Nowadays, because of the rapid increase in publications, our reading life is becoming richer and richer - with the opening of "a new window of the unknown world", our knowledge has broadened and our thinking ability has improved, but at the same time, it has also brought an unavoidable new question: how should we choose books and how to "search for books"? Otherwise, reading what you see and reading blindly will be of no benefit and may even have the opposite effect. In fact, the ancients have already discussed this. Su Shi once said: "Books are as rich as entering the sea, department stores are available, and people's energy cannot be taken from both, but they can get what they want." ”
Recently, the famous writer Liu Xinwu also said in an interview with reporters that reading is of great significance to life, "Reading is the tourism of the soul, which can break through the limitations of time and space." In addition to experiencing life, we should enrich our hearts, increase our knowledge and knowledge through reading." A person's energy is limited, so he must accumulate a considerable amount of reading, have a certain degree of autonomy, learn to "buy books", and be good at discovering and reading good works.
If the more a person reads on the premise of quality assurance, the better, then, as long as the energy permits, we should try to read those who "get what they want" and "be good at discovering and reading good works". This kind of reading can not only guide us to use our limited precious time on the cutting edge, but also will definitely be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort. "Searching for books", as a basic skill of reading, how can we "search" for "good works" such as "those who want it"? Classics are certainly the first choice, because classics are works that have withstood the scrutiny of time, history, and generations of readers, and their charm endures; The reading lists listed by some famous people and famous experts should also become an important reference for us to "search for books", because this is the product of their perception and induction and refinement in reading. In addition, it is necessary for each of us readers to rely on reading experience and reading preferences to do the necessary screening, so as to "find" their favorite books.
The picture comes from the Internet
Don't underestimate the word "Tao", which contains the requirements for selective and precise positioning of books. In my personal opinion, there are at least two commonly used ways to "search for books": one is to "capture the gist" to "Tao". As Mr. Liu Xinwu said, "After getting a book, it is the kind of official publication, and you have to learn to read the copyright page first." The copyright page tells us a lot of information, including the author, publisher, word count, binding designer, and so on. If it has a preface, it can also be flipped first. Then look at the table of contents. Seeing a collection of multiple articles, reading it first can arouse interest; Novels are often divided into chapters, and the chapters you are interested in can also be picked out first", if it is exactly what you want and makes you suddenly excited, you can decide to shoot. The second is to "compare with each other" to "tao". For a book by the same author, you can browse it in general to see if it exceeds the level of its original work, and if it is at a similar level, then you don't need to do it - because "repetitive reading" doesn't make much sense. In the same way, for similar subjects by different authors, it is also possible to decide whether to sell them after comparison according to this principle. In short, although the real "Taoshu" also depends on the author's "name", it must not take the size of the "name" as the only criterion, nor can it patronize the size of its circulation, and the key depends on the value of the book itself.
When it comes to "Taoshu", it will inevitably involve the question of where to "Tao". In fact, as long as you love books and love reading and reach the realm of "like a hungry person pounces on bread", then you can "pay attention everywhere" and "tao". Because you love books, because you love to read, so whenever and where, you will "use your brain and open your eyes" for books, so "Tao" is also among them - the library (including the electronic library), of course, is your favorite place. After all, libraries have a large collection, and borrowing procedures are convenient and inexpensive; When shopping, Xinhua Bookstore and privately opened street specialty bookstores will also be the places where you stay for the longest time. What's more, sitting down while drinking coffee and milk tea while slowly flipping through and comparing is also a good choice for "book hunting"; If the host is also a good reader, then you will be impatient to visit his study and his bookcase, if there are good books that have entered your eyes, then I am afraid you will "find" it.
In addition to newly published books, if you want to "find" some old books and even ancient books that are already difficult to find, those antique bookstores and second-hand bookstores scattered in the corner of the city should be the ideal place. Perhaps these bookstores are not doing well, and some stores even have a musty smell of used books, but that doesn't mean that they don't have exciting good books to "shop". You must know that the core source of the old books collected by these bookstores is related to some scholarly families - when their descendants moved to new houses, in view of the large amount of old books and nowhere to put them, in order to let the books collected by the elderly replay the role of circulation and reading, they were sold to these bookstores.
Nowadays, in addition to brick-and-mortar stores, online second-hand bookstores are also doing a thriving business, and they can always surprise those who "search for books". For example, in order to study the ceramic skills of Mr. Guan Baocong, a master of Chinese arts and crafts, a master of Chinese ceramic art, and a professor of Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, I would like to "find" a book "Ancient Chinese Ceramic Modeling and Decoration" published by him in December 1979. Because this is a book compiled by the couple who traveled to some representative ancient kiln sites in China, it aims to "systematically introduce the origin of the development of ancient ceramic art, the main characteristics of ceramic modeling and decoration in different historical periods, and the application of various decorative techniques in ceramics through the cooperation of words and catalogues", which is of great significance to the study of the pottery life of Master Guan Baocong or the study of the origin and flow of Chinese ceramics. However, because it was hand-engraved on a steel plate, only 100 copies were printed that year. Therefore, it is indeed quite difficult to "find" this book. However, what I didn't expect was that as soon as I went online, I was "Tao". The magical power of online second-hand bookstores can be seen from this.
Reading is a long-distance journey of the soul, and reading is compared to a flat boat in the sea, so "Taoshu" is just like holding a pair of oars, only by maintaining the correct paddling posture and paddling hard, can we ensure that the rowing is good and fast, and reach the ideal shore early.
Source: Reading Times, Issue 5, 2024
Author: Zhao Chang
Editor: Jing Chen
[Disclaimer: This number is the official public welfare account of "National Reading Promotion", and this article is reprinted for the purpose of conveying more information. If there is a source label error or other inaccuracies, please contact us. We will correct it in a timely manner. Thank you]