Reading Response 8/31, Woolf and Fadiman

Art is embedded into the human consciousness, it always has been and always will be. Everyone feels the need to consume, create, or experience it, albeit in completely different ways. Thus, there should not be too many guidelines as to how one should read or otherwise interact with a book. In fact, there may be only two. Each of these are mentioned by both Anne Fadiman and Virginia Woolf in their respective writings about literature.

Fadiman broadcasts her mantra that "just as there is more than one way to love a person, so is there more than one way to love a book" in her essay "Never Do That to a Book" (Fadiman 2). This is not only true, it's almost necessary to realize in order to truly delve into a piece of literature. After all, there is no point in picking up a book in the first place if you do not plan on loving it. Some view the pristine physical qualities of clean book as signs of love, but how often has a book been loved if it's not nearly ripped to shreds? True signs of love are brief footnotes written in by the curious reader, folded and creased pages worn from use, and a cover nearly unrecognizable from braving the same elements its reader has.

Woolf takes a slightly different, albeit equally valid approach to reading. She dictates that all readers must have an "open your mind as widely as possible" (Woolf 2). That isn't to say that readers cannot impart personal feelings and experiences while flipping through a novel. All readers should start reading a book like a curious child just discovering a small collection of colorful pictures. Instead of levying criticism and praise upon minute technical details, simply experience the art that the author has blessed you with.

Becoming a reader is not a trial by fire or a military training exercise, it is merely a process all people must experience in order to get the most out of literature. Loving your book passionately and uniquely while opening your mind up to any possibilities suggested by the author not only changes the way you read literature, it changes the way you experience art as a whole.