Reading
9 Reasons Why You Should Read More Old Books
If you’re like me, you get anxious and marginally depressed when you see all the new books published each year.
It can happen at Barnes and Noble or while scanning the New York Times bestseller lists.
But the result is always the same: an acute sense of failure. How in the world can I read all of these books?
Fortunately, most books published each year will end up on the remainder pile–forgotten, useless and cheap.
Really cheap.
And while reading new books is a great way to stay on top of the latest ideas, I think it’s much better to make a habit of reading older books.
Here are nine reasons why. Enjoy!
1. Past the classic test.
Old books are books with ideas and stories that endure for 50, 100–even thousands of years. When you read an old book, you can be confident it’s quality writing. Not so with new books.
2. Fewer old books.
Random House’s list of the 100 best novels [all classics, though that could change in 50 years] can be read in one year. You couldn’t possibly manage to do that will all the new fiction published in one year.
3. Look odd, somewhat-sophisticated.
Reading classics adds a depth to your cocktail conversations you can’t get from new books. “You know, while I was reading Oedipus this morning, I thought of a way to solve our modern transit problem. All we have to do is….” See how that works? You just look cool.
4. Learn about the past.
Classic novels, for instance, can teach you about a particular time of history–whether it’s reading Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby [1920s] or Augustine’s City of God [100 BC to 400 AD]–while you’re enjoying yourself.
5. Cheaper.
If you’re the type of worm who likes to own all your books but don’t have deep pockets, then Barnes and Noble re-packages old books in hardcovers and sells them for less than $10. You can also almost always find used copies of old books on Amazon.
6. Free.
Since most classics are in the public domain, you can find them free at many sources online, like the Project Gutenberg [print versions] or LibriVox [audio versions].
7. Available at your library.
Naturally you have a better chance of finding old books at your library. How many times have you been on a waiting list for new, popular fiction? Too many, I’m sure.
8. Lots of commentary.
One of the things I enjoyed about reading Steinbeck’s Of Mice or Men or Dickens Bleak House was hunting down the surrounding discussion on those books. The depth of supporting literature on old books grossly out weighs that of new.
9. Quality is better.
If it’s a classic, this is obvious. Why else would it endure? But what makes a new book a classic? Themes that touch all people across time is one trait. Another trait is a sense of novelty. The book explores an idea for the first time of experiments with an new technique.
Your turn. What reasons can you think of that would convince someone to read more old books? Did I miss anything?
And what do you think make books like Luther’s Bondage of the Will or Paul Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress classic? What qualities make a story like Homer’s Iliad timeless?
Please share. I look forward to your thoughts.
What Are You Reading? And Why?
I’m always curious to know what books you are reading–helps me discover titles I might have never uncovered.
I’m also curious to know WHY you are reading those particular books.
In return, I like to share what books I’m reading in hopes I might introduce you to something new.
By the way: I’m trying to read 100 books this year. But guess what? I’m hopelessly behind.
[Let that be our little secret.]
Nonetheless, in my delusional quest to read 2.25 books a week perhaps I’ll break last year’s record…[which might be a little hard to determine since I never kept track of the books I read last year. Oh well.]
Anyway, here are the six books I’m working through right now.
Old Testament [Out of the Apologetics Study Bible
Hoping to read this in about a 5 week period. By the way, does each book of the OT count as one book? If so, then I’ll have read 33 books in 5 weeks. [Please tell me it does!]
Why I’m Reading It: I don’t think a mature Christian you make without a solid understanding of the OT under your belt. So I make reading it an annual event.
Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament
Book-by-book survey of the OT. Reading it in lockstep with the OT.
Why I’m Reading It: See the above reason.
Coaching for Improved Work Performance
A business book geared for managers hoping to increase productivity. Insights so far: managers need employees more than employees need them and work is simply “renting a certain behavior.” In my case, writing behavior.
Why I’m Reading It: I always want to be better at what I do. At this time it’s being a better editor.
Paradise Lost
John Milton’s classic tale of the Fall. I have to confess: I’m actually listening to it. But you can, too. For free: Paradise Lost at LibriVox.
