An under appreciated area for readers is poetry. At one time it was very popular but has fallen into desuetude. I recommend an anthology of 100 best poems in English or if not used to poetry try Perrine’s Sound and Sense which teaches the reader how to read and enjoy poetry and uses some of the very best poems in English to teach you. When you find a poem you love, memorize it! Nothing better to explore the full meanings of words than poetry with both denotation and connotation!
Agreed. I just read a short one from Jane Hirshfield this morning that makes me think every time I come across it in my notes, where I squirreled it away 5 years ago.
I just got back from book club (which meets everywhere from monthly to biannually depending on how things are going!) and at this meeting we all brought poetry to share and I heard new ones and it was lovely! So I heartily second both your book club recommendation, Joel, and your poetry recommendation, Arthur!
Yes, I agree. This past year we've been reading aloud Stories In Verse (Max T. Hohn, ed.), an anthology originally published in 1943 and intended for high schoolers. I was amazed at how much information it contained about different types of poems and how they are structured as well as hints for reading aloud well. I'm a voracious reader, but I have to admit that that I have not tended to read much poetry in my adult life.
Certain homeschoolers (like my family) have weekly ‘Poetry & Teatimes’. We each choose a poem to share or sometimes learn to craft a certain type. We do this with an afternoon treat, and sensual pleasures like a tablecloth, special cups and dishes and a candle, sometimes highlighting a theme. I made this a habit in our homeschool partly because of my own lack of sensibility and familiarity of poetry and because I’d like the children to develop a love for words, wit, rhythms, and imagery.
Well, I'm proud to be a pervert: usually, I read an endnoted book by reading the endnotes first.
One of my favorite books is Flann O'Brien's surrealistic classic, The Third Policeman. It's fiction, and it has footnotes. I understand that O'Brien was not the first writer of fiction to do that, but oh my, the footnotes, all straightfaced ( straightvoiced? ) are some of the funniest things I've ever read.
Take a course or practice a skill that is entirely unrelated to your main occupation or focus. Even if stressed, exercising an entirely different sphere of your mind is renewing. When I took my degree in the health sciences, electives were required. The course load was stressful and my fellow students looked for electives with a reputation of being easy but chose health science adjacent subjects. I took courses in subjects I always wanted to learn. So I played in the university orchestra, took a semester in Greek and in Latin, and even managed a research paper for a second year history course. I thoroughly enjoyed myself although the courses were not easy, because my mind was working along new paths, resting the paths learning health sciences. A change really is as good as a rest.
Totally. This reminds me of my advice to songwriters. Whatever your genre is, don't listen to it all the time. If you are a punk pop writer listen to show tunes. If you are a country writer listen to The Ramones. You'll hear things that can help you in your own house that you'd never hear unless you left it.
I’ve taken to just staring out my window and thinking to myself, honestly.
We are bombarded with so many kinds of input we are not biologically optimized for that giving yourself periodic and complete daily breaks from “media consumption” is probably underrated by the average literate person nowadays imo.
Years ago, when Barnes & Noble carried a HUGE variety of magazines, I used to pick out different magazines to accomplish this purpose. Maybe there are still bookstores which have large and varied magazine collections, but I now use Substacks and podcasts instead.
Yes, that’s brilliant. One thing great about magazines is how much variety they can cram between the covers. The only thing better is loads of magazines.
Solid advice for a Saturday morning. We attended a screening of The Coddling of the American Mind with ensuing discussion this week - very refreshing and unusual to hear people from a with a variety of worldviews find common ground. Your discussion group sounds like a salubrious place and a rare find. And to your last point, I recently finished Middlemarch, and just now The Every by Dave Eggers which means my next one needs to be another classic, "Is there something you recommend I read?" :)
I’ll be reading Middlemarch later this year (November). I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. As for a suggestion, I’m reading Willa Cather’s My Àntonia in June and could suggest that. I’d also recommend Shusaku Endo’s The Samurai. It’s modern but definitely deemed a classic; it’s an astonishing book.
I'd be happy to share my thoughts on Middlemarch once you get around to it (unless you want me to comment now - I am one for going into books blind and being surprised at what I find). I've never read Willa Cather but believe I actually have this one on my shelf (and also just saw a copy at the thrift store this week). Will see if it fits well in my hand luggage to take along to Switzerland:) Thanks for the recommendation!
Yes, I usually prefer to know nothing beyond whatever I currently know when I start a classic. I usually begin seeking out opinions, criticism, history, and the like when I get near the end.
An under appreciated area for readers is poetry. At one time it was very popular but has fallen into desuetude. I recommend an anthology of 100 best poems in English or if not used to poetry try Perrine’s Sound and Sense which teaches the reader how to read and enjoy poetry and uses some of the very best poems in English to teach you. When you find a poem you love, memorize it! Nothing better to explore the full meanings of words than poetry with both denotation and connotation!
Agreed. I just read a short one from Jane Hirshfield this morning that makes me think every time I come across it in my notes, where I squirreled it away 5 years ago.
