Re:The Bookish Life: How to Read and Why
by unstuckdev on Friday October 19, 2018 @08:10AM
(#18256097)
Conceits creep in if you only read one perspective. Think about all the people who think Western culture is the source of all civilization because they only read things that affirm that view.
Any given culture's canon is big in volume, but small in context.
Re:The Bookish Life: How to Read and Why
by colonelpopcorn on Friday October 19, 2018 @08:51AM
(#18256328)
Still, I imagine it's better to read your culture's canon of thought only than none at all. Obviously you're not going to get a diverse perspective on life that way, but you might get a perspective that isn't totally informed by id or media.
Re:The Bookish Life: How to Read and Why
by ycombinete on Saturday October 27, 2018 @08:43AM
(#18315478)
Not only that, but the “Western Canon”, is most certainly not written by one culture.
In any case, I didn't get the impression he was restricting himself. He describes going into book shops picking up any book he happened to light upon. My feeling was that he had decided not to beat himself up if these books did not encompass everything in the entire world. After all, isn't that the central premise - life is short?
Your alternative subtitle is unnecessarily mean-spirited. I don't believe he was claiming to be in any way remarkable, in the end he was simply describing how he loves books.