Text/Du Dou Bean
(According to the language: This article is a reading experience, the participating activities are the online reading meeting of the intermediate course of the children's reading instructor, and the reading materials are from the two short articles of Ruskin and Bondarev, "The Book for the Wise" and "Second Life", share it, and look forward to making progress with all the friends who love to read! This is followed by co-reading material. ）
After reading this week's reading materials, two short articles from Ruskin and Bondarev, "The Book for the Wise" and "The Second Life", I have a very strong feeling and hope to share it with you. This realization is: to read, to read to the point. Regarding this realization, I would like to start with another topic about reading ability, that is: generalization.
Whether you can read or not, there is a very important ability, that is, generalization.
Many people are superstitious about the word "efficient reading", thinking that mastering a few skills can make reading fast and effective, which I think is basically delusional. Without quantitative accumulation, if you want to make a qualitative leap, this is not in line with the cognitive laws of the human brain. What you think you understand may only seem to understand, or even completely misunderstood. Especially for this kind of short article selected from the selection, if you do not have a sufficient understanding of the author himself and the background of his creation, do not think about the arrangement of the selection, and do not summarize the content of the article, then the comment you get is likely to be taken out of context.
Therefore, I believe that reading should be "broad and then promised", and on the basis of extensive reading, after having a grasp of the whole in mind, it can be considered and summarized, so that reading can be truly efficient.
So, what to think about? To sum up what? This is a test of the ability to generalize, whether it can be efficient or not, and it is precisely reflected here.
Take our co-reading material.
From the author's profile, Ruskin was a well-known British scholar, writer, and art critic of the nineteenth century, who was good at writing essays; Bondarev was a contemporary Russian writer who was good at writing war novels. Aside from being writers, you don't see anything else they have in common. Looking at the content of the two short articles, Ruskin's theme is "books for the wise", that is, when you read a book with thought and depth, how to read it? Bondarev's theme is "second life", which is about the significance of reading books for human life - extending real life to the second life.
At first glance, these two materials do not seem to be closely related. But why did the editor of this book club anthology compile these two excerpts together for everyone to read?
At this time, we need to read some of the author's background knowledge and works extensively, grasp the real points that the author wants to express, and find the editor's ideas.
For example, Ruskin, in addition to being a scholar, writer, and art critic, was the authority of the art world at that time, "almost a dictator in the British art point of view", he was also a scientist, poet, environmentalist, philosopher, his ideas inspired the art and handicraft movement, promoted the art education of the working class, and was praised as a great teacher.
His writings were so influential that they even spread to Gandhi, Tolstoy, and Proust. In addition to these masterpieces such as "To this last come", "Seven Bright Lights of Architecture", "Modern Painters", etc., there is also an important collection of representative essays called "Sesame and Lilies", which talks about many insights in reading and art.
This excerpt from our "Book for the Wise" is taken from sesame seeds and lilies, the first article in the collection of essays, "Sesame in the King's Treasury." In this one, Ruskin divides the book into the book of the moment and the book of eternity, and elaborates on how to read them. Our excerpt is in response to his question, when you read the "Book of Eternity", how do you read it?
He mentioned: "Sincerely desire to get their teachings and enter their thoughts", but entering their thoughts is not to find resonance, but to grasp the meaning of "they", to find ideas that are different from yours; in addition, while looking for different ideas, we must also learn to discern, are they not clear, or do you not read and understand, or are you temporarily unable to understand? If you don't understand it, you have to go out of your way to dig it up; if you don't have the ability to understand it for a while, you have to hone yourself first, so that you have the ability to grasp their ideas.
For Bundalev, it is also necessary to read extensively. After reading it, we will know that in addition to being a famous writer in the contemporary former Soviet Union and Russia, Bondarev also participated in the Great Patriotic War, experienced the baptism of war, and had a fairly in-depth thinking and exploration of human life and life philosophy.
Almost all of his masterpieces are war novels, except for one special one, his collection of essays, Moments, which he believes is the moment he "plucked out, which can maximize the generalization and reinforcement of people's various feelings, so that they can seriously think about themselves." ”
The excerpt from the "Second Life" in our material is a small part of the last article in the collection, "Books", which focuses on the significance of books to human life.
He believed that books were "executors of the spiritual wealth of all ages and of all nations", "an understanding of the development of ideas and philosophical schools, of the historical conditions of societies and nations", and were able to study "human feelings"; "a person who reads a book is a careful observation of the second life"; "a man who has not been intoxicated with a serious book - he has abandoned the second reality and the second experience, and thus shortened the duration of his life." ”
In a nutshell, books are the medium of spiritual inheritance, the medium of intellectual understanding of ideas and history, and the transmission of human feelings. Under the influence of "serious books", we have expanded time and space, invisibly extending life.