I just got back from book club (which meets everywhere from monthly to biannually depending on how things are going!) and at this meeting we all brought poetry to share and I heard new ones and it was lovely! So I heartily second both your book club recommendation, Joel, and your poetry recommendation, Arthur!
Yes, I agree. This past year we've been reading aloud Stories In Verse (Max T. Hohn, ed.), an anthology originally published in 1943 and intended for high schoolers. I was amazed at how much information it contained about different types of poems and how they are structured as well as hints for reading aloud well. I'm a voracious reader, but I have to admit that that I have not tended to read much poetry in my adult life.
Certain homeschoolers (like my family) have weekly ‘Poetry & Teatimes’. We each choose a poem to share or sometimes learn to craft a certain type. We do this with an afternoon treat, and sensual pleasures like a tablecloth, special cups and dishes and a candle, sometimes highlighting a theme. I made this a habit in our homeschool partly because of my own lack of sensibility and familiarity of poetry and because I’d like the children to develop a love for words, wit, rhythms, and imagery.
1. I’m big on checking footnotes and endnotes - they’ve led me to numerous other sources.
2. I’m a frequent Thrift-Store, Used Bookstore, and often a “for sale shelf” at a college to pick up titles I’ve never heard of.
3. I endorse the common practice of taking a book to a coffee shop, listen to some
Instrumental music and read.
4. I’ve done some reading groups - I need to do that more, as you aptly encouraged us to do.
I’m also a big fan of shopping from author’s endnotes. Sometimes the best part of a book, even a very good book, is the bibliography and the notes.
Well, I'm proud to be a pervert: usually, I read an endnoted book by reading the endnotes first.
One of my favorite books is Flann O'Brien's surrealistic classic, The Third Policeman. It's fiction, and it has footnotes. I understand that O'Brien was not the first writer of fiction to do that, but oh my, the footnotes, all straightfaced ( straightvoiced? ) are some of the funniest things I've ever read.
Take a course or practice a skill that is entirely unrelated to your main occupation or focus. Even if stressed, exercising an entirely different sphere of your mind is renewing. When I took my degree in the health sciences, electives were required. The course load was stressful and my fellow students looked for electives with a reputation of being easy but chose health science adjacent subjects. I took courses in subjects I always wanted to learn. So I played in the university orchestra, took a semester in Greek and in Latin, and even managed a research paper for a second year history course. I thoroughly enjoyed myself although the courses were not easy, because my mind was working along new paths, resting the paths learning health sciences. A change really is as good as a rest.
“A change … is as good as a rest.” So true.
Totally. This reminds me of my advice to songwriters. Whatever your genre is, don't listen to it all the time. If you are a punk pop writer listen to show tunes. If you are a country writer listen to The Ramones. You'll hear things that can help you in your own house that you'd never hear unless you left it.
Makes sense. It all goes back to innovation, which is about combining and recombining previously unmixed inputs. https://www.millersbookreview.com/p/aristotle-how-to-innovate?utm_source=publication-search
I’ve taken to just staring out my window and thinking to myself, honestly.
We are bombarded with so many kinds of input we are not biologically optimized for that giving yourself periodic and complete daily breaks from “media consumption” is probably underrated by the average literate person nowadays imo.
I think that’s great. It’s like palate cleanser for the mind.
Years ago, when Barnes & Noble carried a HUGE variety of magazines, I used to pick out different magazines to accomplish this purpose. Maybe there are still bookstores which have large and varied magazine collections, but I now use Substacks and podcasts instead.
Yes, that’s brilliant. One thing great about magazines is how much variety they can cram between the covers. The only thing better is loads of magazines.
Solid advice for a Saturday morning. We attended a screening of The Coddling of the American Mind with ensuing discussion this week - very refreshing and unusual to hear people from a with a variety of worldviews find common ground. Your discussion group sounds like a salubrious place and a rare find. And to your last point, I recently finished Middlemarch, and just now The Every by Dave Eggers which means my next one needs to be another classic, "Is there something you recommend I read?" :)
I’ll be reading Middlemarch later this year (November). I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. As for a suggestion, I’m reading Willa Cather’s My Àntonia in June and could suggest that. I’d also recommend Shusaku Endo’s The Samurai. It’s modern but definitely deemed a classic; it’s an astonishing book.
I'd be happy to share my thoughts on Middlemarch once you get around to it (unless you want me to comment now - I am one for going into books blind and being surprised at what I find). I've never read Willa Cather but believe I actually have this one on my shelf (and also just saw a copy at the thrift store this week). Will see if it fits well in my hand luggage to take along to Switzerland:) Thanks for the recommendation!
Yes, I usually prefer to know nothing beyond whatever I currently know when I start a classic. I usually begin seeking out opinions, criticism, history, and the like when I get near the end.
Same here - I always skip the "Introduction" section in classics as I simply want to experience the story. I leave that section for the end :)
Same!
I also want to read Middlemarch this year! But I'll probably read it before November, as I - by strict tradition - always read Frankenstein then:)
This substack has nourished my mind, and I've recommended it to many of my friends!
That gratifies me to no end, Thaddeus! Thanks!