Citation de Laumness
Une fois qu’un livre est compris, une fois qu’il est connu, et que sa signification est fixée ou établie, il est mort. Un livre vit seulement tant qu’il a le pouvoir d’agir en nous, et d’agir de manière différente, dans le sens où nous le trouvons différent à chaque fois que nous le lisons. À cause du flot de livres peu profonds qui sont vraiment épuisés en une seule lecture, l’esprit moderne tend à penser que chaque livre est pareil, fini en une seule lecture. Mais ce n’est pas le cas. Et peu à peu l’esprit moderne s’en rendra compte. La joie réelle tirée d’un livre réside dans le fait de le lire encore et encore, et de toujours le trouver différent, de parvenir à un autre sens, à un autre niveau de signification. Comme d’habitude, c'est là une question de valeurs : nous sommes tellement assaillis d’une quantité de livres que nous ne nous apercevons plus guère qu’un livre peut avoir de la valeur, comme celle d’un bijou ou d’un tableau charmant, dans lequel le regard pénètre de plus en plus et délivre une expérience plus profonde à chaque fois. Il est infiniment préférable de lire un seul livre six fois, à intervalles séparés, que de lire six livres différents. Parce que si un livre en particulier arrive à vous appeler à le lire six fois, il procurera une expérience de plus en plus profonde à chaque fois, et enrichira l’âme entière, le côté émotionnel et le côté mental. Tandis que six livres lus une seule fois sont simplement une accumulation d’intérêt superficiel, l’accumulation pesante des jours modernes, la quantité sans valeur réelle.
(Traduction personnelle)
Once a book is fathomed, once it is known, and its meaning is fixed or established, it is dead. A book only lives while it has power to move us, and move us differently; so long as we find it different everytime we read it. Owing to the flood of shallow books which really are exhausted in one reading, the modern mind tends to think every book is the same, finished in one reading. But it is not so. And gradually the modern mind will realise it again. The real joy of a book lies in reading it over and over again, and always finding if different, coming upon another meaning, another level of meaning. It is, as usual, a question of values: we are so overwhelmed with quantities of books, that we hardly realise any more that a book can be valuable, valuable like a jewel, or a lovely picture, into which you can look deeper and deeper and get a more profound experience every time. It is far, far better to read one book six times, at intervals, than to read six different books. Because if a certain book can call you to read it six times, it will be a deeper and deeper experience each time, and will enrich the whole soul, emotional and mental. Whereas six books read only once are merely an accumulation of superficial interest, the burdensome accumulation of modern days, quantity without real value.
(Traduction personnelle)
Once a book is fathomed, once it is known, and its meaning is fixed or established, it is dead. A book only lives while it has power to move us, and move us differently; so long as we find it different everytime we read it. Owing to the flood of shallow books which really are exhausted in one reading, the modern mind tends to think every book is the same, finished in one reading. But it is not so. And gradually the modern mind will realise it again. The real joy of a book lies in reading it over and over again, and always finding if different, coming upon another meaning, another level of meaning. It is, as usual, a question of values: we are so overwhelmed with quantities of books, that we hardly realise any more that a book can be valuable, valuable like a jewel, or a lovely picture, into which you can look deeper and deeper and get a more profound experience every time. It is far, far better to read one book six times, at intervals, than to read six different books. Because if a certain book can call you to read it six times, it will be a deeper and deeper experience each time, and will enrich the whole soul, emotional and mental. Whereas six books read only once are merely an accumulation of superficial interest, the burdensome accumulation of modern days, quantity without real value.
