Listening

Advice about Books (Understanding Spoken English 2004, p. 20)

WRITING

Write the reproduction “Paradise”.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Comment upon the statement “At its most rewarding, reading is an encounter with the life a text represents. It can be an entrance into life, rather than an escape from it. It enlarges and deepens our experience.”

ACT IT OUT

1. Learn the dialogue “What Do People Read Here?” and act it out in class.

2. Comment on Collin’s words “I think novels are for women”. Do you agree? Why? Why not? Are men’s and women’s tastes in books really different? In what way?

What Do People Read Here?

Don:	Can either of you tell me who the most popular authors are today? Perhaps you can, Ronald. You see so many people in the train to and from London.
Ronald:	Yes, I do, and they seem to read newspapers mostly, but if it is a novel it’s certainly a paper-back and usually a detective story or a spy thriller of the James Bond type. I myself prefer something with more meat in it, a travel book or a biography, for instance.
Collin:	I think novels are for women. They have so much more time on their hands, and they can’t do without romance.
Ronald:	I rather agree. Most of the male commuters I see who are not reading newspapers are poring over books about politics, history or do-it-yourself manuals showing them how to make their wives a corner cupboard out of an old box or build a model railway for their sons. This sort of thing gives them a purpose in life, which novel reading certainly doesn’t. If they want light entertainment, they’ve always got the telly.

(From “Focus on Britain”)

Vocabulary

have sth on one's hands have sth as one's responsibility or burden

e.g. I've too many children on my hands.

manual, n handbook or textbook

e.g. technical manual

do-it-yourself manual a book on do-it-yourself (=DIY), he practice of doing repairs, painting the house, etc. oneself, instead of paying workmen.

paper-back, n book in paper covers

Cf.: hard-back hard-cover edition

pore over, v study (sth) with close attention

romance, n 1. story or novel of adventure; love story

2 class of literature consisting of love stories

3.(R-) medieval story, usu. in verse, relating the adventures of some hero of chivalry

4. experience, sp. a love-affair, considered to be remarkable or worth description

e.g. I still remember my teenage romances

5. mental tendency which welcomes stories of the marvellous, etc.; the qualities characteristic of stories of life and adventure

e.g. travel in search of romance.

romantic adj, 1. (of persons) having ideas, feelings, etc. remote from experience and real life, given to romance (1, 4, 5)

e.g. a romantic girl

2 of, like, suggesting romance

e.g. romantic music/situations/adventures/tales/scenes; a romantic old castle

3 (in art, literature and music) marked by feeling rather than by intellect; preferring passion, beauty, to order and proportion (Opp. to classic and classical)

e.g. romantic poets, Shelley, Keats

romantic, n person with romantic (1, 3) ideals

romanticism, n romantic or imaginative tendency in literature, art and music ( contrasted with realism and classicism)

romanticist, n follower of romanticism

romanticize, v treat in a romantic way; use a romantic style in writing, etc.

romantically, adv

NOTES

commuter, n one who travels regularly, e.g. by train or by car, between one's work in a town and one's home in the country or suburbs

meat, n (fig) substance; meaning

James Bond (Agent 007) one of the most popular secret agents in the history of spy fiction, created by Ian Fleming, the author of 13 James Bond thrillers, "Casino Royale" (1952), being the first

II

Read the extract from the interview given by the well-known writer Valentin Katayev. How would you answer the same questions? Learn the new vocabulary.

AN INTERVIEW WITH VALENTIN KATAYEV (extract)

Q: When and how did you take to reading?

A: I became very keen on literature early in life. This probably happened because we had a very good and widely-read library at home. Books stirred my imagination, expanded the boundaries of the familiar world, and filled my life with great expectations of joy and happiness.

Since childhood, I have been enchanted by Pushkin and Gogol. Chekhov was one of the highest authorities to me. I also was delighted with Blok. Later my heart was won by Mayakovsky's, Pasternak's and Yesenin's poetry. Luckily, this country is rich in remarkable authors.

Q: How do you read?

A: As far as an interesting author is concerned, I study rather than read his or her books. For example, after reading Dante Alighieri's "Divina Comedia" I came to the conclusion that this work demands great erudition on the part of the reader. One must know Ancient Greece's mythology and legends, the history and literature of Ancient Rome, the peculiarities of Italy's philosophy, early French literature. Dante was a highly educated person and we modern people may find it hard to keep up with him. Similarly, I spent two years reading Pushkin and studying all the footnotes and commentaries to his texts to appreciate his real depth.