Book by Book
Michael Dirda, a Pulitzer-winning critic and longtime columnist for Washington Post Book World shares his love of literature and books in Book by Book. This book ignites the passion for classics in me and in my opinion, is an effortless read. In Book by Book, Dirda speaks not only of classics but he also covers contemporary works ranging from Cicero to Dr. Seuss.
I had a wonderful time pondering Dirda’s observations and the quotations he lavishes on his readers. Needless to say, my copy of the book is filled with markings and scribblings. He did encourage readers to do the same and perhaps from our own reflections, we create our own reader’s guide as well. That is an interesting idea.
Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love, and to be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence. —Sydney Smith
A poet looks at the world as a man looks at a woman. —Wallace Stevens
The above quotations are just some of the many striking ones that Dirda said is “worth carrying around in your head for their insight, solace, and counsel.”
Why do we read? Mostly for pleasure, yes. But there is also another important reason and that is to learn how to live. When the author wrote the guide, he offers us from his personal reservoir of readings on how to draw meaning from what we read. That is to mean, as readers, we turn to books in the hope to the better understanding of ourselves and better engaging with the meaning of our experiences. Self-exploration. Life, love, work, education, art, the self, death. He points us to the books that house “the knowledge most worth having.”
Dirda recommends the works of Homer (The Iliad and The Odyssey), Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice), Arthur Conan Doyle (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes), Vladimir Nabokov (Pnin and Lolita), Gustave Flaubert (Madame Bovary) and many other classics. For fans of science fiction and fantasy, he suggests reading Ursula Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness), Gene Wolfe (Book of the New Sun), Jack Vance (The Dying Earth), or Jonathan Carroll (The Land of Laughs).
Oscar Wilde once said, if a book isn’t worth reading over and over again, it isn’t worth reading at all. Dirda agrees with him and stresses the importance of rereading, Which is why classics such as Hamlet and many others are never stale. As Dirda himself articulated: Major works of the imagination only gradually disclose the various facets of their artistry; only slowly do they reveal the subtleties of their constructions.
Another great thing about the book is the list of 13 suggestions to encourage children to read more, reproduced below (for my own benefit):
Read aloud to your children
Read yourself
Fill your house with print
Visit the library and bookstore regularly
Ask older kids to read to your younger siblings
Limit TC, video, and computer time
Encourage any reading interest—no matter how frivolous or unacademic
Don’t harp on “good books”
Ask librarians and booksellers for advice
Talk about books with your kids
Encourage kids to write
Take kids to meet writers at libraries and bookstores
Give kids some time with books
There are so much more I would like to share about this book but it’s definitely better and more worthwhile for booklovers to check out this small volume themselves. I’m sold with the idea of building a good (personal) library filled with timeless work of art. It has made me reevaluate the type of books I read and why I read them. It also convicts me to pay serious attention to classics. I love my light reading but from now on I’ll be brave and include some ‘heavy-duty’ materials. It’ll be a rewarding journey, I’m sure of that.