The virtue of reading well
Have you ever had a conversation with someone who you could tell was just waiting for you to finish talking so that they could say whatever was on their mind? Or with someone who always responded by correcting you or telling you how you’re wrong? Or what about someone who seemed to always be telling you what […]
But why do we have to read old books?
We’ve talked about literature this week—what’s so great about books and why we read them. “But,” you may wonder, “why do we have to read all these old books?” Franz Kafka gives an answer: “You spend too much time on ephemeras. The majority of modern books are merely wavering reflections of the present. They disappear very quickly. […]
The grand adventure of reading
I Met a Dragon Face to FaceBy Jack Prelutsky I met a dragon face to facethe year when I was ten,I took a trip to outer space,I braved a pirate’s den,I wrestled with a wicked troll,and fought a great white shark,I trailed a rabbit down a hole,I hunted for a snark. I stowed aboard a submarine,I opened magic […]
The crime of not reading
About 600 BC, King Jehoiakim destroyed Jeremiah’s scroll in a fire. Around 250 BC Emperor Qin Shi Huang of China ordered the burning of all philosophy books and history books from states other than Qin. Following the conversion of the Maldives to Islam in 1153, Buddhist manuscripts written by Maldivian monks were burnt or destroyed. The Nazi book burnings were […]
What’s the point of stories?
What’s the point of stories? I mean, why do we bother reading them? They’re not particularly useful. Nobody reads Moby Dick as a sailing instruction manual, (although perhaps you could!); or the Chronicles of Narnia to better understand wardrobe furniture; or the Odyssey as a travel guide. Many people today will tell you that reading […]
The Beauty in the Struggle
January came in snowy and cold – colder than the parts of the country that are typically subzero at this time of year! But what a delight it was to welcome our scholars back to campus and begin the third quarter of our school year. A couple reminders about routines and expectations and off we […]
