The "Useless" and "Useful" of Reading (Reading, Joyful Reading) - Li Jian (Musician)

The meaning of the so-called reading is probably to make people have a broader horizon and a clearer understanding of themselves, without being arrogant. The more books a person reads, the more he becomes aware of his own deprivation. However, I don't regard reading professional books as reading books in the full sense of the word, in my opinion, no matter what industry a person is engaged in, he should read some books on the humanities and social sciences.

People often ask me: what is the relationship between reading and music creation? Sometimes they are related, sometimes they are not. I've been reading ancient poetry lately, and I've often marveled at the imagination of the ancients, which tempers my language and inspires me to express myself. But more reading in life is invisibly exerting a subtle influence. Therefore, I advocate non-utilitarian reading, and I recommend that everyone read some seemingly useless books and cultivate some seemingly useless hobbies to cultivate sentiment and purify the soul. Pragmatism is something we are particularly wary of today. This can be seen from the desertion of basic theory majors and the popularity of applied majors in today's universities. I have heard similar questions countless times: Is the study of mathematics useful? Is the Goldbach conjecture useful? You know, without the study of these basic theories, it would be impossible for us to have today's computer technology, and some theories that seem useless on the surface have constructed today's technology.

Actually, I don't read a lot, but I like to read the same book over and over again, especially the classics. This was inspired by the writer Yu Hua, who barely reads bestsellers. With so many publications and less time to read today, it's hard to have the time and energy to test which books are good or bad. Most of the various books placed in airport bookstores and train station bookstores will be disappointing when you read them. But the classics don't, whenever you flip through the classics, you'll be fully loaded.

It is also often said that interest is the best teacher. But I don't think you should read entirely out of interest, and sometimes you have to force yourself to read some strenuous books, so that you can make progress. The writer Márquez forced himself to work from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day, and he couldn't write anything, so he had to sit at his desk for two hours. Reading also requires self-discipline and self-coercion. Fairy tales are effortless to read, but a person's life cannot just read fairy tales, or force yourself to read some books that you can't understand and are not easy to read. Books like "Reminiscences" and "Khazar Dictionary" are not as easy to read as chicken soup for the soul, but if you force yourself to read them, you will definitely gain something.

For me personally, reading is a ritual act. Just as I'm used to writing lyrics with a pen, I'm more fond of paper books. The ancients read books, paid attention to burning incense and bathing, tasting tea and chanting, and pursued the realm of self-sufficiency and leisure. But looking at the bunch of binary digital codes on the electronic screen, what I smell is not the "smell of books", but the smell of industry. Just as the Internet is so developed now, there are still many music lovers who collect old records and music CDs, and the sense of ritual makes reading pleasing to the eye and ears, and more flavorful and sacred.

For the whole society, there is a huge contrast. We have a huge publishing industry with a steady stream of new books, but from the perspective of the world, we are a country that reads very little per capita, far from what an ancient civilization should be. What is the reason? This is worth pondering. ——Li Jian (interviewed by Ren Shanshan and Xu Lei), People's Daily (2015-04-22, 12th edition)

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