I understand if it seems I sound delirious but I'm only paraphrasing a line from a book I'm currently reading. In one of my posts, I've put forth the thought that one's success at completing a book depends on one's readiness for the book's contents and my recent resurrection of "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaardner has, in my situation anyways, confirmed this small theory.
I have been in possession of "Sophie's World" since June of 2006 when I came upon its bright pink cover illustrating a giant top hat with the solar system contained within, a girl riding a question mark out of it chasing an astral(?) white rabbit in my local bookstore. I was completely ecstatic. It had recently been put on my must-read list and it seemed like fate played a hand when I happened upon a huge display, stack upon stack of the book. I bought it, excited to plough through its pages, hoping to gain a lot of philosophical insights into life, society, the world at large and of course one's self. At that point in time, I was buying up a lot of the classics, looking into being more enlightened and less frivolous, perhaps in search of who I was or wanted to be. But to my consternation, everytime I attempted to read through it on my train ride to work, I would end up yawning my way past a coupla pages and then get stuck and have no idea of what I'd just read. I kept having to go back and read the start of the chapter, it started becoming a chore and would end up dumping the book back into my bag. Thinking that the right environment would motivate better reading, I attempted on a few leisurely Saturdays reading at the window seat in my living room but that only served to put me to sleep. As such, I'm embarassed to admit that I only managed to get to page 38, the start of the chapter on Democritus, with no clue as to what I had read, and most of all understood nothing. I gave up on "Sophie's World" then, set it aside with no specific timeframe of when I would pick it up again. Occasionally, during times I am trying to figure out where I'm going to place all the new books I've bought, I will glance up at my bookshelves, at the rack of books I've bought but haven't had the will to read and see among them, "Sophie's World" mocking me.
Ok, lol, all delusions of taunting books aside, it really made me feel guilty buying new books when I had quite a few that I still hadn't touched yet sitting on my bookshelf and that's when during a trip back home in October of last year, instead of getting round to the bookstore to load up on some new staples, I collected all the books I had left unread and took it with me here. Admittedly, I was also quite dead broke coming back from an expensive vacation and needed to save some money but all in all my intentions were noble, it was time these books were read. On another side note, I buy a lot of books in a year but only buy when I am back in my home country for tax breaks reasons and because I am a member of the different bookstore chains that give moi member discounts/points :). But for whatever the motivations, I find that so far, all the books I previously avoided reading have given me what I was expecting from them when I first got them. In December, I finished John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" and came away with a greater understanding of the behavior of humankind. Having been previously afraid of being maligned by the yawn syndrome, I was amazed to discover how fast I got through the story and how much I received from it. It inspired me to try "Sophie's World" again. That's why I made reading "Sophie's World" one of my New Year's resolution and to prevent procrastination, I gave myself till the end of January to complete it.
I started today, I cracked open the book, my bookmark from my first attempt still on page 38. I was thinking, should I just continue off from whence I stopped or begin from the start. Considering the first go did not yield me great results (i.e: understanding), I decided I would be brave and begin at page 1. Whether it is due to personal growth, age or better attention span, I find that my second try is certainly more rewarding. I have been better able to grasp the thoughts/ideologies and enjoyed the story-telling that I'd previously mistaken as dull, droll and uninspiring. I am at page 112 now and have decided to stop for today. Give myself a bit of time to absorb what I've read. I am taking it slow and steady with this one. At points in the book where I find myself confused, I go back and read the paragraph again, to gain the clarity that eluded me on the first read. I am giving it my full attention. My approach to reading in general is I always hope to come away learning something new. Having never taken a course in philosophy before, this is a whole new avenue of learning for me. Not that I haven't heard of the great philosophers prior but I never really delved into their ideas, concepts and thoughts. Its all well and good to throw out the names of Socrates/Plato/Aristotle but I've always wondered what was it that made them the great thinkers of their time. And through "Sophie's World", I have the oppurtunity to get a glimpse into that world and see for myself, the foresight and/or theoretical flaws in their thoughts that gave birth to and shaped modern(?) civilizations.
I only just finished the chapter on Aristotle and am about to embark on philosphy in the Hellenistic period so all my musings are based on the pre-Socratic philosphers (a.k.a The Natural Philosophers) and the great Greek philosophers. I still have a ways to go to reach Descartes, Kierkegaard, Marx, Darwin, Freud and more but thus far, my re-introduction to philosophy and philosophers' has been enlightening. I can only attest for myself but I find it is truly a great "beginner's guide" to philosophy and has left me filled with thoughts to ponder on.
