“THE ART OF READING"

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20001, 28 July 1939, Page 12

“THE ART OF READING"

WIDE APPROACH ADVISED VALUE OF OPPOSITION LEFT BOOK CLUB MEETING The Left Book Club room was filled almost to capacity on Wednesday evening, when the fortnightly meeting was held. The chairman was Mr. Thomas Todd, and the discussion was inaugurated by Mr. H. H. Barker, who spoke on “The Art of Reading.” Emphasising the necessity for studying questions' from every possible angle, the speaker suggested that the proper approach to reading was to make a critical and analytical study of views with which the reader was not in agreement. By this method, instead of an individual merely buttressing up his own preconceived ideas with literature that suppoited them, he would be compelled to bring his own reasoning and intelligence to bear on the case from the other side, and if his own views would stand an attack of this description, then he would have increased courage m his convictions. Mr. Barker referred briefly to' a number of books, events and sayings, ranging from the Bible to British foreign policy and Russia, to show how a reader might, lir£t of all, gain a general impression of the outlook ot the author and the authenticity and completeness of his writings. He took various illustrations to show how it was possible for seemingly convincing arguments to be built up on fallacies and how easy it was, by suppressing some facts and emphasising others, for different people to arrive at conflicting conclusions from thesame set of circumstances. All that a reader could do was to weigh various books against each other and then use his own knowledge and reasoning in an endeavour to discover just where the truth was most likely to lie The speaker suggested that the reader who followed this procedure would probably come to the conclusion that, in an ever-changing worlu. it was aknost .impossible to arrive at really definite conclusions on any question upon which it was necessary to rely on second-hand information The encouragement of opposition anil the discussion of differences o opinion, however, would materially assist the serious student, because opposition, said the speaker, was the whetstone upon which the wit was sharpened, and differences of opinion were stepping stones to knowledge, understanding, and truth. At the conclusion of the address a number of questions were answered by the speaker, and several members of the audience contributed to an interesting discussion.