Sunday, November 4, 2012

The 10 rights of a reader



The 'declaration' is affixed to one of the walls of our local library. 



1  -  The right to NOT read
2  -  to SKIP pages
3  -  to NOT finish the book
4  -  to read it AGAIN
5  -  to read ANYTHIG
6  -  to IMAGINE oneself as one of the caracters in  book
7  -  to read ANYWHERE  we want
8  -  to GRAPILLER (not sure) to pick bits and pieces
9  -  to read out LOUD 
10-  to read in SILENCE

Someone added this thought:  never make fun of the ones that can't read if you want them to read some day.  

And, I'm asking what's with looking up the ending?  From what I hear the majority of us readers takes the right to do that now and then.   

12 comments:

Halle said...

My daughter and I had a joke between us when she was very young that I would read to her, and cut up her food for her and in return someday she would do the same for me.
That day is getting closer, and yes, she remembers our little agreement.

Ellena said...

Oh Halle, how considerate but, no rush to reach that day.

Halle said...

Considerate and self-serving too. It illustrates how wonderful it is when people are patient and caring with each other.

Definitely no rush! :)

Rouchswalwe said...

I don't know exactly why, but I have not been tempted to look ahead to the end of the story when I read a book. I don't know why. There are books I read 2/3 of the way through and then simply stop reading.

Ellena said...

Rouchswalwe
I do volunteer work at the library and am very surprised to hear that so very many look at the ending of the story. I do it very seldom and only when I don't intend to finish the book.
Maybe we are too self-disciplined.

Halle said...

Sometimes when a story is getting repetitive and it is just about time to give up on it, I will look further along and yes sometimes almost at the end to see if there is anything there that makes me think it would be worth spending time reading further.

I've often wished I could do that for television or movies.

Ellena said...

Right on Halle, sometimes.

Roderick Robinson said...

To make fun of someone who can't read is the equivalent of tripping up someone who is one-legged. It is almost a disqualification from the human race. The criminal should be strapped to a chair in a soundproof room and be forced to listen to the Oslo telephone directory read over and over by five-year-olds.

Unfortunately items 9 and 10 of your otherwise admirable list are mutually exclusive if the persons involved are sharing a room. An interesting short story could be devised based on Item 7 in which a patient insists on reading during his (It would have to be a fella) own brain operations.18

Ellena said...

RR! Thanks for dropping in.
I was fine while walking through posts
making a path towards increased knowledge. The devil made me write comments. Now I'm stuck answering back and don't know how. I enjoy reading you - I don't enjoy facing my shortcomings when unable to express myself.
Now,why does it have to be fella (not because of 'his'?) and why more than one operation and what about 18, she asks in a very low voice.

Roderick Robinson said...

Nonsense, you know quite well how to answer back: quietly, but subversively. Why a fella? Because it's macho and show-off. And, hey, you had me baffled for a while with 18, then I remembered: in concentrating on the verification number I failed to notice (no doubt the devil had a hand in it) that the cursor still lay in the comment box and not in the number box (I hope you're getting all these techno-terms). So 18 was/were the first two symbols of the Show-you're-not-a-robot code. I proved I wasn't a robot, what I failed to do was prove I wasn't stupid.

Ellena said...

RR!
I don't label fellows. That's why I did not understand and.....we must stop meeting like that.

Rouchswalwe said...

BIG SMILE!