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A review by selenajournal
A Reading Diary: A Passionate Reader's Reflections on a Year of Books by Alberto Manguel
5.0
i’ve thought long and hard about how to better record the connections that i make and wish to make when i’m reading books. then i found out that alberto manguel had written part of that discussion for me.
on book summaries and giving away plots:
I don’t like people summing up books for me. Tempt me with a title, a scene, a quotation, yes, but not with the whole story. Fellow enthusiasts, jacket blurbs, teachers and histories of literature destroy much of our reading pleasure by ratting on the plot.
on writing in books (something i’ve only recently allowed myself to do)
I always write in my books. When I reread them, most of the time I can’t imagine why I thought a certain passage worth underlining, or what I meant by a certain comment.
and then, i found i liked his reading tastes, that he’s read books i haven’t heard of. i imagined that it wouldn’t be interesting reading about books i haven’t read, but the snippets that he gives are enough that i can get the gist of the novel (and decide if i should read it) and figure out the point he’s trying to make.
i found out about francois-rene de chateaubriand and his book memoirs from beyond the grave. with one excerpt, i knew i wanted to read it.
There are people who, while empires collapse, visit fountains and gardens.
threads of chateaubriand come up throughout what i’ve read of the book so far, and they’re related to manguel’s life, memories, surroundings. he relates passages and texts to remember (much in the way that chateaubriand himself encourages and finds).
from chateaubriand:
Our existence is so fleeting that if we don’t record the events of the morning in the evening, the work will weigh us down and we will no longer have the time to bring it up to date. This doesn’t prevent us from wasting our years, from throwing to the wind those hours that are for us the seeds of eternity.
when the last section on chateaubriand came, i had already inquired about an english copy. and then another perfect sentence:
Reading Memoirs from Beyond the Grave, I forget that it is Chateaubriand, not I, who is mourning.
i’m was to october at this point with firm mind to read chateaubriand and more manguel. i had also figured out how he’s managed to be so thoughtful about his reads, something i truly needed to learn to do myself. first, he’s choosing books based on whims and wants. no reading schedules, really, just, going with the flow of things.
by the end of the book, he’d read 12 books, one per month, with some diaries, letters and related material read throughout to help write about the books and fully understand them. that’s the kind of reading year i’d like for 2012. slow and thoughtful, unrushed.
I feel uncomfortable having other people’s books at home. I want either to steal them or to return them immediately. There is something of the visitor who outstays his welcome in borrowed books. Reading them and knowing that they don’t belong to me gives me the feeling of something unfinished, half-enjoyed. This is also true of library books.
also: note to self, read the pillow book by sei shonagon:
There are times when the world so exasperates me that I feel I cannot go on living in it for another moment and I want to disappear for good. But then, if I happen to obtain some nice white paper, Michinoku paper, or white decorated paper, I decide that I can put up with things as they are a little longer.
on book summaries and giving away plots:
I don’t like people summing up books for me. Tempt me with a title, a scene, a quotation, yes, but not with the whole story. Fellow enthusiasts, jacket blurbs, teachers and histories of literature destroy much of our reading pleasure by ratting on the plot.
on writing in books (something i’ve only recently allowed myself to do)
I always write in my books. When I reread them, most of the time I can’t imagine why I thought a certain passage worth underlining, or what I meant by a certain comment.
and then, i found i liked his reading tastes, that he’s read books i haven’t heard of. i imagined that it wouldn’t be interesting reading about books i haven’t read, but the snippets that he gives are enough that i can get the gist of the novel (and decide if i should read it) and figure out the point he’s trying to make.
i found out about francois-rene de chateaubriand and his book memoirs from beyond the grave. with one excerpt, i knew i wanted to read it.
There are people who, while empires collapse, visit fountains and gardens.
threads of chateaubriand come up throughout what i’ve read of the book so far, and they’re related to manguel’s life, memories, surroundings. he relates passages and texts to remember (much in the way that chateaubriand himself encourages and finds).
from chateaubriand:
Our existence is so fleeting that if we don’t record the events of the morning in the evening, the work will weigh us down and we will no longer have the time to bring it up to date. This doesn’t prevent us from wasting our years, from throwing to the wind those hours that are for us the seeds of eternity.
when the last section on chateaubriand came, i had already inquired about an english copy. and then another perfect sentence:
Reading Memoirs from Beyond the Grave, I forget that it is Chateaubriand, not I, who is mourning.
i’m was to october at this point with firm mind to read chateaubriand and more manguel. i had also figured out how he’s managed to be so thoughtful about his reads, something i truly needed to learn to do myself. first, he’s choosing books based on whims and wants. no reading schedules, really, just, going with the flow of things.
by the end of the book, he’d read 12 books, one per month, with some diaries, letters and related material read throughout to help write about the books and fully understand them. that’s the kind of reading year i’d like for 2012. slow and thoughtful, unrushed.
I feel uncomfortable having other people’s books at home. I want either to steal them or to return them immediately. There is something of the visitor who outstays his welcome in borrowed books. Reading them and knowing that they don’t belong to me gives me the feeling of something unfinished, half-enjoyed. This is also true of library books.
also: note to self, read the pillow book by sei shonagon:
There are times when the world so exasperates me that I feel I cannot go on living in it for another moment and I want to disappear for good. But then, if I happen to obtain some nice white paper, Michinoku paper, or white decorated paper, I decide that I can put up with things as they are a little longer.