午夜剧场

When it comes to books, you should just read what you like, however you like.

That is true. However, I also believe there is no harm in having countless theories on reading in the world. This is because reading about reading makes you want to read books. In fact, I have read many essays on reading and have been inspired by them. "On Reading" (Iwanami Shinsho) by Shinzo Koizumi of this university is one of them.

At the request of an editor, I too have published a book on reading. If there is anything that distinguishes it from similar books, it is that every chapter is structured in two parts: Side A and Side B. For example, Chapter 1 is "Side A: Speed Reading Techniques / Side B: Slow Reading Manners." There are books in the world that preach the benefits of speed reading. There are also books that emphasize the harmful effects of speed reading and recommend slow, intensive reading.

Which one is correct?

Both are correct, and both are wrong. In the first place, if you cannot speed read, you likely cannot manage intensive reading either.

One more thing. This might be a characteristic, or perhaps a flaw, but throughout the entire book, there is a sense that I am talking in a delirium. A young reader pointed out that because the author (= me) is in a feverish state, the book is "full of things to nitpick."

Working through a list of classical literature from start to finish. Daring to read difficult books on philosophy, thought, mathematics, and other natural sciences. Tackling books in foreign languages (and several of them at that).

The tone in which I state these things is high-pitched. The person writing is preaching incredibly radical things with a perfectly normal face. It's crazy. It's laughable.

That is what they say.

Indeed. Reading it back, I was appalled myself. However, if asked whether I would rewrite it if given the chance for a new edition, I would have no choice but to say no.

In this busy era, why do we go out of our way to buy paper books and read them in such a gloomy, tedious way, rather than surfing the net, asking ChatGPT, or having YouTube videos explain things to us?

It is to be alone. It is to get used to solitude. Then, why is it necessary to get used to solitude? That is...

See, there it goes again. This is how the delirium begins.

Kotaro Kondo

CCC Media House

314 pages, 1,760 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time this magazine was published.