Itissimpleenoughtosaythatsincebookshaveclassesfiction,biography,poetry—weshouldseparatethemandtakefromeachwhatitisrightthateachshouldgiveus.Yetfewpeopleaskfrombookswhatbookscangiveus.Mostcommonlywecometobookswithblurredanddividedminds,askingoffictionthatitshallbetrue,ofpoetrythatitshallbefalse,ofbiographythatitshallbeflattering,ofhistorythatitshallenforceourownprejudices.Ifwecouldbanishallsuchpreconceptionwhenweread,thatwouldbeanadmirablebeginning.Donotdictatetoyourauthor;trytobecomehim.Behisfellowworkerandaccomplice(同谋).Ifyouhangback,andreserveandcriticizeatfirst,youarepreventingyourselffromgettingthefullestpossiblevaluefromwhatyouread.Butifyouopenyourmindaswidelyaspossible,thensignsandhintsofalmostimperceptiblefiness(委婉之处),fromthetwistandturnofthefirstsentences,willbringyouintothepresenceofahumanbeingunlikeanyother.Steepyourselfinthis,acquaintyourselfwiththis,andsoonyouwillfindthatyourauthorisgivingyou,orattemptingtogiveyou,somethingfarmoredefinite.Thethirtytwochaptersofanovel—ifweconsiderhowtoreadanovelfirst—areanattempttomakesomethingasformedandcontrolledasabuildingbutwordsaremoreimpalpablethanbricks,readingisalongerandmorecomplicatedprocessthanseeing.Perhapsthequickestwaytounderstandtheelementsofwhatanovelistisdoingisnottoread,buttowrite;tomakeyourownexperimentwiththedangersanddifficultiesofwords.Recall,then,someeventthathasleftadistinctimpressiononyou—howatthecornerofthestreet,perhaps,youpassedtwopeopletalking.Atreeshook;anelectriclightdanced;thetoneofthetalkwascomic,butalsotragic;awholevision,anentireconception,seemedcontainedinthatmoment.
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