Well, we know the answer: the mind remains enslaved in ignorance... The great thoughts of the past are undiscovered.. Our horizons remain fixed, limited, surrounded by unknown territory. Our imagination is unengaged.. Life itself remains narrow and possibilities remain diminished.. And we don't have as much fun, because reading is so pleasurable..
--U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Page..
Well, we know the answer: the mind remains enslaved in ignorance... The great thoughts of the past are undiscovered.. Our horizons remain fixed, limited, surrounded by unknown territory. Our imagination is unengaged.. Life itself remains narrow and possibilities remain diminished.. And we don't have as much fun, because reading is so pleasurable..
Can you imagine what would have happen if no one could read Martin Luther's declarations nailed to the church door? Even more terrifying: during the civil war, one of Lee's officers LOST the entire southern operations order and order of battle. It was found by a young northern trooper and upon reading it knew what he had found. At the same time, in Washington, Lincoln was ready to offer a cease-fire to the south if his army lost the next battle. That would have legitimized the confederate states and quasi accepted a seperate country.Instead, the north won and a short time later Lincoln came out with the Emancipation Proclamation. Now suppose that kid couldn't read? Where would we be now? That's how important reading is. To all of us.
Can you imagine what would have happen if no one could read Martin Luther's declarations nailed to the church door? Even more terrifying: during the civil war, one of Lee's officers LOST the entire southern operations order and order of battle. It was found by a young northern trooper and upon reading it knew what he had found. At the same time, in Washington, Lincoln was ready to offer a cease-fire to the south if his army lost the next battle. That would have legitimized the confederate states and quasi accepted a seperate country.Instead, the north won and a short time later Lincoln came out with the Emancipation Proclamation. Now suppose that kid couldn't read? Where would we be now? That's how important reading is. To all of us.
Agreed. I read probably read a book a day, or every day and a half. I'm really busy, but I'll forego a few hours of sleep to get my reading done. Reading causes me to explore things that I didn't now about before reading about them. Authors do such a wonderful job of research that you'd be surprised by what you can learn from even a romance novel LOL! I have pretty eclectic tastes, and I mix my reading material up, but some of the most useful things I've learned have been from the romance genre. No matter what I read, I look for ways to incorporate what I've learned from the book or magazine into my daily life.
Book clubs are a wonderful thing! The one I belong to doesn't limit itself to any particular genre of book. We read everything, and I've discovered that science fiction isn't so bad after all lol. I wouldn't come near it before the club.
You also learn that a person's background informs their understanding of the material. A woman in our group is from the Bahamas, and hasn't experienced racism as it existed in the South. So she couldn't understand why some characters in one of our books wouldn't stand up to a white man in the 1940's. We had to explain things to her, and she told us that even her mother never hesitated to say what she thought to white people because there was never any threat of retribution. I never would have known that without reading and discussing a book.
Agreed. I read probably read a book a day, or every day and a half. I'm really busy, but I'll forego a few hours of sleep to get my reading done. Reading causes me to explore things that I didn't now about before reading about them. Authors do such a wonderful job of research that you'd be surprised by what you can learn from even a romance novel LOL! I have pretty eclectic tastes, and I mix my reading material up, but some of the most useful things I've learned have been from the romance genre. No matter what I read, I look for ways to incorporate what I've learned from the book or magazine into my daily life.
Book clubs are a wonderful thing! The one I belong to doesn't limit itself to any particular genre of book. We read everything, and I've discovered that science fiction isn't so bad after all lol. I wouldn't come near it before the club.
You also learn that a person's background informs their understanding of the material. A woman in our group is from the Bahamas, and hasn't experienced racism as it existed in the South. So she couldn't understand why some characters in one of our books wouldn't stand up to a white man in the 1940's. We had to explain things to her, and she told us that even her mother never hesitated to say what she thought to white people because there was never any threat of retribution. I never would have known that without reading and discussing a book.
