Jan. 22, 2003
by Mother’s Service Society
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For us to read
a book, especially fiction, is to read once for the story.
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Even
non-fiction is mostly read once, rarely a second or a third time.
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Should a reader draw the maximum benefit of reading
a book, especially children in the school, reading one book thoroughly will
make him a reader who can benefit from reading a book once as if he has
mastered it.
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For this
purpose one should choose a book he loves.
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His first
reading will tell him the contents fairly, the story, if it is fiction.
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To know the
sequence of the plot is generally not possible even after several readings, but
a second reading with an eye on the turns and twists of the plot can give that
knowledge.
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Of the
characters, there are the main ones as well as minor ones.
To know the character of the protagonist or the hero, it needs an
observation of his acts with respect to each other character. Of course, one can know the
character of a character only if he has a term of reference or a framework of
character. One more reading is required to know each character that well.
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Often minor
characters act decisively. To collect it requires another reading.
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Thus far, one
will cover the plot and characterisation.
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Any work of
fiction expresses in its course on life, make pronouncements of the truths of
life. They may be a dozen or several dozen. One can collect them during any
reading and see how these statements are true in this story. One need not go
beyond to their social origins unless he is interested in Life Response or
philosophy.
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A special
reading must be devoted to absorb all the special phrases of the book. It is essential to rewrite the story in
one's own words employing all these particular phrases that make the writing of
value. Going into the author's art of phrasing and learning the process
will complete it.
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Life Response
cannot be fully appreciated while reading for any other purpose. It needs a
reading for its own sake.
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As our aim is NOT
scholarship in the writings of the author, which is the field of the
specialist, we need not go beyond these approaches.
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There is one
more phenomenon. In an event, there may be many people and several occurrences.
Looked at from the point of view of the hero, if we see that all people respond to him or all events respond to him, our
comprehension will be comprehensive. We read, in a sense, unidimensionally. In Pride
and Prejudice Darcy came to
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A story is an
imaginative piece of fiction around a plot, enacted by several major and minor characters,
at several locations, in a social context, where the interchange between
characters enables them to express their characters in terms of their
relationship with others and the existing circumstances. In this process an enormous amount of major and minor decisions are
made and each person exercises his decision-making capacity.
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Decision-making
is a process of the will acquiring knowledge to act to preserve or grow one's
personality according to his own articulated motive. *
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Another fresh
reading is called for from the point of view of understanding each decision 1.
in the context of the personality of the character and 2. in the context of the
event. If one can see the interaction of these two, it will complete the
process of understanding life but at the stage of reading the very first book,
it may be asking for too much.
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If the above
are the main lines along which a book can be read with benefit, there are other
minor benefits one can derive.
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In conversation
we see different characters using different words to express the same idea. It
shows the preference of the character or the level of education or level of comprehension
or miscomprehension of words by each character.
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During the
course of a story characters change. The pattern of such a change is educative.
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During the
entire story there are characters that do not change. Their not changing is
more educative as we see behind it a determination NOT to change or an inability
to change.
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In Pride and
Prejudice we see Darcy finds Elizabeth tolerable and does not want to dance
with her.
In the next ball we find him
asking her to dance with him when she refuses.
Again he repeats his request
another time and she inadvertently accepts.
His gaze is fixed on her and
he is bewitched by her fine eyes and liveliness of mind.
He later proposes to her and
is refused.
His initial response is of
the surface mind.
His later behaviour is of
the real mind in him.
He is an aristocrat who is
an instrument to compromise with the bourgeoisie and therefore was attracted to
her.
He is a selfish man who
needs to acquire Selflessness to which effort he is willing for the sake of
Elizabeth.
Thus behind each character we find grades of motives.
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Should a child
at the appropriate age read one book like this, he will be able to read other
books with the same benefit in the first few readings.
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Writing is
essential. How much, which part, in what fashion is to be decided. It is better
the whole book is rewritten in the reader's words bringing out as much of his
understanding as possible.
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