—from Sesame and Lilies(Lecture II)
John Ruskin
[1]But perhaps you will say that it is because the living people talk of things that are passing, and are of immediate interest to you, that you desire to hear them.Nay; that cannot be so, for the living people will themselves tell you about passing matters much better in their writings than in their careless talk.Yet I admit that this motive does influence you, so far as you prefer those rapid and ephemeral writings to slow and enduring writings—books, properly so called.For all books are divisible into two classes, the books of the hour, and the books of all time.Mark this distinction—it is not one of quality only.It is not merely the bad book that does not last, and the good one that does.It is a distinction of species.There are good books for the hour, and good ones for all time; bad books for the hour, and bad ones for all time.I must define the two kinds before I go farther.
[2]The good book of the hour, then,—I do not speak of the bad ones,—is simply the useful or pleasant talk of some person whom you cannot otherwise converse with , printed for you.Very useful often, telling you what you need to know; very pleasant often, as a sensible friend’s present talk would be.These bright accounts of travels; good-humoredand witty discussions of question; lively or pathetic story-telling in the form of novel; firm fact-telling, by thereal agents concerned in the events of passing history;—all these books of the hour, multiplying among us as education becomes more general, are a peculiar possession of the present age: we ought to be entirely thankful for them, and entirely ashamed of ourselves if we make no good use of them.But we make the worst possible use if we allow them to usurp the place of true books: for, strictly speaking, they are not books at all, but merely letters or newspapers in good print.Our friend’s letter may be delightful, or necessary, to-day: whether worth keeping or not, is to be considered.The newspaper may be entirely proper at breakfast time, but assuredly it is not reading for all day.So, though bound up in a volume, the long letter which gives you so pleasant an account of the inns, and roads, and weather, last year at such a place, or which tells you that amusing story, or gives you the real circumstances of such and such events, however valuable for occasional reference, may not be, in the real sense of the word, a “book”at all, nor, in the real sense, to be “read”.
[3]A book is essentially not a talking thing, but a written thing; and written, not with a view of mere communication, but of permanence.The book of talk is printed only because its author cannot speak to thousands of people at once; if he could, he would—the volume is mere multiplication of his voice.You cannot talk to your friend in India; if you could, you would; you write instead: that is mere conveyance of voice.But a book is written, not to multiply the voice merely, not to carry it merely, but to perpetuate it.The author has something to say which he perceives to be true and useful, or helpfully beautiful.So far as he knows, no one has yet said it; so far as he knows, no one else can say it.He is bound to say it, clearly and melodiously if he may; clearly at all events. In the sum ofhis life he finds this to be the thing, or group of things, manifest to him;—this, the piece of true knowledge, or sight, which his share of sunshine and earth has permitted him to seize.He would fain set it down forever; engrave it on rock, if he could; saying, “This is the best of me; for the rest, I ate, and drank, and slept, loved, and hated, like another; my life was as the vapor, and is not; but this I saw and knew: this, if anything of mine, is worth your memory.”That is his “writing;” it is, in his small human way, and with whatever degree of true inspiration is in him, his inscription, or scripture.That is a “Book”.
[4]Perhaps you think no books were ever so written?
[5]But, again, I ask you, do you at all believe in honesty, or at all in kindness, or do you think there is never any honesty or benevolence in wise people? None of us, I hope, are so unhappy as to think that.Well, whatever bit of a wise man’s work is honestly and benevolently done, that bit is his book or his piece of art.It is mixed always with evil fragments—ill-done, redundant, affected work.But if you read rightly, you will easily discover the true bits, and those are the book.
[6]Now books of this kind have been written in all ages by their greatest men: by great readers, great statesmen, and great thinkers.These are all at your choice; and life is short.You have heard as much before; yet have you measured and mapped out this short life and its possibilities? Do you know, if you read this, that you cannot read that—that what you lose to-day you cannot gain to-morrow? Will you go and gossip with your housemaid, or your stable-boy, when you may talk with queens and kings; or flatter yourself that it is with any worthy consciousness of your own claims to respect, that you jostle with the hungry and common crowd for entree here, and audience there, when all the while this eternal court is open to you, with its society, wide as the world, multitudinous as its days, the chosen, and the mighty, of every place and time? Into that you may enter always; in that you may take fellowship and rank according to your wish; from that, once entered into it, you can never be outcast but by your own fault; by your aristocracy of companionship there, your own inherent aristocracy will be assuredly tested, and the motives with which you strive to take high place in the society of the living, measured, as to all the truth and sincerity that are in them, by the place you desire to take in this company of the Dead.
After You Read
Knowledge Focus
1.Pair work: Discuss the following questions with your partner.
1)Do you agree with the saying that when the living people talk of things that are passing, they are of immediate interest to you? Why or why not?
2)What are your understandings about the motives that influence people’s attitude toward books mentioned in the text?
3)How did John Ruskin divide the books into two types?
4)Why did the author say “we make the worst possible use if we allow the books of the hour to usurp the place of true books”?
5)Do you agree that “a book is essentially not a talking thing”? Why or why not?
6)Summarize the features and significances of “the books of the hour”.
7)Summarize the features and significances of “the books of all time”.
