上外版大學英語寫作精選第四冊(6)

Unit 6

Text

"Don't ever mark in a book！" Thousands of teachers， librarians and parents have so advised. But Mortimer Adler disagrees. He thinks so long as you own the book and needn't preserve its physical appearance， marking it properly will grant you the ownership of the book in the true sense of the word and make it a part of yourself.

HOW TO MARK A BOOK

Mortimer J. Adler

You know you have to read"between the lines" to get the most out of anything. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the course of your reading. I want to persuade you to"write between the lines." Unless you do， you are not likely to do the most efficient kind of reading.

You shouldn't mark up a book which isn't yours. Librarians （or your friends） who lend you books expect you to keep them clean， and you should. If you decide that I am right about the usefulness of marking books， you will have to buy them.

There are two ways in which one can own a book. The first is the property right you establish by paying for it， just as you pay for clothes and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession. Full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself， and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it. An illustration may make the point clear. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the butcher's icebox to your own. But you do not own the beefsteak in the most important sense until you consume it and get it into your bloodstream. I am arguing that books， too， must be absorbed in your bloodstream to do you any good.

There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers —— unread， untouched. （This individual owns wood-pulp and ink， not books.） The second has a great many books —— a few of them read through， most of them dipped into， but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. （This person would probably like to make books his own， but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.） The third has a few books or many —— every one of them dog-eared and dilapidated， shaken and loosened by continual use， marked and scribbled in from front to back. （This man owns books.）

Is it false respect， you may ask， to preserve intact a beautifully printed book， an elegantly bound edition？ Of course not. I'd no more scribble all over a first edition of"Paradise Lost" than I'd give my baby a set of crayons and an original Rembrandt！ I wouldn't mark up a painting or a statue. Its soul， so to speak， is inseparable from its body. And the beauty of a rare edition or of a richly manufactured volume is like that of painting or a statue. If your respect for magnificent binding or printing gets in the way， buy yourself a cheap edition and pay your respects to the author.

Why is marking up a book indispensable to reading？ First， it keeps you awake. （And I don't mean merely conscious； I mean wide awake.） In the second place， reading， if it is active， is thinking， and thinking tends to express itself in words， spoken or written. The marked book is usually the thought-through book. Finally， writing helps you remember the thoughts you had， or the thoughts the author expressed. Let me develop these three points.

If reading is to accomplish anything more than passing time， it must be active. you can't let your eyes glide across the lines of a book and come up with an understanding of what you have read. Now an ordinary piece of light fiction， like， say，"Gone with the Wind，" doesn't require the most active kind of reading. The books you read for pleasure can be read in a state of relaxation， and nothing is lost. But a great book， rich in ideas and beauty， a book that raises and tries to answer great fundamental questions， demands the most active reading of which you are capable. You don't absorb the ideas of John Dewey the way you absorb the crooning of Mr. Vallee. You have to reach for them. That you cannot do while you're asleep.

If， when you've finished reading a book， the pages are filled with your notes， you know that you read actively. The most famous active reader of great books I know is President Hutchins， of the University of Chicago. He also has the hardest schedule of business activities of any man I know. He invariably read with pencil， and sometimes， when he picks up a book and pencil in the evening， he finds himself， instead of making intelligent notes， drawing what he calls" caviar factories" on the margins. When that happens， he puts the book down. He knows he's too tired to read， and he's just wasting time.

But， you may ask， why is writing necessary？ Well， the physical act of writing， with your own hand， brings words and sentences more sharply before your mind and preserves them better in your memory. To set down your reaction to important words and sentences you have read， and the questions they have raised in your mind， is to preserve those reactions and sharpen those questions. You can pick up the book the following week or year， and there are all your points of agreement， disagreement， doubt and inquiry. It's like resuming an interrupted conversation with the advantage of being able to pick up where you left off.

And that is exactly what reading a book should be： a conversation between you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the subject than you do； naturally you'll have the proper humility as you approach him. But don't let anybody tell you that a reader is supposed to be solely on the receiving end. Understanding is a two-way operation； learning doesn't consist in being an empty receptacle. The learner has to question himself and question the teacher. He even has to argue with the teacher， once he understands what the teacher is saying. And marking a book is literally an expression of your differences， or agreements of opinion， with the author.

There are all kinds of devices for marking a book intelligently and fruitfully. Here's the way I do it：

1. Underlining： of major points， of important or forceful statements.

2. Vertical lines at the margin： to emphasize a statement already underlined.

3. Star， asterisk， or other doo-dad at the margin： to be used sparingly， to emphasize the ten or twenty most important statements in the book.

4. Numbers in the margin： to indicate the sequence of points the author makes in developing a single argument.

5. Number of other pages in the margin： to indicate where else in the book the author made points relevant to the point marked； to tie up the ideas in a book， which， though they may be separated by many pages， belong together.

6. Circling of key words or phrases.

7. Writing in the margin， or at the top or bottom of the page， for the sake of： recording questions （and perhaps answers） which a passage raise in your mind； reducing a complicated discussion to a simple statement； recording the sequence of major points right through the book. I use the end-papers at the back of the book to make a personal index of the author's points in the order of their appearance. The front end-papers are， to me， the most important. Some people reserve them for a fancy bookplate， I reserve them for fancy thinking. After I have finished reading the book and making my personal index on the back end-papers， I turn to the front and try to outline the book， not page by page， or point by point （I've already done that at the back）， but as an integrated structure， with a basic unity and an order of parts. This outline is， to me， the measure of my understanding of the work.

Phrases & Expressions

read between the lines（fig.） find more meaning than the words appear to express 躰會字裡行間的言外之意

do（sb.） good help or benefit （sb.） 幫助（某人）；對（某人）有益

dip into read or study for a short time or without much attention 瀏覽；稍加探究

no more……than……

in no greater degree……than……

a set of a number of （thing that belong together） 一套

so to speak/ say（used as an apology for an unusual use of a word or phrase） as one might say； if I may use this expression， etc. 可以說；容許我打個譬喻

get in the way become a nuisance or hindrance 擋道；礙事

in the second place as the second thing in order or importance 第二，其次

think through think about until one reaches an understanding or conclusion 徹底全麪考慮

reach for stretch out one's hand to grasp； make an effort to grasp 伸手去抓；努力爭取

set down write down on paper

pick up start again after interruption 中斷後重新開始

leave off stop

consist in lie in； be equivalent to 在於；存在於

tie up connect closely； fasten with rope， etc. 系緊；綑牢

reduce……to state in a more concise form； summarize as 把……歸納爲