Week One Response to Readings

To be quite honest, I dreaded the day I would have to read "A History of Reading". It appeared to be this incredibly long book that I was required to buy and would take very little from. However, I could not have been farther from the truth. Even with my poor attitude, the book grabbed me from page one. As I kept reading these short descriptions of people from different times all reading in their own unique way, I paused for a moment and noticed that I too was perched in my own fashion. I was laying on my bed, book perched on a pillow and a desk lamp tilted down illuminating the words that had begun drawing me in. After reading a little farther into the section, I found it remarkable the joy the author got from reading. It did not matter what it was, where it was, as long as it was a book. It has been some time since a sat down and enjoyed a book on my own. Caught up in my schooling, I rarely find, or should I say make time to read for pleasure. Maybe it is the fact that as Americans we now expect to be entertained rather than find our own way to be amuzed. Television, movies, and internet consume a great deal of our free time, leaving little for reading. I'll admit I'm guilty of this. I feel that the simply joys of reading and letting your imagination run wild have escaped me and that Manguel's book reminded me of how I used to view reading a new book.

Ryan Eng201