8)Which type of books is closer to the essence of the concept of books as a whole, according to the author? What are the reasons?
2.Solo work: Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) according to the knowledge you learned and tell why.
____ 1)The living people will themselves tell you about passing matters much better in their talk than in their writings.
____ 2)Only good books are divisible according to the criteria of the author.
____ 3)The good book of the hour is simply the useful or pleasant talk to some person whom you can converse with.
____ 4)we ought to be thankful for and make good use of the books of the hour, and that is enough for reading.
____ 5)Strictly speaking, the books of the hour are not books at all, but merely letters or newspapers in good print.
____ 6)A book is essentially not a talking thing, but a written thing.
____ 7)The book of talk is printed only because its author cannot speak to thousands of people at once.
____ 8)Wise men’s works will never be mixed with evil fragments—ill-done, redundant, affected work.
____ 9)Life is short, so we shouldn’t waste our time on the books of the hour.
____ 10)The author has something to say which he perceives to be true and useful, or helpfully beautiful.
Language Focus
1.Fill in the blanks with the following words you have learned from the text.
immediate motive
pathetic
multiplying manifest
vapor
benevolence entrée
aristocracy
scripture
1)The _____ fish in the river in this season has made a great feast for the bears in the forest.
2)His glasses were covered with _____ when he came in from the outside suddenly.
3)It will be considered weak to be _____ in front of your enemies in a war.
4)When children see the beautiful flowers, without the ability of further appreciation they want the _____ possession of them.
5)He did it out of pure _____.
6)He married into the French _____.
7)The _____ of an individual’s behaviors sometimes becomes the determining feature of his fate.
8)He is a _____ liar.
9)Nothing is known about her outside of _____.
10)The waiter asked him what he would like for his _____.
2.Complete the sentences with the proper forms of the given words.
1)The love between Romeo and Juliet is a(n) _____ (endure) story to move every generation.
2)She explained the causes of the phenomenon _____ (simple).
3)_____(ephemeral) are always used to compare the short-lasted things metaphorically.
4)“What a poor baby,”she said to the abandoned puppy _____ (pathetic).
5)According to recent research, even particles are _____ (divide).
6)The _____ (multiply) of the imported population has become a problem to the country.
7)There will be a _____ (permanence) scar left on her body in the burnt area.
8)There are some brilliant ideas _____ (conveyance) from his book.
9)He was _____ (inspiration) by a song to write the story.
10)I’m burning with _____ (curious).You must tell me who has won.
3.Complete the sentences with the proper forms of the expressions listed below.
be of interest to desire to
converse with possession of
in the sense of
the sum of be bound to
map out
jostle with
speak of
1)She received _____500 poundsincompensation.
2)To break your heart is the last thing that I _____ do.
3)It has misled so many people to get the _____ power.
4)She _____ be a doctor.
5)The subject may _____ full_____you, but it holds nointerest for me.
6)It is useless to _____ a man without his own judgment.
7)You have to remember word _____ strict _____ it.
8)He knows how to_____his time.
9)Her eyes_____ suffering.
10)The two enterprises_____one another for world markets.
4.Find the appropriate prepositions that collocate with the neighbouring words.
1)The living people will themselves tell you about passing matters much better _____ their writings.
2)For all books are divisible _____ two classes, the books of the hour, and the books of all time.
3)It is a distinction _____ species.
4)I do not speak _____ the bad ones.
5)These bright accounts _____ travels; good-humored and witty discussions _____ question; lively or pathetic story-telling _____ the form of novel.
6)We ought to be entirely thankful _____ them.
7)And we ought to be entirely ashamed _____ ourselves if we make no good use of them.
8)But, again, I ask you, do you at all believe _____ honesty, or at all _____ kindness?
5.Proofreading.
Comprehensive Work
1.Pair work: Read the following passage about John Ruskin and discuss the author with your partner.
John Ruskin(8 February, 1819-20 January, 1900) was the leading English art critic of theVictorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist.He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political economy.His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied.Ruskin penned essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale.The elaborate style that characterized his earliest writing on art was later superseded by a preference for plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively.In all of his writing, he emphasized the connections between nature, art and society.He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, and architectural structures and ornamentation.
He was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century up to theFirst World War.After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work.Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognized as having anticipated interest inenvironmentalism, sustainability and craft.
2.Group work: Make an online research on John Ruskin’s Sesame and Lilies and discuss the purposes and themes of these lectures with your group members.
3.Group work: Debate on”.
Great technological forces seemed to be ranged against traditional printed books.
It is an immutable law thatthe Death of the Bookmust be debated at least once a year.Latest up is Margaret Atwood, talking atthe London Book Fairin a seminar apocalyptically titled: Digitize or Die.
According to her, digital books will have their place.An electronic work of reference is useful, if not exactly beautiful.We might soon see a literary equivalent of the iPod.But the counter-intuitive twist in the ubiquity of words on the screen, of the massive amount of undifferentiated print on the web, may be that we stop taking the book for granted and start realizing that it is something rare and marvelous.
Just as online games have not stopped people wanting to experience the whack of leather on willow, or the thrilling shuffle of a deck of cards, so online reading will never replace the physical and emotive delight of a lovely fat papery book.
What is your opinion? Take your own position in the debate.
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