We ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading forIJ So that it will make us happy, as your writeIJ Good lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we have to. But we need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves.
