayfromhome.4Ifweeverquestionthetruthofthepowerofreadingbooks,weshouldtakethetroubletogotoourlocallibraryorbookshop,oreven,ifwe'refortunateenough,tothebooksonourshelvesathome.Weshouldwonderatthestrikingvistascreatedbythetitlesofnovelsrangingfromtheclassicstothemostrecent:TheGrapesofWrathbyJohnSteinbeck,TheFourthHandbyJohnIrving,CancerWardbyAleksandrSolzhenitsyn,ForWhomtheBellTollsbyErnestHemingway,OurManinHavanabyGrahamGreene,TheTimeTraveller'sWifebyAudreyNiffeneggerorSalmonFishingintheYemenbyPaulTorday.Thenweshouldreflectontheotherliveswe'llmeetoncewebegintoread.5Everybookwillhaveitsownlanguageanddialect,itsownvocabularyandgrammar.Wemaynotalwaysunderstandeverywordorsentence,butwhetherwe'reenchantedorwhetherwefeelexcluded,ouremotionsareneverthelessstimulated.Otherpeopleandotherculturesarenotalwaysdistantbecauseofgeography.Inabookwemayconfrontpeoplewholiveinadifferentclimate,havedifferentreligiousbeliefs,orcomefromadifferentethnicgroup.Evenourneighboursdowntheroadmaybestrangerswhowecanonlymeetthroughbooks.6Assoonasweareabletolisten,booksaresupremelyinfluentialinthewaywelive.Fromthebedtimestoryreadbyaparenttotheirchildallthewaythroughtothesittingroomlinedwithbooksinouradulthomes,booksdefineourlives.TheEnglishwriterE.M.Forster(1879–1970)evenhintedatamoremysticalpowerwhichbookspossessoverus.Hewrote,Isuggestthattheonlybooksthatinfluenceusarethoseforwhichweareready,andwhichhavegonealittlefurtherdownourparticularpaththanwehavegoneourselves.It'sasiftherightbookcomestoseekusoutattherightmoment,andoffersitselftous—it'snotuswhoseekoutthebook.7ThomasMerton(1915–1968),theAmericanmonk,priestandwriter,wasonceaskedaseriesofsevenquestionsbyajournalist:Namethelastthreebooksyouhaveread,thethreebooksyouarereadingnow,thebooksyouintendtoread,thebooksthathaveinfluencedyou,andwhy,abookthateveryoneshouldread,andwhy.Forthebookswhichhadinfluencedhim,hecitedpoeticworksofWilliamBlake,variousplaysbyancientGreekthinkersandwriters,andanumberofreligiouswritings.Whenaskedwhytheyhadinfluencedhim,hereplied,Thesebooksandotherslikethemhavehelpedmetodiscovertherealmeaningofmylife,andhavemadeitpossibleformetogetoutoftheconfusionandmeaninglessnessofanexistencecompletelyimmersedintheneedsandpassivitiesfosteredbyacultureinwhichsalesareeverything.8Sohowwouldyouanswerthequestions?9In1947,CliftonFadimancoinedthetermhome-runbook.Whenabaseballplayerhitsahomerun,hehitstheballsohardandsofarhe'sabletorunroundthefourbasesofthediamond,andscorepointsnotonlyforhimselfbutfortheotherrunnersalreadyonabase.It'sthemostenjoyableandsatisfyingeventinabaseballgame.Likewise,ahome-runbookdescribesnotthechild'sfirstreadingexperience,butthefirsttimetheyreadabookwhichinducessuchpleasureandsatisfactionthattheycan'tputitdown.Forhundredsofmillionsofchildrenaroundtheworld,thebestknownexampleofahome-runbookwillbetheHarryPotterstories.10Asadults,we'realwayslookingforourownhome-runbooks,notjustforthefirsttime,buttimeaftertimeagain.Whoeverhasreadanovelinonesittingwillalwaysrememberthepleasureandsatisfactionwhichawaitus,andeagerly,insistently,sometimesevendesperatelyseekstoreproducethemarvelloussensationagain.Wecannotwithstandthehungertovisitanotherworld,tomeetdifferentpeople,toliveotherlivesandtoreflectonourselves.11Danger!Booksmaychangeyourlife.Suchisthepowerofreading.Languagepoints1.Variety'stheveryspiceoflife,/Thatgivesitallitsflavour…(Para2)Spicesaremadefromplantsandaddedtofoodtogiveititsparticularflavourortaste.ThisquotefromCowper'spoemmeansthatvarietygiveslifeextravalueandallowsyou