"The only advice, indeed, that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions" (Woolf 1).
Woolf is trying to say that no one has the same imagination and thoughts, so when reading everyone will have their own views on it. People will probably even have different views and imaginations than the author or writer which is why Woolf tells readers to "open your mind as widely as possible" (Woolf 2). She's not saying readers have to read without any thoughts or emotions, but rather to open up a book with a clean mind with no certain expectations and judgements. Woolf wants the reader to respect the author's thoughts and writings and instead of criticizing, the reader should try and step inside the author's shoes and ask themselves why the author would write something that way.
Then Fadiman's argument goes along with Woolf's as she believes that there's no right way to read and treat a book. "Just as there is more than one way to love a person, so is there more than one way to love a book" (Fadiman 2). Fadiman argues that we have to respect each others' ways of reading because it's their own opinion and expression. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and how to express those opinions is part of everyone's rights.
There won't be a right or wrong opinion as Woolf says, "The battle of Waterloo was certainly fought on a certain day, but is Hamlet a better play than Lear? Nobody can say. Each must decide that question for himself" (Woolf 1). Everyone can have their own opinions, but as readers we shouldn't criticize others' opinions, but try to embrace them and think about why the other person thought that way.
Heidi, I like the way you compared the two essays. I like how you saw this common theme of trying to avoid judgment -- whether it's in the words on the pages or in how others read the words on the pages. Good post!
ReplyDelete