10.9
Two days at school after my operation. I feel desperately tired. I don't know why. Maybe I haven't fully recovered from my operation or maybe I am not used to studying so hard on weekends.
I read an article on the Internet accidentally this noon. It is about how Susan Sontag read. The whole essay is all right, mainly about how fast Sontag can read, and what books she read. A point hit me. The first one is that the essay is criticizing slow reading. When Sontag was 14, or even younger than 14, she could read a 600 page book in 6 hours, which is unbelievable. It made me rethink how I read. To be frank, I read slowly. I just hate to leave out any details, even if I am reading Chinese. Due to close reading, I can remember many things after reading, but those who read fast tell me that they could only get the meanings when they read but will soon forget about most of them after finishing. And I ponder over what they say for a while, and I think, although they forget about their materials, they still remember where to find those materials once they need them. That’s the point of American education. The teachers force you to read tons of books which you may not fully remember. But they will leave vague impressions on your mind, so when you need them for the sake of researches, you can easily find them. But I still can’t just forsake close reading which gives me much time to appreciate and to think. How to arrange these two methods appropriately are beyond me now. I will try to sort the problem out by and by.
And the books I booked online finally arrived today! I read a few pages of Hello, Independent bookstores! the last night before sleep. And I learned that owning a bookstore no longer had a bright future. Many people chose to own bookstores to fulfill their dreams. And only after one or two years, they went bankrupt. Many stores that were still able to struggle in the mud are those having long histories with stable patrons. Now, a common independent bookstore can no longer survive the fierce competitions from the Internet. In order to survive, I may need to open a coffee bar in my bookstore, establish an online shopping service, hold some book discussion meetings, and play some movies. Anyway, owning a bookstore is no longer about money. It is about dream and faith in nowadays society.
So much for today.
p.s. I finished writing this journal at library (where the Internet is unavailable), saved it in my laptop, and decided to post it online when I reach dorm. But when I arrived at the dorm, I totally forgot about it until this morning… Sorry for the delay.
I read an article on the Internet accidentally this noon. It is about how Susan Sontag read. The whole essay is all right, mainly about how fast Sontag can read, and what books she read. A point hit me. The first one is that the essay is criticizing slow reading. When Sontag was 14, or even younger than 14, she could read a 600 page book in 6 hours, which is unbelievable. It made me rethink how I read. To be frank, I read slowly. I just hate to leave out any details, even if I am reading Chinese. Due to close reading, I can remember many things after reading, but those who read fast tell me that they could only get the meanings when they read but will soon forget about most of them after finishing. And I ponder over what they say for a while, and I think, although they forget about their materials, they still remember where to find those materials once they need them. That’s the point of American education. The teachers force you to read tons of books which you may not fully remember. But they will leave vague impressions on your mind, so when you need them for the sake of researches, you can easily find them. But I still can’t just forsake close reading which gives me much time to appreciate and to think. How to arrange these two methods appropriately are beyond me now. I will try to sort the problem out by and by.
And the books I booked online finally arrived today! I read a few pages of Hello, Independent bookstores! the last night before sleep. And I learned that owning a bookstore no longer had a bright future. Many people chose to own bookstores to fulfill their dreams. And only after one or two years, they went bankrupt. Many stores that were still able to struggle in the mud are those having long histories with stable patrons. Now, a common independent bookstore can no longer survive the fierce competitions from the Internet. In order to survive, I may need to open a coffee bar in my bookstore, establish an online shopping service, hold some book discussion meetings, and play some movies. Anyway, owning a bookstore is no longer about money. It is about dream and faith in nowadays society.
So much for today.
p.s. I finished writing this journal at library (where the Internet is unavailable), saved it in my laptop, and decided to post it online when I reach dorm. But when I arrived at the dorm, I totally forgot about it until this morning… Sorry for the delay.