Speaker 1: History Versus is a production of I Heart Radio and
Speaker 1: Mental Flaws. Theodore Roosevelt once reportedly said that reading with
Speaker 1: me is a disease, and indeed you could find the
Speaker 1: twenty six president of the United States himself, the author
Speaker 1: of more than thirty books, reading basically everywhere in front
Speaker 1: of the fire, in bed, in his train car. On
Speaker 1: hunting trips for a year long safari in Africa, for example,
Speaker 1: he brought along a trunk of sixty books, and even
Speaker 1: when pursuing both thieves in the Dakota bad Lands in
Speaker 1: that case, he started with Anna Karenina and when he
Speaker 1: finished that borrowed a dime novel from one of the thieves.
Speaker 1: From an early age, he devoured almost any book he
Speaker 1: could get his hands on, from main reads, adventure novels
Speaker 1: and David Livingstone's missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa,
Speaker 1: to James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans and
Speaker 1: Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, to poetry by
Speaker 1: the likes of Samuel Taylor, Coleridge and Edwin Arlington. Robinson
Speaker 1: as an adult, Tier read several books at a time
Speaker 1: even when he was busy, usually finishing around a book
Speaker 1: a day, and sometimes more, flicking through two to three
Speaker 1: pages a minute. He was so absorbed when he was
Speaker 1: reading that he wouldn't even hear his own name being called.
Speaker 1: Biographer Edmund Morris writes that nothing short of a thump
Speaker 1: on the back would regain his attention. Tr owned many
Speaker 1: many books, and accounting of all the Roosevelt family's books
Speaker 1: at Sagamore Hill with seventy seven pages long seventy seven
Speaker 1: Tier acknowledged in his autobiography that books are everywhere. There
Speaker 1: are as many in the north room and in the
Speaker 1: parlor as in the library. The gun room at the
Speaker 1: top of the house contains more books than any of
Speaker 1: the other rooms. The books have overflowed into all the
Speaker 1: other rooms too. In nineteen fifteen, Ladies Home Journal asked
Speaker 1: the former president to pen a piece titled the Books
Speaker 1: that I Read and When and How I do my reading.
Speaker 1: This piece is a gift. It's so delightful. Roosevelt, who's
Speaker 1: said that he didn't follow any plan when it came
Speaker 1: to reading, caution that it would be impossible to try
Speaker 1: to enumerate all the books I read, or even all
Speaker 1: the kinds which given how quickly he could read, and
Speaker 1: how curious he was doesn't seem to be hyperbole. That said,
Speaker 1: he did have some practical advice for readers, And in
Speaker 1: this bonus episode of History Verses, we're going to go
Speaker 1: through a few of them. Some of them you might
Speaker 1: want to follow, and some of you might want to disregard.
Speaker 1: But they're all a fascinating glimpse into the mind of
Speaker 1: one of the biggest bibliophiles in history. Okay, let's get started.
Speaker 1: Tip number one train yourself to read the classics. Tr
Speaker 1: wrote that if anyone finds that he never reads serious literature,
Speaker 1: if all his reading is frothy and trashy, he would
Speaker 1: do well to try to train himself to like books
Speaker 1: that the general agreement of cultivated and sound thinking persons
Speaker 1: has placed among the classics. Let man or woman, young
Speaker 1: man or girl read some good author until sustained mental
Speaker 1: effort brings power to enjoy the books worth enjoying. According
Speaker 1: to tr only when this has been done can the
Speaker 1: reader trust himself to pick out for himself the particular
Speaker 1: good books which appeal to him. Tip number two, find
Speaker 1: a few minutes to read every day. You think you're
Speaker 1: too busy to read well. That was not an excuse
Speaker 1: Theodore Roosevelt would have accepted. If he could make time well,
Speaker 1: you can make time to Tier wrote that he typically
Speaker 1: read for half an hour before bed, but he didn't
Speaker 1: dream of limiting himself to just that short window. All
Speaker 1: kinds of odd moments turn up during even a busy
Speaker 1: day in which it is possible to enjoy a book,
Speaker 1: he wrote. And then there are rainy afternoons in the
Speaker 1: country in autumn, and stormy days in winter, when one's
Speaker 1: work outdoors is finished, and after wet clothes have been
Speaker 1: changed for dry, the rocking chair in front of the
Speaker 1: open wood fire simply demands an accompanying book. It's hard
Speaker 1: to disagree with him. There tip number three, don't read
Speaker 1: which you don't like. When choosing a book to read,
Speaker 1: Roosevelt noted that the reader's personal and individual taste must
Speaker 1: be the guiding factor. He compared taste in books to
