Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books by Tony Reinke
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was just not a book written for me — don’t need encouragement to read, and widely. Not crazy about his overall approach in the practical half of the book, either. Sure it’s advice, not edicts, but if you ask me, the reasoning is off.
And don’t get me started on that nonsense about marking-up books. Sure, I know a lot of people do it — even some of my friends — but people (even friends) watch Survivor or America’s Got Talent. Doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Show some respect, Reinke, trees gave their lives for those things you’re covering with graffiti.
Every now and then, he overwrites a passage, but on the whole, a decent enough read, and it could be a decent tool in the right hands. Those hands just aren’t mine.
P. S. I wrote this a few months back, and honestly don’t remember much about the book — and that probably says more about its worth than my rantings above. The one thing that sticks in my mind is that overall, Reinke sees books as collections of resources to be mined. His question seems to be, “What can I get out of/use from this book?” It just seems to cheapen the act of reading — and overall, is disrespectful to the act of writing. The Preacher said, “The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings.” Now, sure, he was referring to an inspired book — but the same principle is in place no matter the book — each word, each idea is important — as is the aesthetic, the experience, and the gestalt of the book. I’d like to think a Christian way of reading would appreciate that. Each nail (word) is there for a purpose, we shouldn’t overlook that.