The windows of C. S. Lewis' study at Kilns. And a picture of the great man himself. I wonder what he'd think of all the fame he's earned since he's been gone. This is a letter from C. S. Lewis to his friend, Arthur Greeves. Lewis' attitude toward reading a book is typical of his genius. How to go about enjoying the reading of a book? See what you think!
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Lewis says: To enjoy a book like that thoroughly I find I have to treat it as a sort of hobby and set about it seriously. I begin by making a map on one of the end leafs: then I put in a genealogical tree or two. Then I put a running headline at the top of each page: finally I index at the end all the passages I have for any reason underlined. I often wonder--considering how people enjoy themselves developing photos or making scrapbooks--why so few people make a hobby of their reading in this way. Many an otherwise dull book which I had to read have I enjoyed in this way, with a fine-nibbed pen in my hand: one is making something all the time and a book so read acquires the charm of a toy without losing that of a book.
Mimi says: I hope all of you will try to do what Lewis is suggesting--perhaps setting up your own way of attacking the book. I've always been so careful with books, that it will mean overcoming my paranoia of defiling them! But I can't and won't argue with C. S. Lewis. At one time paper was so scarce that Lewis was forced to write on tiny pieces of paper in a circular pattern. I'm not sure how long that lasted, but it was probably during and after the war. Lewis said that all the great minds were lost in the war. That's an incomprehensible statement given his thinking capacity.
Have a wonderful day!
Blessings...Mimi
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