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(d) Only when we are ready for books.

5 What claim did Merton make about the poems of William Blake? (a) They were similar to the works of the Greek writers and thinkers. (b) They helped him understand the meaning of life. (c) They created a sense of confusion.

(d) They taught him a lot about modern culture. 6 What is meant by a home-run book?

(a) A book which is so good you are unable to put it down. (b) A book that the whole family can enjoy.

(c) A children‘s book that is read and appreciated by adults.

(d) A book that hits hard like a home run in the game of baseball. Dealing with unfamiliar words

4 Match the words in the box with their definitions. 1 to make someone feel that they do not belong to your group (exclude) 2 to fail to do something that you should do (neglect) 3 to mention something as an example (cite)

4 to be strong enough not to be harmed or destroyed by something (withstand) 5 in most situations or cases (normally) 6 to be about to happen in the future (await)

5 Complete the paragraph with the correct form of the words in Activity 4. When I lived in Britain, one of my favourite radio programmes was called ―Desert Island Discs‖. The format was always the same: Guest celebrities were asked to imagine they had been washed ashore on a

desert island, and had to choose nine books – (1) excluding the Bible and Shakespeare, which they were

already provided with – to take with them to the island, to help them (2) withstand the physical and mental

isolation. I sometimes like to think which books I would take. (3) Normally, like most people, I don‘t have much time for reading, and I could (4) cite dozens of books which I have never read but which I would like to. It‘s an opportunity I have (5) awaited all my life, in fact. But what would I choose? Mostly

novels, probably, but I wouldn‘t (6) neglect to include a volume or two of poetry. My first choice, I think,

would be Tolstoy‘s War and Peace. I‘ve never read it, but I‘m ready to believe that it is one of the most

marvelous books ever written.

6 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words in the box. 1 In a good novel, the writer and reader communicate with each other. (interact) 2 I have to face up to the problem sooner or later. (confront) 3 I read the book in one sitting and Mary did too. (likewise)

4 E. M. Forster was one of the most important and respected British novelists of the 20th century. (influential)

5 Do you believe that a work of literature can actually lead to social changes? (induce)

6 Robert Burns was a great poet who wrote in the language variety spoken in Scotland. (dialect)

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7 The Time Traveller’s Wife is the story of a man who has a strange and inexplicable genetic disorder. (mysterious)

7 Answer the questions about the words. 1 If you have had a disconcerting experience, do you feel a bit (a) tired, or (b) confused? 2 If you have a vista of something, can you (a) see or imagine it, or (b) go and visit it? 3 Would you express great wrath by (a) smiling at someone, or (b) shouting at them? 4 If you feel enchanted by a book, do you (a) like it a lot, or (b) not like it at all? 5 Is a writer who is supremely talented (a) very good, or (b) quite good at his job?

6 If reading fosters an understanding of certain problems, does it (a) help understanding, or (b) prevent it?

7 If you are desperately trying to get a job, are you (a) trying very hard to get it, or (b) caring little whether you get it or not?

8 Is a sensation (a) a certainty, or (b) just a feeling?

Active reading (2)

They were alive and they spoke to me Background information

This is from The Books in My Life by Henry Miller (1861–1980), an American novelist, writer and painter. Miller was born in New York, lived in Paris 1930–1939, and then in California. His

best-known works blend fiction, autobiography, social criticism and mysticism: Tropic of Cancer (1934 published in France) describes his life and loves in Paris and because of its sexual frankness it was not published in the USA till 1961; Black Spring (1936) has ten autobiographical stories; Tropic of Capricorn (1939) is about his years with the Western Union Telegraph Company; The Colossus of Maroussi (1941), considered by some critics to be his best work, is a travel book about people from his stay in Greece.

In The Books in My Life (1969) Miller looks at 100 books that influenced him. His list includes children‘s books written originally for adults (eg Alice in Wonderland, The Arabian Nights, Greek Myths and Legends, Robinson Crusoe, The Three Musketeers); many French novels and poetry (eg by Balzac, Hugo, Giono, Nerval, Proust, Rimbaud, Huysmans, Maeterlinck), German novels (by Mann, Hesse, Dreiser) and the Chinese Lao Tse and Fenollosa‘s The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry, besides work by American writers (Twain, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman), Dostoievshy, Nietzsche, Joyce and writers on spiritual topics. Culture points

August Strindberg (1849–1912): A Swedish playwright and a prolific writer of novels, short stories, satires, essays and poems, and a photographer, who tried various jobs before becoming assistant

librarian at the Royal Library in Stockholm and established an experimental theatre. He is best known for his plays, including The Father (1887) and Miss Julie (1888), and for his vitality, vigour, and brilliant use of language.

