What Do You Read?

I want to comment on the UnHerd Article: Book Clubs Are For Phonies, by Kathleen Stock. She brings up quite a few points in her article: book clubs are popular but literacy is down, the unspoken rule of book club is to be relentlessly positive, and famous people are making tons of money off their bookclubs. The point that stuck with me the most was that “practically no one is reading in depth.” She said we are not supposed to see ourselves as the characters in a book, but the characters are supposed to expose our minds to new thoughts and ideas. 

I have the unique perspective of being a homeschool mom, who is teaching a classical education to an elementary school student. The classical teaching method is to start with the ancients and to teach from then forward to modern times. We take four years to do this cycle, and the cycle repeats three times over during the twelve years of schooling. History, literature, poetry, music, art, and religion all follow this cycle.

So for the past four years, I have been reading classical literature out loud to my son. Some of the books are abridged for content, some of the books are unabridged. I have read all sorts of books I’ve never read before. Being a dutiful and determined home educator, I do not skip over books I don’t think will be interesting, I just plow through.

I think Kathleen Stock is correct when she says that lots of people are not reading for depth. Reading these books has been an education for me. It’s opened my eyes to ideas and history that I’ve never considered before. It’s changed my worldview: how I interpret the Bible and how I think about Catholicism.

I know there is a place for airy books, but that’s just not what I’m enjoying these days. Someone will suggest I read some rose dragon romance book, and I’ll suggest they read The Adventures of Pinocchio. It’s not that I think I’m better than them or smarter- not at all. It’s just I think they can handle the depth and thought that goes into reading a classic. I have learned over the last four years that I can. I know you can too.