Friday 30 December 2011

Why This Blog

The true reason [for reading] remains the inscrutable one – we get pleasure from reading. It is a complex pleasure and a difficult pleasure; it varies from age to age and from book to book. But that pleasure is enough. Indeed that pleasure is so great that one cannot doubt that without it the world would be a far different and a far inferior place from what it is. Reading has changed the world and continues to change it. When the day of judgment comes therefore and all secrets are laid bare, we shall not be surprised to learn that the reason why we have grown from apes to men, and left our caves and dropped our bows and arrows and sat round the fire and talked and given to the poor and helped the sick – the reason why we have made shelter and society out of the wastes of the desert and the tangle of the jungle is simply this – we have loved reading.


Reading is one of the most profound and lasting pleasures I have ever known. Like all 'recovering', i.e. lapsed, Catholics, I devote far too little time to pleasure, and can't help feeling slightly guilty when I do indulge. I tend to rush through books, wolfing them down like chocolates secretly eaten on a diet, barely remembering the characters' names when I'm finished. But with the new year comes a new resolution - to read more, and savour each book, giving it the attention it deserves. Each one will get a review and a rating, both purely subjective, of course. If anyone reads this, enjoy, and happy reading in 2012!






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