A Journey in Words (Guanhui)

David Foster Wallace, in a commencement speech delivered to the graduates of Kenyon College, told this story:

There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes "What the hell is water?"

Writing a reading biography is akin to the experience of being asked “How’s the water?”

Having been immersed in an environment of reading since young, it is difficult to have an objective view of one’s reading Bildungsroman. So much of my thought, my perspectives, my beliefs, and my worldview have been shaped by reading, that it is nearly impossible to point out the books that have played a critical role.

When we look back at a long journey, there are a few mileposts – moments which we will remember.

When I was nine years old, I remember a restless night and picking up a book with an interesting cover. It was called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I started reading it at 9 pm and finished it around 4 am. This was the first time I had trudged through a book from cover to cover, in one sitting. It was the first of the many to come.

Looking back, I realize that literature enraptures the imagination. The child who falls in love with books will have gained something priceless – a rich imagination and a simple, undiluted contentment.

In the years to come, I delved into a wide range of literary works: Christian literature, theology, scifi, fantasy, politics, and many others. Amongst my favourite authors, I have been especially influenced by C.S Lewis, whom I consider to be one of the greatest writers in modern history. I consider him the writer par excellence insofar as he is a master of so many genres – poetry, prose, letters, satire, theology, science-fiction, fantasy, confessional, autobiography, etc.

In Lewis’s An Experiment in Criticism, a proto reader-response theory work, he concluded with these stunning words:

           

But in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.

In reading powerful literature, then, I break out of my provincial mindset and gain an awareness and appreciation for the world beyond. I am enriched.

In my university years, I became exposed to a wider range of literary and critical works. I began reading more non-fiction work in areas like philosophy, history, and politics. Along the way, I attempted to connect the seemingly disparate readings into a coherent whole (akin to an attempt to draw up a unified theory of the universe). I wanted to become a sensitive and critical reader, rather than one who merely reads for enjoyment. In some ways, I became a utilitarian reader. But I never forgot my childhood roots – where reading was so profoundly enjoyable. Just as there are many types of books, there are also different forms of reading. I embrace them all.