C.S. Lewis, a writer of new books – well, they were new when he wrote them – was a big fan of old books.
His rule:
“It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.”
The main reason he gives for this:
“People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us.”
For example, the main way I knew that race prejudice is not “natural” to the human condition is because you do not find it in the writings of Ancient Greeks. They divided the world not by skin colour but by language: Greeks and barbarians – those who spoke Greek and those who did not.
Lewis does not say how old is old, but from his examples anything more than 200 years old is clearly old and anything less than 50 years is clearly not. Where he draws the line between 50 and 200 is unclear, but, going by what he says, the older the better, all other things being equal.
The test of time: another advantage of old books, one Lewis does not point out as far as I know, is that most books go out of print so only the good ones stay in print. In the United States, for example, George Orwell’s “1984” and Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” are still in print, both from 1949, but Mika Waltari’s “The Egyptian”, the best-selling new book of that year, is out of print. You can still get it because there are still old copies of it, but that is unlikely to be true in, say, 200 years.
Religious filtering: the test of time has an ugly underside: tons of Greek books were burned by Christians and lost forever, particularly in the year 391. Between us and the Ancient Greeks stands a huge Christian and Moslem filter. Of the books that were in the Library of Alexandria we have copies of only one per cent. – nearly all were copies made by Christian or Moslem hands.
The books of Timbuktu, likewise, have had to be hid repeatedly in the desert to protect them from fanatics, both Christian and Moslem.
And it is not just religious fanatics: the reason we have way more plays of Euripides than Sophocles is because a century later Euripides was still in fashion and Sophocles not. That meant more copies were made of Euripides’ plays, so more have lasted down to our time.
Thoreau:
“Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage.”
– Abagond, 2017.
Sources: mainly “On the Reading of Old Books” (1944), an essay by C.S. Lewis; “Walden” (1854) by Henry David Thoreau.
See also:
- How to find a good book: the 15 Year Rule – in my experience 15 years is old enough: bookstores and libraries generally do not keep books that were first published more than 15 years ago unless they are pretty good. It works the other way too: most books that are less than 8 years old are junk.
- my 1949 media diet
- Not in H.G. Wells:
- salesman
- libraries
- The libraries of Timbuktu
- Library of Alexandria
- Thoreau’s library – see part of his 1860 media diet
“most books go out of print so only the good ones stay in print.”
I’m going to have to argue against this one. Too many good books written by women and POC have gone out of print and been forgotten, some of which have been rediscovered and championed by later generations (Zora Neale Hurston and Kate Chopin, for example).
Moby Dick, now considered an American classic, was a huge failure on publication and had gone out of print before Melville died.
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… but Mika Waltari’s “The Egyptian” is not – even though back in 1949 “The Egyptian” was the best-selling new book
Just a minor grudge: the book has been translated into 40 languages. The newest English translation came out of print in 2002. The book is still recognised as a favorite national novel by most of Finnish population according to interview data by 2008.
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“The books of Timbuktu, likewise, have had to be hid repeatedly in the desert to protect them from fanatics, both Christian and Moslem.”
Fanatics of all types are so darn destructive!
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@ A Russian nagpo
;
I added “in the United States”, Thanks.
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This is an enlightening post especially reading about the Greeks in regard to race prejudice not being natural to the human condition. It’s eye opening to learn they didn’t judge people by their skin color but by those who spoke Greek and those who didn’t (Barbarians). Learned something new today thanks Abagond.
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“For example, the main way I knew that race prejudice is not “natural” to the human condition is because you do not find it in the writings of Ancient Greeks. They divided the world not by skin colour but by language: Greeks and barbarians – those who spoke Greek and those who did not.”
Are “all” blacks subject to racial prejudice by “all” other people or “some” black people subject to racial prejudice by “some” people?
How do African educated individuals come to this nation and move up into the economically successful group?
I believe racism is a matter of ignorance and perhaps a desire to control and is maintained by past experience and it has nothing to do with the color of the skin alone.
There are too many successful blacks to allow me to believe they were held back because of race. Differences in social mores has quite a bit to do with racism. Self grouping (like tribalism) has something to do with racism. Lack of education has something to do with racism. But most assuredly ignorance and of course jealousy are still the main reasons.
Therefore like all other human traits a desire to put someone down is natural, thus racism becomes natural.
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@ Allen Shaw
I think that in most societies foreigners are treated differently than natives. This is part of the explanation why foreign Blacks has it easier than native ones.