Speaker 1: taste in food. He wrote that while he liked apples, pears,
Speaker 1: and oranges, he disliked bananas and prunes, adding at times
Speaker 1: and the tropics, I have been exceedingly sorry I could
Speaker 1: not learn to like bananas, and on roundups in the
Speaker 1: cow country in the old days, it was even more
Speaker 1: unfortunate not to like prunes. But I simply could not
Speaker 1: make myself like either, and that was all there was
Speaker 1: to it. Roosevelt went on to say that of the
Speaker 1: books he had most recently tried to read, he could
Speaker 1: read Guy Mannering, The Antiquary Pen, Dennis Vanity Fair, Our
Speaker 1: Mutual Friend, and the Pickwick Papers over and over, but
Speaker 1: he did not care for Fortunes of Nigel Esmond, and
Speaker 1: The Old Curiosity Shop. I have no question that the
Speaker 1: latter three books are as good as the first six,
Speaker 1: he wrote. Doubtless for other people they are better, but
Speaker 1: I do not like them anymore than I like prunes
Speaker 1: and bananas. He concluded that at my age, I might
Speaker 1: will own up at least to myself, to my limitations,
Speaker 1: and read the books I thoroughly enjoy. Tip number four,
Speaker 1: don't look down on people who don't like the same
Speaker 1: books as you. Books are almost as individual as friends,
Speaker 1: Tire wrote in his autobiography, adding that some meet the
Speaker 1: needs of one person and some of another, and each
Speaker 1: person should be aware of the book lover's besetting sin
Speaker 1: of what Mr Edgar Allan Poe calls the mad pride
Speaker 1: of intellectuality, taking the shape of arrogant pity for the
Speaker 1: man who does not like the same kind of books.
Speaker 1: Given this mindset, it's no surprise that Tier had what
Speaker 1: he described as no sympathy for concepts like one hundred
Speaker 1: best Books in the five foot library, the concept created
Speaker 1: by a Harvard president that a person could get a
Speaker 1: liberal education by reading fifty one set books that fit
Speaker 1: on a five foot shelf. Tr wrote in his autobiography
Speaker 1: that it is all right for a man to amuse
Speaker 1: himself by composing a list of a hundred very good books.
Speaker 1: But there is no such thing as a hundred books
Speaker 1: that are best for all men, or for the majority
Speaker 1: of men, or for one and at all times. And
Speaker 1: there is no such thing as a five foot library
Speaker 1: which will satisfy the needs of even one particular man
Speaker 1: on different occasions extending over a number of years. Tip
Speaker 1: number five, you don't have to read books that are
Speaker 1: recommended to you. As we've discussed, Tear found reading and
Speaker 1: choosing books to be a highly personal pursuit. He wrote
Speaker 1: in his autobiography that the reader, the book lover, must
Speaker 1: meet his own needs without paying too much attention to
Speaker 1: what his neighbors say those needs should be. In his
Speaker 1: Ladies Home Journal piece, he noted that suggestions of a
Speaker 1: possibly helpful character can be made by outsiders, but only suggestions,
Speaker 1: and they will probably be helpful about in proportion to
Speaker 1: the outsider's knowledge of the mind and soul of the
Speaker 1: person to be helped. In other words, you're the best
Speaker 1: person to choose the books you want to read, So
Speaker 1: if a friend recommends a book that doesn't seem like
Speaker 1: your thing, don't feel guilty for not picking it up.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. So far, Theodore Roosevelt has advised
Speaker 1: us to read the classics and pay no mind to
Speaker 1: book recommendations. Ready for some more reading tips from tr
Speaker 1: Here we go Tip number six, read what you're in
Speaker 1: the mood for. Tire wrote in his autobiography that a
Speaker 1: book must be interesting to the particular reader at that
Speaker 1: particular time, and in the Ladies Home Journal piece, he
Speaker 1: noted that a man with a real fondness for books
Speaker 1: of various kinds will find that his varying moods determine
Speaker 1: which of these books he at the moment needs. He
Speaker 1: certainly followed his own advice, reading widely on many, many,
Speaker 1: many topics, Tip number seven Read in streaks. Roosevelt was
Speaker 1: a fan of reading in what he called streaks, wherein
Speaker 1: he would get interested in a particular subject and then
Speaker 1: read about it in book after book, and then in
Speaker 1: other subjects suggested by his reading. Even in pure literature
Speaker 1: having nothing to do with history, philosophy, sociology, or economy,
Speaker 1: one book will often suggest another, so that one finds
Speaker 1: one has unconsciously followed a regular course of reading. He
Speaker 1: wrote Tip number eight avoid trashy and vicious books. So
