Topic for Discussion: Reading

READING

THE BOOKS WE READ

A library is a good place to gather information and to find interesting books and magazines to read. Sometimes, we want to take information on a certain topic to write a school report. The books and magazines we might use are called reference works. We use them to find a reference about a subject.

An encyclopaedia is one of the most useful reference works to use when gathering facts for a report. An encyclopaedia is a book or set of books that gives basic information about many different subjects such as countries, famous people, and scientific discoveries. In an encyclopaedia you can find an article about the history of China or the invention of the bicycle. All the topics in an encyclopaedia are arranged in alphabetic order.

Another good reference work is an almanac. An almanac is a single book that gives you the latest facts and figures about many subjects. Most almanacs are printed every year. They give you lists of facts about important events and people.

An atlas is a book of maps. It has a table of contents and an index to help you find the map you need. The most complete kind of atlas is a world atlas that contains maps of separate countries and the world.

There are also other kinds of maps. A road map can help you plan an automobile trip. A relief map shows you what the land in an area looks like with mountains, valleys, and bodies of water.

Periodicals are magazines or newspapers that are published at certain periods of time. Most magazines are printed weekly and monthly. You can find magazines about hobbies, news, and many other subjects.

Fiction and non-fiction are two categories into which books are separated. Books of fiction contain stories that are imaginary. The writer makes up the characters and events. Sometimes a writer bases a fictional story on real events. Adventure stories that take place in ancient times may be based on real events or people. Some kinds of fiction you can read are tales, myths, legends, science fiction, poetry, plays, and long stories called novels.

Non-fiction books are about real events, people. They give factual material about subjects like history, science, or mathematics.

A story written about someone's life is called a biography. An autobiography is a story written by someone about his or her own life. Both types of books would be non-fiction because they deal with facts.

WHAT DO YOU READ FOR?

Books are considered to be a traditional way of learning about the world around us. This is quite natural because books give information about various subjects. From the point of view of the 21st century it is possible to say that this source of knowledge is proved by time. Books introduce us to the experience of the present, past, and future. In every day life we are limited by Time. We cannot enter the distant future or return to the past. Every moment we live only in the present. Books make an easily accessible time machine. They give everybody a wonderful opportunity to travel into the past and future. With the help of books we can almost eyewitness the major historical events, the way people lived in distant epochs. Ancient and medieval writers show us the world of the past centuries as it was. For example, by reading books about the expeditions to the North and South Poles we live the lives of the people who participated in them. From books we derive all possible knowledge of arts and sciences. Textbooks and manuals are written to give knowledge and information about different special things. It is held that nothing can be more important but the book acquired in time. All the revolutions are conceived first in mind and then put into practice. From the books we understand that the idea of an ideal society has interested people since antiquity. The stories about an ideal society were written by Plato, Thomas Moor, Adam Smith; modern scholars developed them. In the last two centuries attempts were made to put the dream into reality through a number of successive revolutions. I think that books play a very important part in our education. Every specialist first derives information from books.

The world of books is enormous. Many people are fond of reading and their interests are different. "Tastes differ", they say. One can enjoy reading romantic novels but another one thinks it is boring. At the same time, he gets absorbed in reading a thrilling story or a whodunit and finds it an exciting pastime.

So it is rather difficult to give an advice on reading. Have you had a chance to read the essays of Francis Bacon? (He lived about the same time as Shakespeare). They are full of good things about reading. Here are some of them, from the essay "Of Studies".

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."

"Read not to contradict and confute (опровергать); nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk discourse; but to weigh and consider."

Can there be an "advice better than that". The first quotation tells you how to read books of different kinds. I suppose most romantic novels are "to be tasted": it's enough to dip into them and read leisurely. If you're fond of crime stories you will read them quickly, you'll swallow them. And then, there are books that you'll read slowly and carefully. If a book is on an important subject, and a subject you are interested in, you will want to chew and digest it. And you will want to weigh what the author says and consider his ideas and arguments.

The process of reading books in a foreign language can be rather slow. So it is wiser to choose a book "made simple". There are some authors whose style is fairly easy, Oscar Wilde for example. His books are so popular in European schools and colleges because the short stories he wrote are in a very simple style.

I LIKE READING, BUT...

Television, computer, audio-visual instruments in general, are all gradually taking over what used to be the domain of literature.

Here are the opinions said by teenagers on the ideas, what is reading for them, and how they feel about the world of literature.

Buky, Tel Aviv, Israel:

"I like reading as long as it's something short. Otherwise, I can't follow what is happening, I don't understand anything, and I get bored. I prefer short stories: you can finish them quickly."

Nieves, Badajoz, Spain:

"I love reading funny books, books that make me laugh. At the moment, I'm reading 'Three men in a boat' by Jerome K. Jerome. And it's really interesting! I always look forward to the moment when I can curl up in an armchair and go on with the story. I like it a lot when my mum comes to find out why I'm laughing so much and she can't understand why."

Billy, Perth, Australia:

"I wish someone could tell me why it is that as soon as I've been reading a book for a bit, I fall asleep. I always start off with the best intentions, but after a few pages my eyelids come down and I'm snoozing. When I start reading again, I don't remember where I was, so to pick up the thread, I've got to back a few pages. So I read, and then I snooze again! It means I'm always on the same page!"

Jurgen, Gras, Austria:

"I like reading books where the main character is like me, with problems similar to mine. I want to see how they manage to solve their difficulties. But it's not easy to find writers who know how to handle themes that are both everyday and universal. Only the real greats can do that!"

Dwith, New Orleans, USA:

"One thing I really can't stand reading are descriptions: they're always so long and boring! I get the idea that the writer just put them in to show how smart he is and how much he knows about life. I prefer action scenes and a lot of dialogue. I usually just skip the descriptive bits and go on where the story starts again."

Marriane, Auxerre, France:

"I've got to go to school every day as well as doing my homework; in the afternoons, I do some sport, and on Saturdays I have swimming competitions. In the evening I'm tired, and I don't feel like reading. So. when I want to relax and enjoy myself, I prefer watching a film on TV, or going to the cinema with some friends."

Pearl. Taipei, Taiwan:

"Reading is like a great adventure for me. Starting a book is always a great thrill, and I want the writer to carry me off to new, unknown places, places I've never been to before. That's why I love the descriptive passages, because, if they're well done, they can make me feel that I'm in a particular landscape, make me feel hot or cold, make me see the people in the story with such detail that I feel I could reach out and touch them."