On Reading Well

It's not often that I read books about reading books. Literary criticism, while sometimes amusing, is just not what I prefer to study when I curl up on the couch to spend some quiet time. But something in the title of a book I stumbled upon online caused me to order it. It's called On Reading Well: Finding The Good Life Through Great Books by Karen Swallow Prior.

The basic premise is this:

"Literature embodies virtue, first, by offering images of virtue in action and, second by offering the reader vicarious practice in exercising virtue, which is not the same as actual practice, of course, but is nonetheless a practice by which habits of mind, ways of thinking, and perceiving accrue."

In order to accomplish this goal, one must follow some simple advice:

1. "To read well, enjoy. Read books you enjoy, develop your ability to enjoy challenging reading, read deeply and slowly, and increase your enjoyment of a book by writing words of your own in it."

2. "Great books teach us how (not what) to think. Here Prior quotes Thomas Jefferson: 'While the ethical component of literature comes from its content (its ideas, lessons, vision), the aesthetic quality is related to the way reading - first as an exercise, then as a habit - forms us. Just as water, over a long period of time, reshapes the land through which it runs, so too we are formed by the habit of reading good books well.'"

After this introduction, Prior then lists 12 virtues corresponding to 12 books that best exemplify that virtue. Each book in this list has a chapter of its own as Prior helps us to understand the virtue being examined. Here they are:

The Cardinal Virtues:
Prudence: The History of Tom Jones, Henry Fielding
Temperance: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Justice: A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
Courage: Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

The Theological Virtues:
Faith: Silence, Shusaku Endo
Hope: The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Love: The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy

The Heavenly Virtues:
Chastity: Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton
Diligence: Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan
Patience: Persuasion, Jane Austen
Kindness: “Tenth of December", George Saunders
Humility: “Revelation” and “Everything That Rises Must Converge”, Flannery O'Connor

Final thoughts: Having previously read only 7 of these titles, I cannot vouch that any of these recommendations will fit everyone's standards for "good books."  We all have drawn our own "lines in the sand" when it comes to reading fiction. While Steve and I are going to attempt this year to read Prior's book and the other novels she recommends, please use your own discretion if this type of reading project appeals to you.  If you do decide to read one or more of these great works, please let me know. Part of the fun of a project like this is sharing it with friends.