From Joseph Brodsky's lecture, 'How to Read a Book':
Before I come up with my suggestion -- nay! with what I perceive as the only solution for developing sound taste in literature, I'd like to say a few words about this solution's source, i.e., about my humble self. I'd like to do it not because of my personal vanity, but because I believe that the value of an idea is related to the context from which it emerges. Indeed, had I been a publisher, I'd be putting on my books' covers not only their authors' names but also the exact age at which they composed this or that work, in order to enable their readers to decide whether they care to reckon with the information or the views contained in a book written by a man so much younger -- or, for that matter, so much older -- than they are themselves.
Perhaps not just their age, which is often less relevent than you think, but a personal statement of who they are. NOt the typical book liner notes that tell of previous publications, awards won, number of children, but a more personal: Who do you say you are? That would certainly help ME decide whether I wanted to read a book.
Posted by: patry Francis | 11 October 2005 at 03:10
Benji! Wherefore art thou?
Posted by: letitia | 03 November 2005 at 02:04