Essay

Essay No force on earth could keep me from books, and I hope that my breakthrough withLes Miserablesis just one of many. I want to spend the rest of my life becoming a better reader, and just maybe, becoming a better person because of it. This is a perfectly acceptable way to read books for fun, but it is not way to enjoy a truly great novel. When I undertook the task ofLes MiserablesI thought that I had prepared myself. I had already read two different unabridged versions and done some research. For a long time, I bombarded my family with a constant but ever changing stream of chatter on my book of choice. Then, in eighth grade I was introduced to annotations. At first I thought they were tedious and annoying, but given time, I grew to appreciate the exercise. Now, instead of tiring our ears, I work away pencils, marking when I find something powerful, noting my thoughts in the margins of the pages. Then, when I’ve finished, I go back and read my own insights. Sometimes the difficulty makes reading the book more rewarding. There is nothing more satisfying than finally understanding a passage I couldn’t understand before. That moment of clarity makes the reading worth it. I read books about pioneers, astronauts, ordinary kids doing extraordinary things. I wasn’t quite able to read the original, so I was forced to resort to the “No fear Shakespeare” version. Lack of love causes loneliness, and I think the reason I have been lonely in pursuit of learning is because of a lack of love from the people who love what “I love”. However, my reading material has changed since elementary school. I appreciate nonfiction more than I did as a child. Ever since I took my first philosophy course, when I am seen with a book in my hands it is a philosophical work. In my opinion, Ludwig Wittgenstein beats William Shakespeare any day. One brainstorming technique is to identify several tangible objects that have special significance for you. If you dig deep enough there is almost always a great and revealing story in one of them. One student I know loved maps and also had somehow memorized the flag of every country in the world. It didn’t occur to him that this was particularly unique until he talked with a teacher who pointed it out to him. It turned into a great essay topic for a student interested in studying diplomacy. There are so many in my room I think they’ve started breeding. I’ll move a chair or look under my bed and a pile of books will have mysteriously appeared. I loved tracing out the shapes and letters, turning the pages, pretending Icouldread. The only thing I didn’t like about books was when people would read them out loud . When I finally learned to read, my love of books only increased. In elementary school I could always be found with a book in my hand. It would be all too easy to let my constant busyness and the distractions of daily life keep me from trying to understand the world and my place in it, but I won’t let that happen. I will forever be aware of myself and others, and I hope to never act on an unconscious bias. I know that Descartes was thinking thateverythingtold to him by his senses might be wrong, but I think his revelation applies more usefully to behaviors and biases we learn from a young age as well. I know it took some people years to finish, but I was dedicated. It wasn’t until I realized that the main character was first mentioned nearly eight pages in that my traditional reading style wasn’t going to work. I slowed downâ€"It wasn’t like I was racing anyoneâ€"and tried to hear every characters voice, hear the nuances of the words, and imagine how it would sound aloud. The book took me a full two weeks to finish, the longest it has ever taken me to finish a book in my life. And this experience opened up a whole new side of reading for me. Discussion, for me, is a natural part of the reading process. The written word isn’t meant to be a solitary thing; it’s meant to be shared.