I have been in possession of "Sophie's World" since June of 2006 when I came upon its bright pink cover illustrating a giant top hat with the solar system contained within, a girl riding a question mark out of it chasing an astral(?) white rabbit in my local bookstore. I was completely ecstatic. It had recently been put on my must-read list and it seemed like fate played a hand when I happened upon a huge display, stack upon stack of the book. I bought it, excited to plough through its pages, hoping to gain a lot of philosophical insights into life, society, the world at large and of course one's self. At that point in time, I was buying up a lot of the classics, looking into being more enlightened and less frivolous, perhaps in search of who I was or wanted to be. But to my consternation, everytime I attempted to read through it on my train ride to work, I would end up yawning my way past a coupla pages and then get stuck and have no idea of what I'd just read. I kept having to go back and read the start of the chapter, it started becoming a chore and would end up dumping the book back into my bag. Thinking that the right environment would motivate better reading, I attempted on a few leisurely Saturdays reading at the window seat in my living room but that only served to put me to sleep. As such, I'm embarassed to admit that I only managed to get to page 38, the start of the chapter on Democritus, with no clue as to what I had read, and most of all understood nothing. I gave up on "Sophie's World" then, set it aside with no specific timeframe of when I would pick it up again. Occasionally, during times I am trying to figure out where I'm going to place all the new books I've bought, I will glance up at my bookshelves, at the rack of books I've bought but haven't had the will to read and see among them, "Sophie's World" mocking me.
Ok, lol, all delusions of taunting books aside, it really made me feel guilty buying new books when I had quite a few that I still hadn't touched yet sitting on my bookshelf and that's when during a trip back home in October of last year, instead of getting round to the bookstore to load up on some new staples, I collected all the books I had left unread and took it with me here. Admittedly, I was also quite dead broke coming back from an expensive vacation and needed to save some money but all in all my intentions were noble, it was time these books were read. On another side note, I buy a lot of books in a year but only buy when I am back in my home country for tax breaks reasons and because I am a member of the different bookstore chains that give moi member discounts/points :). But for whatever the motivations, I find that so far, all the books I previously avoided reading have given me what I was expecting from them when I first got them. In December, I finished John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" and came away with a greater understanding of the behavior of humankind. Having been previously afraid of being maligned by the yawn syndrome, I was amazed to discover how fast I got through the story and how much I received from it. It inspired me to try "Sophie's World" again. That's why I made reading "Sophie's World" one of my New Year's resolution and to prevent procrastination, I gave myself till the end of January to complete it.
I started today, I cracked open the book, my bookmark from my first attempt still on page 38. I was thinking, should I just continue off from whence I stopped or begin from the start. Considering the first go did not yield me great results (i.e: understanding), I decided I would be brave and begin at page 1. Whether it is due to personal growth, age or better attention span, I find that my second try is certainly more rewarding. I have been better able to grasp the thoughts/ideologies and enjoyed the story-telling that I'd previously mistaken as dull, droll and uninspiring. I am at page 112 now and have decided to stop for today. Give myself a bit of time to absorb what I've read. I am taking it slow and steady with this one. At points in the book where I find myself confused, I go back and read the paragraph again, to gain the clarity that eluded me on the first read. I am giving it my full attention. My approach to reading in general is I always hope to come away learning something new. Having never taken a course in philosophy before, this is a whole new avenue of learning for me. Not that I haven't heard of the great philosophers prior but I never really delved into their ideas, concepts and thoughts. Its all well and good to throw out the names of Socrates/Plato/Aristotle but I've always wondered what was it that made them the great thinkers of their time. And through "Sophie's World", I have the oppurtunity to get a glimpse into that world and see for myself, the foresight and/or theoretical flaws in their thoughts that gave birth to and shaped modern(?) civilizations.
I only just finished the chapter on Aristotle and am about to embark on philosphy in the Hellenistic period so all my musings are based on the pre-Socratic philosphers (a.k.a The Natural Philosophers) and the great Greek philosophers. I still have a ways to go to reach Descartes, Kierkegaard, Marx, Darwin, Freud and more but thus far, my re-introduction to philosophy and philosophers' has been enlightening. I can only attest for myself but I find it is truly a great "beginner's guide" to philosophy and has left me filled with thoughts to ponder on.