But you should look at the performance of their offspring in two or more generations, in case they remain in the country, because probably their children will join the Black mainstream, in one way or the other. In short, they will become Black Americans, and will be treated accordingly. But we must look at the statistics to be siure if this is what really is happening.
I think Abagond believes that Black Americans are not treated exactly as other American citizens, specially, not like Whites are treated, and this is part of the explanation why they under-perform in certain areas. I believe his assessment to be right and it is easy to pick one, in many, issue to show how it is correct. For example, is it not true that drivers who happen to be Black are more often than White drivers stopped by the police and sometimes even killed? Don’t you believe that this impacts Black people in its relationship with the police in general?
I’ve noticed in your comments in this blog that you try to focus in what Blacks should be doing instead of whining of the imperfections of society. If this understanding is correct, I stand with you in that regard. I think that whatever imperfections today’s America has in its treatment of Black citizens, one must concentrate oneself in extract the maximum of the situation and not stand-by (I’m no saying that anyone said that!).
I’m optimist and believe that better times will come anyway, so better prepare yourself for them.
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Educated African immigrants who do well in the USA represent the cream of their native countries. They are usually the best, brightest and most ambitious. They move to the center of empire because that is where the most opportunity lay for those persons who are not able to work “the right connections” in their home countries.
One factor in their success is the high-caliber educational head start they received in the lands of their birth. If you dig deeply enough into the individual stories of many African immigrants, you will find people whose parents prioritized education. Their parents then sacrificed to pay school fees and boarding costs to public or private schools or the children lucked out with substantial scholarships. Moreover, many African immigrants attained university degrees in their home countries before coming to the USA or other Western countries to continue their education.
In short, they have a huge advantage over native born African descent people who struggle with deliberately underfunded and ill-equipped schools——and have struggled for educational equity for decades. These inequities existed before the trend of general disinvestment in public education in the USA from the Bush II administration’s Orwellian titled and corrosive “No Child Left Behind” dismantling of schools in Black neighborhoods to the Obama administration’s “Race To The Top” punch in the gut to Black neighborhood schools.
That disinvestment in Black neighborhood schools featured:
➽ school closings
➽ mass teacher firings (especially Black teachers)
➽ curricula focused on standardized tests instead of learning
➽ elimination of support staff like school nurses, guidance counselors, cleaning and cooking staff
➽ lack of proper maintenance of school buildings (neglect of heating and cooling systems, pest problems and lead in the water fountains)
Comparing apples to apples would revolve around the question of how well the life outcomes of an average Black American compares to the life outcomes of an average Malian, Congolese, Tanzanian, Zambian or Namibian. Comparing average Black Americans to above average African immigrants is comparing apples to oranges.
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@Afrofem You may have actually stated my thoughts. By remaining together in large groups in the southeast blacks become victims of everything you have stated.
Can you say the same thing for those blacks who have been brought up in integrated neighborhoods or where there are just a small groups of blacks attending the local integrated schools?
Racial differences are going to occur the same as ethnics, religion or any other difference; however, large concentration of any one group victimizes that group.
With such large groups of blacks that exist in the south it seems as though they could actually change the local conditions.I have never looked at the composition of the black community in the south; but many highly successful blacks come out of that area, maybe more than from other areas.
Look to other causes.
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@munubantu In this conversation we are speaking of the impact that race has on blacks and how it appears as though whites accept blacks from Africa. We are not speaking about the academic levels. Many blacks in this country have high levels of education.
What happens to the following generations is the same for all people. Normally people only speak about the children that have succeeded. The failures are forgotten.
What is the percent of success rate of any group of people over two, three or four generations.
Are blacks really different?
“I’m optimist and believe that better times will come anyway, so better prepare yourself for them.” That is not optimistic that is factually realistic.
The rule of life is “Each tub must sit on it own bottom”.
“For example, is it not true that drivers who happen to be Black are more often than White drivers stopped by the police and sometimes even killed? Don’t you believe that this impacts Black people in its relationship with the police in general?”
Yes, it does impact blacks. Also not being promoted, receiving less pay, living in unsuitable neighborhoods and many many other problems impact blacks; however, is it best to set in your wet pants and cry or do you change, get up and get back in the fight. This is not a game. If a person chooses to quit or not do their very best they will not reach the level of their potential.
I respect a person who digs ditches if that is their level the same as the professor of a college. They are both doing what is their best.
I have been reading about the problems of blacks for years and years and all of the time blacks have been rising out of the bottom and moving up into the higher levels of our society. No one should expect all blacks to become high level succeeders.
