How to choose a good book

How to choose a good book

1) Introduction: 

would like to briefly explain how important it is to surround yourself with good books, and save all legs bad books! I would also like to know a foolproof way to know the difference between good books and bad books, without having to read all the books in the world!Since I am not able to do this, you will get away with a few thoughts about it, in part from Chapter 7.A of the excellent book A.-D. Sertillanges called intellectual life: its spirit, its conditions, its method.

2) The importance of attending 

good booksSome quotations from the Government itself, p. 123-134, Antonin Eymieu:If we believe their confessions, correspondence or papers is in reading than most men, famous for good or evil, have found their vocation, it was she who made St. Augustine and St. Ignatius of Loyola, [...] as it is she who has Tropman, Ravachol and many other major killers, she is continuing our eyes to provide customers with prisons and the guillotine. [...]English Jowet, a professor at Oxford, said that Dante was wrong in writing on the door of his hell: "O ye who enter here leave all hope!" He should have put "Here we read French novels ". [...]But it will be said, I love so much reading! - Maybe you also like mushrooms, but it is not a reason to take them pell-mell without sort, since there are of evil. 

But is healthy for a healthy soul ! - Probably like everyone is healthy for a healthy stomach. Try on your stomach the effect of poisons. Moreover, there are souls spoiled by the world : this is one of the less undeniable advantages facts. However, before being spoiled , they were healthy , and , since they could spoil , so is that not everything has been healthy for these souls so healthy .

But this book , everyone is talking about! - God will also speak , and maybe you 'll be glad to tell him that you did not read .

Anyway , if you read it , it will do its work in you . If you do not want it to do , it should not be read .

3) A few tips to help choose good books

Strictly , it is impossible to know if a book is good or bad without opening it. But our lives are short , careful reading takes time , most books are not worth reading, and many of them are downright dangerous. So we need good advice to help us choose good books quickly and efficiently.

3.1 ) Do a good teacher . 

By definition, you can not know until you know . But you need to know to avoid traps and poisons. This is a case where it is good to believe someone, if you have good raisonspour trust him . My current recommendation is St. Thomas Aquinas in theology and philosophy.

3.2) Find great playlists. 

One of the many benefits to find a good spiritual director and good teachers is that they can give you good advice on what books to read.

3.3) of a feather flock together . 

When you find a very good writer , look what books he considered excellent. Often, a very good book annotated bibliography that will put you on the track several other good books.

3.4) The friend of my enemy is my enemy. 

The reverse of the previous advice is that if you discover a really bad writer, any admirer of this author will probably be too bad. (For example, in philosophy, Nietzsche is a bad writer, Michel Foucault and Nietzsche admired . Surprise , surprise, Michel Foucault is one of the worst philosophers !)

3.5) The quality , not quantity. 

There is a disproportion between the gargantuan number of things written , and the limited time to read . Yes, it is true that almost every author says at least some truths . But why take a dump to comb , to find a few pieces of loose change , then we can spit large bills at the ATM ? Sertillanges said: "Do read that first hand , where the main ideas shine . These are few. The books are duplicated, dilute , or contradict , which is another way of repeating itself . "

3.6) Reputation of the publisher. 

Of course, I do not know any publishing house that publishes only good books ! But most of the time, bad publishers do not publish good books . (For example, in computer science, I now avoid like the plague books as publishers bâcleurs That Sam's Publishing, O'Reilly , etc.).

3.7) The price . Of course, 

a book can be very expensive, and very bad! However, the Internet has fundamentally changed the relationship between price and quality of a book. First, more and more classic books are available free on the Internet. Of course, this is a huge advantage ! Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection has immediate access to a huge library ! ( See also How do I obtain free copies of good books ? ) Secondly , again because of the Internet , the price of new books ( still copyrighted ) no longer has the same relationship as before with the quality . It seems that paper books are often worthless if they cost less than $ 100 CAN ( 2012 ) . The reason seems to be that if several people with impressive credentials working for years to write a good book, it can not be sold for only $ 20. And if this "book" was written by one person in less than a year , you can probably find the same information for free on the Internet .

3.8) The reactions of bad students. 

An advice surprisingly effective relationships is to look worse students in your class. Stupid and lazy students tend to speak ill of good books ! Etc. . , Etc ...

4 ) Conclusion

Some people choose their clothes or furniture very carefully. Other rightly attach more importance to the quality of their diet. But it is still best to carefully choose the books you read.