The Pleasure of Books

A reading of the speech made by William Lyon Phelps in 1933, entitled "The Pleasure of Books".

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• william
• lyon
• phelps
• pleasure
• of
• the
• books
• book
• literature
• reading
• library
• libraries
• bücher
• buch
• 1933
• speech
• radio

[oldbaldy129]

Wonderful!

[TheRavenOfPoe]

thank you! =)

[malleebull75]

Quite brilliant.

But then again, being in a band called 'The Pleasure of Books' you would have to say I am rather biased, wouldn't you?

Well done.

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Thank you! And I think that is a fantastic name for a band! Let me know if you decide to upload any videos of your band's music to YouTube, it would be fun to hear =)

[AcquaDiParma]

That was really good. I love books and agree with everything Phelps says..Mind if I put it in my Favs?

[TheRavenOfPoe]

Thank you, Bri! =)

[PhillipLWilcher]

That wonderful feeling when you pick up a book - even for the first time - and it feels like you are holding the hand of a friend....

[tallhorseman40]

Amen...

But always remember the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "I had better never see a book, than to be warped by its attraction clean out of my own orbit, and made a satellite instead of a system." Books are there to exercise the mind, not to dominate it. I only say this because I know so many people who are this way...they let one book make them its slave, rather than using each book as a small vessel to pour knowledge into the larger vessel which is their mind.

I love your work.

[CzarJerson]

You missed 'Galsworthy'.

[TheRestlessMinds]

@TheRavenOfPoe Beautifully read, and in my opinion, this is still relevant in 2010. The way Phelps compares borrowed books to guests, and the pleasure of having your own books, it's exactly how it is for me. What's odd, is that I just recently started to highlight passages in the books I've been reading. Even the metaphor that he uses, when he wrote about revisiting those highlighted sentences. Reading's a great thing, and it's a great way to self-educate yourself.

[All4YouProductions]

i think you forgot Galsworthy.

[All4YouProductions]

yes, it's on the internet.

[downcherrylane]

anyone know the context of this speech?

i'm doing my hwk btw.

Thanks!

xx

[Broatch6]

great vid Jennifer...I notice one of the books here was by Martin Amis...he's not to everyones taste but hes probably my favorite author...he once famously said that he never wanted to write a single sentence that just anyone could have written. And in books like London Fields and The Information I think he does out-sentence practically every other writer

one of the most harrowing but beautifully written books I have ever read is The God Of Small Things. I think you'd like it too

[ghostwriter511]

"...and then someday, although this is seldom done, you really ought to return it."

I love the smells and the colors of old yellowed pages. The older, the better. I have only around a thousand so far, but hey, I'm only 25. Give me time.

[koryargonic]

very well read

Was this guy an american? just wondering

[campocat]

I bought a button in a cute shop in a California beach town that says; Reading is sexy!

Raven please keep up your fantastic work. You are inspiring in a way I thought was lost. best