Speaker 1: Tira had a lot to say about letting your mood
Speaker 1: and your preference guide your choice in books. But let's
Speaker 1: be clear. He's talking about good books, things like the classics,
Speaker 1: which he deemed books worth reading. He did not condone
Speaker 1: the reading of trashy or frothy books his words. By
Speaker 1: the way, personal preference, according to Theodore Roosevelt, is no
Speaker 1: excuse for permitting oneself to like what is vicious or
Speaker 1: even simply worthless. What is a vicious book? You may
Speaker 1: ask well. Tr gave us a few examples. If a
Speaker 1: man read and enjoyed Bellamy, Tire said that he will
Speaker 1: do well to keep a watch on the reflex centers
Speaker 1: of his moral nature, and should pick up books by
Speaker 1: Eugene Brio and Henry Bordeaux instead. If this reader enjoyed
Speaker 1: Leo Tolstoy's Anna, Karenina and more in Peace, great, But
Speaker 1: if the reader preferred the authors e ninety novella The
Speaker 1: Chritzer Sonata, which, like Bellamy, dealt very frankly with adultery
Speaker 1: and sex, Tier wrote that he had better make up
Speaker 1: his mind that, for pathological reasons, he will be wise
Speaker 1: thereafter to avoid Tolstoy entirely. Tolstoy is an exceedingly interesting
Speaker 1: and stimulating writer, but an exceedingly unsafe moral advisor. That's
Speaker 1: putting it nicely. In the Outlook, tr wrote that Sonata
Speaker 1: was revolting, and that Tolstoy was a man who, however
Speaker 1: high he may stand in certain respects, has in him
Speaker 1: certain dreadful qualities of the moral pervert. Ultimately, Tier concluded
Speaker 1: that the reading of vicious books for pleasures should be eliminated.
Speaker 1: It is no less clear that trivial and vulgar books
Speaker 1: do more damage than can possibly be offset by any
Speaker 1: entertainment they yield. Tip number nine, bring big books on
Speaker 1: vacation if you've ever packed a beet read. You have
Speaker 1: a little something in common with tr who brought books
Speaker 1: with him wherever he went. Railway and steamboat journeys were,
Speaker 1: of course predestined through the ages as aids to the
Speaker 1: enjoyment of reading. He wrote, I have always taken books
Speaker 1: with me when on hunting and exploring trips. He recommended
Speaker 1: bringing reasonably heavy books on long trips, which he said
Speaker 1: would allow the reader to tackle more ambitious books and authors,
Speaker 1: as you never would if surrounded by less formidable authors
Speaker 1: in your own library. And when you do reach the
Speaker 1: journey's end, you grasp with eager appetite at old magazines
Speaker 1: or at the lightest of literature. Tip number ten, use
Speaker 1: reading to escape look. The real world can be a bummer.
Speaker 1: Theodore Roosevelt, who lost family members dear to him and
Speaker 1: worked in the stressful world of politics, knew that all
Speaker 1: too well. So even though critics would score and happy
Speaker 1: endings in books, he actually liked them. There are enough
Speaker 1: horror and grimness and sordid squalor in real life with
Speaker 1: which an active man has to grapple, he wrote. When
Speaker 1: I turned to the world of literature, I do not
Speaker 1: care to study suffering unless for some sufficient purpose. It
Speaker 1: is only a very exceptional novel which I will read
Speaker 1: if he does not marry her. And even in exceptional novels,
Speaker 1: I much prefer this consummation. I am not defending my attitude.
Speaker 1: I am merely stating it. And perhaps he was speaking
Speaker 1: from personal experience when he wrote, if one is worried
Speaker 1: by all kinds of men and events during critical periods
Speaker 1: in administrative office, or at national conventions, or during congressional investigations,
Speaker 1: or in hard fought political campaigns, it is the greatest
Speaker 1: relief and unalloyed delight to take up some really good,
Speaker 1: really enthralling book and lose all memory of everything grimy
Speaker 1: and of the baseness that must be parried or conquered.
Speaker 1: There are plenty more tier reading tips where these came from,
Speaker 1: so if you're interested, you can find them at mental
Speaker 1: flaws dot com. Slash History Versus. Thanks for listening to
Speaker 1: this bonus episode of History Versus. We'll be back in
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks with another episode. History Versus is
Speaker 1: hosted by me Aaron McCarthy. The executive producers are Aaron McCarthy,
Speaker 1: Julie Douglas, and Tyler Klang. The super revising producer is
Speaker 1: Dylan Fagan. The show is edited by Dylan Fagan and Loberlante.
Speaker 1: If you want to find out more about this episode
Speaker 1: and Theodore Roosevelt, visit Mental Flash dot com, slash History Versus.
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