Blog On "Reading"

"The book exists for us perchance which will explain our miracles and reveal new ones."

"The works of the great poets have never yet been read by mankind, for only great poets can read them."

"A written word is the choicest of relics. It is something at once more intimate with us and more universal than any other work of art. It is the work of art nearest to life itself"

"Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations."

I found that this essay was, among the chapters in Walden, my favorite one. It contained a wealth of information, discussion and interpretation about the importance of reading and the power that reading affords to an individual. He pursues the importance of education with a passion that is very convincing of his argument. This essay, like the others, was very similar in the way that it seemed as if you could go in at any point, grab a sentence of two, and it would be a sentence or comment worthy of quotation and possible eventual fortune-cookie status. I posted some of my favorites here on the blog as somewhat of a commonplace book just for this chapter. These quotes are nothing short of revelations. Each quote has a great confidence in making you feel that it is a valid point, even without the support argument.

Thoreau makes the call for a reform to the educational system when he calls "It is time we had uncommon schools, that we did not leave off our education when we begin to be men and women. It is time that villages were universities, and their elder inhabitants the fellows of the universities, with leisure-- if they are indeed so well off-- to pursue liberal studies the rest of their lives." I really enjoyed our class interpretation of an "uncommon school" by doing the "uncommon classroom". Going outside to saunter in front of Roberts or take a walk down to our local Walden Duck pond made the phrase come alive in practice. I could see how many people would be abrasive to this concept of an "uncommon" education. It would take the right kind of scholar, one with motivation and drive, to make the most of this system. I'm not really sure if it is being done... I know that some schools (if not all) claim to be uncommon in some aspect but I don't know if Thoreau would align himself with the methodology of any school. It seems ironic to me that the place that wishes to listen to Thoreau's words the most (the academy/University) is also the place that seems to have a most rigid view on the proper education. Perhaps the microscope should examine itself...

At one of my favorite points in the essay he pokes fun at a criticism given to this thought of elevating scholarship among the masses. He says how the country is very willing to spend money on things that are of less value by "it is thought Utopian to propose spending money for things which more intelligent men know to be of far more worth." It's kind of funny how he uses the word "Utopian" to give a sense that we often treat knowledge and wisdom as if they are some unattainable goals. From one point he seems to be saying that wisdom and elevated thoughts are not out of any individuals reach but that it takes an exceptional individual to become wise. This is a sort of contradiction. To offer a way of understanding this it is perhaps his emphasis here might not be in the ability of the individual to be educated but on the ability of an individual to educate him/herself.

At the very end of the essay, in the second to last line, I found a quote which, I believe, defines the very reason I strove to become an English Major. "Instead of noblemen, let us have noble villages of men." I feel that, had I been keeping a commonplace book, this passage would be inscribed inside the front cover. In this short, simple, and sweet passage I feel that Thoreau lines up his values of Scholarship above and beyond monetary worth. This is how I feel. This is why I choose this path (instead of being a dull engineer!) I would much rather be considered a man wealthy in knowledge than a man wealthy in paper dollars and cents. Having an informed and learned perspective on the world is a privilege that money will never be able to buy.