How to eat books?

Reading a book is like having a meal

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library

    My plate is usually the cover and back cover of an open book. The senses are the cutlery: I smell the book, the texture of the paper, I see the words available in the space, I hear the turning of the pages. The flavor of each sentence I experience as I chew in thought and as I roll the passages back and forth in imagination. A book is eaten with clean hands, attentive eyes, an open mind. And keeps the affective memory, takes breaks for digestion, ends and wants more.

    There are people who are boring to eat books. These people look from afar, poke with their fingertip and, without proving anything, say they don't like it. Did they have a bad experience when they were in the intro reading phase? Perhaps, lack of experience... Because there is a book for all tastes. I dare say it's impossible not to like it. However, different texts are not always enjoyed in the same way. Depends on the ingredients, the consistency. There are books that prove themselves and don't go down well. So it's saved for another occasion.

   When I appreciate it, I feel the need to taste all the spices the book has. On the other hand, there are readings that are done in bursts, digging into the content with will and exhausting it quickly. How do you appreciate?

   Regardless of the format, the rule still applies: the more variety, the better. Variety of styles, themes, cultural contexts and genre of authors. I understand that no one is obligated to eat/read anything. It's a matter of choices.

    

    Always eating the same thing is monotonous and ends up producing thoughts that can go unnoticed. The reasoning becomes “addicted”, molded like an old shoe, and the worldview gains more and more narrow borders. On the other hand, having different reading experiences broadens the reader's palate and what seemed strange at first can become cherished.

    I know what it's like to be in a bookstore or library – or even an online sale – and I feel like I am at an all-inclusive inn. That desire to carry a mountain of books home, to the point where I can't be seen behind it, to put everything in my mouth at once, to do nothing but read, read, read...

    Yes, our existence is very long but we have limited time to taste everything on the literary buffet. We can only do our best while we are in it, with awareness, with balance, making constancy our greatest ally.