Why I’m Reading It: Never have. And I love the rich language. As a writer, this is important. I’d recommend all writers to read classics like Paradise Lost. [Or listen to it.]
City of God
St. Augustine’s classic defense of the Christian faith. Reading about 3 pages every morning, which will take me the entire year. In just 300 pages though I’ve got an extensive education on pagan religions and Platonism. Didn’t expect that. [I like those little surprises.]
Why I’m Reading It: I don’t interact with ancient texts [history in general] enough, which restricts my understanding of my faith. Hoping to bridge that gap.
Statistics Demystified
One of those DIY books on the branch of mathematics that deals with the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. It’s got a freaky cover. [So says my kids.]
Why I’m Reading It: I’ve always been fascinated with mathematics. But woefully ignorant of the topic. Plus, I like to learn about things wildly out of my field and exercise parts of my brain that are asleep.
So, what are you reading? And why? Also, are you a library fanatic? [I am.] Or do you prefer to buy books? New or used? I look forward to comments.
Why You Should Master the Old Testament
If you think the Old Testament is a boring book and not worth your time or attention, let me give you one very good reason why you should master it: Jesus did.
In fact, he coped with Satan’s desert temptations by quoting from Deuteronomy…
He also used the Old Testament to teach his disciples and ridicule his critics…
He confirmed historical events like the destruction of Sodom, the murder of Abel and the calling of Moses–events found in the OT.
Jesus even confirmed the often-rejected OT accounts: the creation of Adam and Eve, Noah and the flood and the three days Jonah spend in a whale’s belly.
[Thanks to The BeAttitudes' article Jesus Quoted Old Testament Scripture: How Can Christians Deny It's Validity? for help on the previous portion of this post.]
But there’s another reason why we should master the Old Testament: neglecting it can rob you of a rich understanding of the teachings and narratives found in the New Testament.
Let’s look at the books of Samuel for instance.
The books of Samuel lay the foundation for the all-important doctrine of the Messiah. In particular 2 Samuel 7 tells us how these promises of the Messiah created hope and expectations that New Testament authors understood to be fulfilled by Jesus.
The Lord promised David he would:
Establish the kingdom of one of David’s Descendants
The New Testament identified Jesus as that descendant who brought the kingdom of God to humanity. [Matthew 12:28]
Build a House for God’s Name
The NT writers viewed Jesus as the one who built the ultimate temple of God in three days. [Matthew 26:61]
Sit on a Throne That Would Last Forever
Hebrews declared Jesus had just that. [Hebrews 1:8]
Live as a Son to God
Jesus was the ultimate Son of God. [Matthew 16:16]
Listen: One of the easiest ways to master the Old Testament is to simply get in the habit of reading through it every year.
Another helpful way to learn more about the OT is read a book like Vanhoozer’s book-by-book survey of the Old Testament
You could also use the Seven Births method [this has nothing to do with contraceptives, by the way].
Or if you’re a sucker for a challenge, throw yourself into a fake masters program on the OT.
How ever you do it, the point is to absorb the entire Bible [both Old and New Testament], because there is nothing worse than a biblically illiterate Christian.
What’s Your Morning Routine Look Like? Here’s Mine
Three chapters from the Old Testament.
Small bit of commentary on these chapters.
And three pages from Augustine’s City of God.
That’s what my early morning routine looks like.
What does your morning routine look like? Please share. I’m curious.
Why Did I Change My Routine?
Anyone who’s been around Fallen and Flawed for a while knows I’m a big fan of the right-brain thinker’s guide to Bible study.
But to be frank, after two years of that routine (which basically amounted to reading the same eight chapters from the New Testament for 30 days straight) I hit a point where the monotony got to me.
I needed to break the mold and do something differently.
So, to start the year off fresh, the first thing I did was read the New Testament straight through in January.
Then I figured out how many chapters I need to read a day so I can finish the Old Testament in a year.
I did the same thing with City of God. And that’s where I’m at now.
Where I Got This Idea
I borrowed the idea of reading a church father from William Lane Craig who’s been working through the ante-Nicene fathers every morning for the past decade.
It’s amazing how much ground you can cover if you commit to doing just a little a day.
