"To understand a profound thought is to have, at the moment one understands it, a profound thought oneself; and this demands some effort, a genuine descent to the heart of oneself... Only desire and love give us the strength to make this effort. The only books that we truly absorb are those we read with real appetite, after having worked hard to get them, so great had been our need of them."

Reading was, for Marcel Proust, more than the pursuit of knowledge: a truly spiritual activity, it was a means of transforming and transcending the self. By reading great authors, he contends, we not only learn of great ideas, but are enriched by the fruits of the world's most inspirational minds.

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Yes, you can access On Reading by Marcel Proust, John Ruskin, Eric Karpeles, Damion Searls in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literary Criticism History & Theory. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher

Hesperus Press

Year

2011

ISBN

9781780940274

Edition

Topic

Literature

Subtopic

Literary Criticism History & Theory

Index

Literature

Cover
Title
Copyright
Contents
Foreword by Eric Karpeles
Introduction
On Reading Translator’s Preface to Sesame and Lilies
Lecture I — Sesame. Of Kings’ Treasuries by John Ruskin, Notes by Marcel Proust
Makeshift Memory
Ruskin in Venice
Servitude and Freedom
Resurrection
Biographical note