Miller cites Strindberg‘s autobiographies, The Confession of a Fool (vol.2), a passionate love story and account of problems in his marriage, and The Inferno (vol.3), a study of his religious conversion, delusions and neuroses which reflect Strindberg‘s periods of mental instability. Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961) is the pen name of Frédéric Sauser, a Swiss-born French novelist, shortstory writer, poet, and film-maker, who led a life of constant travel (he was born in an Italian

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railway train) doing various jobs in Russia, Europe, North and South America and Asia – he is said to have shoveled coal on steam trains in China. He lost his right arm fighting for France in World War I. His prose includes vivid, witty, action-packed novels, like Moravagine (1926), which describe travel and adventure, or works directly inspired by his own experience, like The Astonished Man (1945) and The Cut Hand (1946), and four volumes of memoirs. Miller admired his work and lists ?virtually the complete works‘ of Cendrars as influential reading. Rémy de Gourmont (1858–1915): a French writer of 50 books: essays, novels and poetry, with a strong interest in medieval Latin literature; as a critic he was admired by T. S. Eliot. He was a librarian at the National Library in Paris; later, a painful skin disease kept him largely at home. He was influential in the symbolist movement in literature. He claimed that a work of art exists only through the emotion it gives us. He asserted the need to get away from the unquestioning acceptance of commonplace ideas and associations of ideas, and believed it was necessary for thought to proceed by imagery rather than by ideas.

Julius Caesar (110 BC–44 BC): a Roman statesman, known as a great military strategist. As a

general he was famous for the conquest of Gaul (modern France and Belgium) which he added to the Roman Empire. He also made two expeditions to Britain, was governor of Spain and traveled in North Africa and Egypt. He was a good speaker and he wrote several books of commentaries and memoirs on Roman wars and military campaigns. Caesar‘s writing is often studied today by those who learn Latin.

The Julius Caesar of literature: this phrase compares Cendrars with Caesar: both were men of action, travelers, adventurers, explorers, who somehow found time to read a lot and write books.

Language points

1 The fact, however, that in the past I did most of my work without the aid of library I look upon as an advantage rather than a disadvantage. (Para 1)

This is irony. Miller is writing about the importance of reading and about key books in his life, but there is a paradox: Only recently has he been able to get all the books he has wanted all his life (ie he now has money, as a best-selling writer, to buy books) and, as a writer, he wrote books without the help of a library. He says that not having books was an advantage. The explanation is probably that Miller‘s early writing was a mixture of autobiography and fiction, so he didn‘t need to read other books or refer to them to do his own writing. The irony is that he is saying this in a book about the books the influenced him.

2 A good book lives through the passionate recommendation of one reader to another. (Para 3) Miller thinks that a good part of the ?life‘ of a book is how one reader recommends it to another with enthusiasm, ie books are about sharing experience, not just the author‘s experience in the book and the reader‘s experience of reading it, but also the experience of word-of-mouth or face-to-face recommendation by other readers.

3 And the better the man the more easily will he part with his most cherished possessions. (Para 4)

This continues Miller‘s thought that books are for sharing. A good person will share things he or she loves. In this case, such a person will give or lend favourite books and such generosity makes friends: When you give books you get friendship.

4 If you are honest with yourself you will discover that your stature has increased from the mere effort of resisting your impulse. (Para 6)

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Miller‘s argument here is that you should not read everything, but that you should choose very

carefully and selectively. This means you should resist the temptation to read some things which are not really going to add to your knowledge or enjoyment (not every book will do this, only some). Here, he says that in this way, we grow (we ―increase our stature‖). That is, we grow by not reading many books. The implication is that if we choose the very best books and read these few really carefully we will get the best from them – and grow by such selection. Miller discusses 100 books which he things are such books.

5 All on the side, as it were. (Para 7)

Cendrars was a man of action who spent most of his time on travels and adventures. Surprisingly (you would think he did not have time), he read a lot in different languages and even wrote many books – this was in addition to his main activities.

6 For, if he is anything, Cendrars, he is a man of action, an adventurer and explorer, a man who has known how to “waste” his time royally. (Para 7)

Cendrars had a huge reputation as a man of action, travelling, having adventures and exploring

different countries and yet he read a lot (he knew how to use the little time available to read). ―Waste‖ is in quotes to show irony (reading isn‘t a waste of time), that he reads in a royal manner (ie very thoroughly). The sentence structure here is quite French with the repetition of ―he‖.

Reading and understanding

2 Choose the best answer to the questions. 1 What does Miller consider to have been an advantage during his writing career? (a) To have been able to read all the books he wanted. (b) To have grown up in a room full of books. (c) To have written without the aid of a library. (d) The fact that he never wanted to own any books.

2 What did three stars on a book mean in the public library in Miller‘s youth? (a) Young people weren‘t allowed to read them. (b) They were the most popular books in the library. (c) They were intended for children.

(d) They were more exciting than one-star books.

3 Why does Miller hope the star system still exists in public libraries? (a) It is an efficient system which works well.

(b) It discourages people from reading inappropriate books. (c) It makes people interested in reading.

(d) It makes it easier for people to recognize books. 4 Why do people lend books, in Miller‘s opinion? (a) Because they feel the need to share their feelings. (b) It‘s the best way to make a friend. (c) It‘s less risky than lending money.

(d) Because it‘s not possible to possess a book for ever.

5 According to Miller, what should you do when you find a book you want to read? (a) Pick it up and start reading.

(b) Ask a friend for advice about the book.

(c) Think about whether you really need to read it.

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