So what about you: What’s your morning routine look like? What devotions are you using? Praying through the newspaper? Reading the Intellectual Devotional?
Furthermore, how do you do it: In your favorite chair? Lying on your stomach on the floor [my favorite]? Outside on the patio? In bed and beneath your covers?
By the way, I’m successful about four out seven days. The other three days I’m scrambling before bed time or using a Saturday to catch up. How successful are you? Got any tricks that keep you on track for your morning routine?
Let me know. Curious to see your habits!
Psst…Karr? This Sex Scene Is a Really Bad Idea
What do you do with a memoir that details in four pages a graphic display of child molestation?
What if its the author as a young child that’s the subject…
Does that change the make up of the story from autobiography to something more sinister–like pornography?
Does it matter that this is an event in the past? Does it make it any less real or problematic?
Those were some of the questions I asked myself as I finished reading Mary Karr’s 1995 memoir The Liar’s Club.
The book was Karr’s first memoir [she's since written two more--Cherry and Lit--I've read neither of them] and the idea to write it came from her friend Tobias Wolfe.
In her own words, Carr said it was an agonizing task that involved a mountain of emotional labor–not just to revisit dark places but to merely get the words on the page. Here she is in a Salon interview:
“I would lie down on the floor and go to sleep after about an hour and a half’s work. Literally go to sleep like I had been driving all night. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I went to a shrink and said, ‘Am I repressing something, bah bah bah bah.’ And she said, ‘Well, I think you are just really exhausted by it.’”
Fortunately, her herculean effort paid off.
The Essence of The Liar’s Club
She wrote a compelling, hilarious and haunting autobiography about growing up as a child in Leechfield, Texas–oil refinery country–raised by a hard-working, hard-drinking, but sturdy and surprisingly gentle father who managed to marry a displaced New Yorker living on the outskirts of madness.
The book ended up being a runaway bestseller–a justified judgment given the quality of the writing and a decent payoff for the task of exposing herself.
But the question is–did she go too far?
In Carr’s defense, as a child she played the hand she was dealt–and as a child that’s sometimes all you can do.
What you get is a gritty, foul-mouthed eight-year-old girl who fought hard for survival and security, revenge and love–things hard to come by when you have a mother who’s head is in a perennial cloud of vodka, methamphetamine diet pills, suspect men, brooding jazz and fatalistic literature.
So it comes as no surprise when I tell you that Karr’s mother lacked a woeful amount of judgment, most clearly seen in her decision to allow questionable men to babysit her daughters.
The scene was terrible. And you saw it like a dark storm slowly sweeping in from the sea. At one point I wondered if Carr was going to actually go there. Or would she pull out early enough to avoid the explicit?
I had hope she’d pull out. Earlier in the book Carr handled a case of rape very sympathetically without giving an uncomfortable amount of detail.
That’s why it surprised me that she dove into this particular scene with no holds barred.
Where I’d Like to Have Not Gone
At least that’s my guess because the moment I saw where she was going and had no intention of stopping, I bailed and counted the pages before the scene was over.
Four pages.
Granted, as I quickly skimmed the pages looking for the end (it came, by the way, when the chapter ended) the scene covered mostly emotional territory, like her mental activity during the event.
And I’m glad to say she never revisited the topic again.
But here’s the deal: This scene would NEVER make it to the movie screen. In fact, if you owned a video of this event, you’d be arrested.
Why, then, is it okay in a book? I argue it’s not. It permits us to go to dark places we should never visit.
Naturally, this uncorks a litany of problems, namely censorship. But should the world thank Mary Carr for “going there” on this particular topic and being candid about it?
No.
All this does is allow us to inch our moral boundaries back, calibrated by our sense of appropriate indiscretion–and that’s, unfortunately, what you get when you don’t have absolute boundaries.
Gore Vidal–who defended cannabis laws–once said that some people should be told not to do drugs.
I agree. And the same goes for morality. Mary Karr’s book would’ve been a runaway bestseller without this scene.
A curious–if not disturbing–side note about the The Liar’s Club is it’s viewed as the book that jump-started the memoir explosion. Naturally, in it’s wake we have self-expression without guardrails.
One has to wonder where this will take us if we don’t provide those boundaries.
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