English Oxford Living Dictionary
succeeder
noun 1A person who accomplishes a desired aim or result.
‘you’re more likely to become a succeeder if you try and try and try’
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@Allen Shaw:
Yassuh!
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@ Allen Shaw
“By remaining together in large groups in the southeast blacks become victims…[a] large concentration of any one group victimizes that group.”
I have lived in cities in the Southeast, Midwest and the Western US. In all of those cities, various European ethnic groups, Asian American groups, Arab American groups and Latinx groups all lived in large concentrated neighborhoods. They lived in those large, concentrated neighborhoods on purpose.
They could have dispersed themselves into White neighborhoods, but they purposely chose to live in large, concentrated groups——-and they prospered precisely because they live, work and play together and support one another. They built community centers, businesses, banks, ethnic schools, social service agencies, churches/temples and in some cases, large shopping centers.
Those groups are not victimized because they choose to live together.
Black people are also not victimized because they choose to live in “large groups”. Black people are subject to harsh treatment in the US because of long standing legal and social traditions that places them at the bottom of society.
The harsh treatment that Black people endure does not evaporate when they live dispersed in multi-ethnic neighborhoods. Nor does the harsh treatment lessen when they adopt White “social mores” or strive for an “elite upbringing” of their children.
I will repeat an example I described on the “Voluntary and Involuntary” thread:
The argument that “if Black people behave, White people will automatically end racism” is weak and unrealistic no matter who makes it. The facts and history of this country don’t support that argument.
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It’s so naive and stupid to think that respectability politics will make the dominant culture respond better to black people. Anybody who believes that is just an imbecile and needs to take off their rose colored glasses and wake up and smell the damn coffee.
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@Afrofem
“Those groups are not victimized because they choose to live together.”
I do not believe you have studied the entire mass of individuals that you speak of. Inside of those groups are victims and winners.
“Black people are also not victimized because they choose to live in “large groups”. Black people are subject to harsh treatment in the US because of long standing legal and social traditions that places them at the bottom of society.” Yes it is true some blacks are mistreated: While other seem to live very good and successful lives. Which group do people look at?
While young people are being shot by the police others are graduating from higher level education institutions with honors. Which group do we look at?
“I taught my black kids that their elite upbringing would protect them from discrimination.”
I taught my kids that life was unfair and they had to learn to cope in an unfair world. Even if they worked hard they may not get to the top; however; if they did not try they were sure to remain at the bottom.
“[Graham]… concluded that apparent racism is a simple misunderstanding”
I have no doubt that racism exist. It is in everyone’s face. The solution is to do your best and keep fighting for your goals.
Racism, sexism, religiosity, ethnicity, creed, nationality all are causes of unfair treatment. Are you attractive or does your appearance turn people off? Is your hair short and nappy or beautiful? Do successful men (or women) marry unattractive partners (not often)? If you fail to learn how to “play the game” do you get ahead? Are you clumsy or agile?
Are you able to grasp thought rapidly or do you need time to take subject matter in and can you react to situations smoothly and rapidly?
How well do you interact with your co workers?
Are you patient or demanding?
Do you persevere?
How many other problems do people have that remove them from competition?
Only a few individual reach the top and the pyramid is very narrow at the top. Damage done to those whose aspire to reach the top and fail is devastating because of the huge decline in fortune. At the bottom of the pyramid life is not so bad unless you are at the bottom. Many individuals are very happy at the mid level and consider themselves to be successful. I supervised GS 5s who were very happy with their positions. Some of them no longer sought higher learning!
My experience with whites is positive. When they find me to be objectionable they left me alone, attempted to go around me or actually attack me. I had to learn to cope with that as normal. I even had to protect others who had been discarded because of perceived faults. In the “real world that is common.
Once again, yes racism has its ugly head present at all times and will for the balance of time. So get out there an fight for what you can do.
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If anything, being a refined, educated and ‘respectful ‘black’, will only inflame them. This is why I detest these ‘I’m not like those other black people’ types. Well no you’re not, Mr. or Ms. shuck and jive. Most white I have come across feel threatened on so many levels, the only difference being that the level of white supremacist leanings they have whether consciously or unconsciously among them.
I have seen this with Black people in managerial roles. The whites are hyper critical of them more so than white managers. Even the most incompetent white managers are treated ‘affectionately’ as mascots, and jokes, if they are truly ‘bad’ than they are an ‘exception’. One could go on and on. With that being said, if in doubt cuss them out!!
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@ Herneith
Same here.
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[…] new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones… People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But […]
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