At this point, we understand the editor's thinking. Combined with the theme of the book club's entire selection: "Let the classics soak life." "I think the theme that the editor wants us to discuss should be: How to read thoughtful classics?
Ruskin's revelation was: to read the eternal book written by the wise, to read different ideas, to dig hard before understanding, and to temper if you have no ability.
And Bondarev's revelation is: read serious books, read spiritual inheritance, the understanding of thought and history, human feelings, and find answers to your own thoughts by observing the lives of others.
Reading books should be read to the point. Taking things out of context, or without thinking, is disrespectful to the author and blasphemous to his work.
I hope that I can introspect myself and always be a serious reader.
There are two pieces of reading: Ruskin: "The Book for the Wise", and Bondarev: "The Second Life".
Ruskin: Excerpt from The Book for the Wise
First, there is a genuine desire to receive their teachings and to enter their minds. In order to enter their thoughts, be discerning; not to discover your own thoughts as they express them. If the person who wrote the book is not smarter than you, then there is no need to read his book; if he is smarter than you, his thinking will be different from yours in many ways.
We always blurt out a book: "How nice it is—exactly what I thought!" In fact, the feeling is: "How strange is that!" I had never thought of it that way before, but I knew it made sense; if I hadn't thought of it now, I hoped to think that way one day. So whether you listen or not, you should at least be sure that you went to the author to grasp his meaning, not yours. Later, judge, if you think you are already qualified to do so; but you first have to figure out the meaning. And it should also be affirmed that if the author has merit, you will not grasp his meaning at once--it can be said that it will take a long time for you to grasp his full meaning. It is not that he did not say what he meant, not with forceful words; but because he could not tell it; and what is even stranger is that he did not want to do so, but said it in an implicit way and in allegory, so that he could be sure that you needed it. I do not quite understand the reasons for this, nor can I analyze the relentless silence in the minds of the wise men, which always conceals deeper thoughts. They give your thoughts not as help, but as a reward, and they are thus convinced that you deserve it before allowing you to receive it. But the material type of wisdom, the gold, is sent to the top of the mountain, so that the emperor and the people of Li can know that the gold they have received is there, and it seems that you, like me, do not know why. Afraid of digging, afraid of anxiety, afraid of risks, afraid of taking time, so halfway abandoned, how much money is needed to mint. But that's not how creation treats it. She placed the gold in tiny crevices in the earth, and no one knew where it was: you might dig long or nothing; if you want to find something, you had to dig hard.
The treatment of the excellent wisdom of human beings is entirely a truth. When you're exposed to a good book, you should ask yourself, "Would I be willing to work like a miner in Australia?" Are my t-pickaxes and shovels intact? Is my own body okay? Did my cuffs roll up? Is my breathing normal? Is my temper okay? "And this kind of work is going to last a little longer, even if it makes you feel tired, because it's very useful. And the real gold you are looking for is the mind or meaning of the author, and his words are like rocks, and you have to crush and smelt them to gain something. Your t-shirt pickaxe is your own effort, your wit, your learning; your furnace is your own thinking soul. Don't expect to grasp the meaning of any good author without those tools and that ordeal, often you need the fiercest and most careful chiseling, the most patient melting, and then you can give you a little real gold.
Bondarev: Excerpt from Second Life
The book - it is the executor of the spiritual wealth of all ages, all nations, the perfect keeper, this is the unquenchable light source sent to us from human childhood, it is the signal and the foretell, it is pain and suffering, it is laughter and joy, it is optimism and hope, it is the highest achievement of consciousness - the symbol of spiritual power above material power.
Books – this is the understanding of the development of ideas and philosophical schools, the understanding of the historical conditions of societies and nations. At all stages, these conditions give rise to confidence in the revolutionary struggle under the banner of goodness, wisdom, education and justice in freedom, equality and social relations.
Thinking in conceptual categories, the science of creating matter, systems, and formulas can explain, discover, and conquer many things, but in essence, it cannot study one thing in the end—human feelings, it cannot create human images, which is what literature that came into being does.
A person reading a book is to carefully observe the second life, just like looking for himself in the depths of the mirror, looking for the answer to his own thoughts, involuntarily comparing the fate of others, the bravery of others with his own personality characteristics, feeling regret, doubt, chagrin, he will laugh, cry, sympathize and participate - so the impact of the book begins. All of this, according to Tolstoy, is "the contagion of feelings."
In almost everyone's destiny, printed words play an unparalleled role, and the most regrettable person is the one who has not been intoxicated with a serious book—he has abandoned the second reality and the second experience, thus shortening the duration of his life.
(End of this article)
Read with me! I am Du Doudou, who has devoted my life to reading thousands of good books, writing thick words, and living a deep life. Welcome to follow me. In the impetuous era, read and write with peace of mind and nurture the soul.