analyze the structure of the following article:They were alive and they
spoke to me
1I sit in a little room,one wall of which is now completely lined with books.It is
the first time I have had the leisure of working with anything like collection
of books. There are probably no more than 500 in all,but for the most part they
represent my own choice. It is the first time, since I began my writing career,
that I am surrounded with a goodly number of the books I have always longed
to possess.The fact,however, that in the past I did most of my work without
the aid of a library I look upon as an advantage rather than a disadvantage.
2 One of the first things I associate with the reading of books is the struggle
I waged to obtain them.Not to own them, mind you, but to lay ands on
them.From the moment the passion took hold of me I encountered nothing
but obstacles. The books I wanted, at the public library, were always out.
And of course I never had the money to buy them.To get permission from
the library in my neighborhood -I was 18 or 19 years of age-to borrow such
a"demoralizing"work as The Confession ofa Fool,by Strindberg, was just
impossible.In those days the books which young people were prohibited from
reading were decorated with stars-one,two or three-according to the degree
of immorality attributed to them.I suspect this procedure still obtains.I hope
so,for I know of nothing better calculated to whet one's appetite than this
stupid sort of classification and prohibition.
What makes a book live? How often this question arises! The answer, in my
opinion, is smple.A book lives through the passionate recommendation of one
reader to another. Nothing can thrttle this basic impulse in the human being.
Despite the views of cynics and misanthropes, it is my belief that men will
always strive to share their depest experiences.
Books are one of the few things men cherish deeply.And the better the man the
more easily will he part with his most cherished possessions.A book lying idle
on a shelf is wasted ammunition. Like money,books must be kept in constant
circulation. Lend and borrow to the maximum-of both books and money!
But especially books, for books represent infinitely more than money.A book
is not only a friend, it makes friends for you. When you have possessed a
book with mind and spirit,you are enriched. But when you pass it on you are
enriched threefold.Here an irrepresalble impulse selaes me to offer a piece of gratuitou
advice.It is thle: Read aw little as poasible,not as much as possible!
Oh do not doubt that I have envied those who have drowned in
books.L,too, would secretly lke to wade through all those booksl
have so long toyed with in my mind.But I know it is not important
Iknow now that I did not need to ead even a tenth of what I have
read.The most difieult thing in life is to learn to do onlywhat is
strictly advantageous to one's welfare, strietly vital
There is an excellent way to test this precious bitof advice I have
not given rashly.When you stumble upon a book you would like to
read, or think you ought to read, leave it alone for a few days.But
think about it as intensely as you can.Let the title and the author's
name revolve in your mind.Think what you yourself might have
written had the opportunity been yours.Ask yourself earnestly if it
be absolutely necessary to add this work to your store of knowledg
or your fund of enjoyment.Try to imagine what it would mean to
forego this extra pleasure or enlightenment.Then, if you find you
must read the book,observe with what extraordinary acumen you
tackle it.Observe, too,that however stimulating it may be,very litle
of the book is really new to you.If you are honest with yourself you
will discover that your stature has increased from the mere effort of
resisting your impulses
7Indubitably the vast majority of books overlap one another.Few
indeed are those which give the impression of originality, either
in style or in content.Rare are the unique books-less than 50,
perhaps,out of the whole storehouse of literature.In one of his
recent autobiographical novels,Blaise Cendrars points out that
Rémy de Gourmont, because of his knowledge and awareness of
this repetitive quality in books, was able to select and read all that is
worthwhile in the entire realm of literature.Cendrars himself-who
would suspect it?-is a prodigious reader.He reads most authors in
their original tongue.Not only that, but when he likes an author he
reads every last book the man has written,as well as his letters and
all the books that have been written about him.In our day his case
is almost unparalleled,I imagine.For, not only has he read widely
and deeply, but he has himself written a great many books.All on
the side, as it were,For,if he is anything,Cendrars,he isa man of
action,an adventurer and explorer,a man who has known how
to"waste" his time royally.He is,in a sense,the Julius Caesarof
literature.