DAY40 How to Choose English Books

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DAY40How to Choose English Books

To cultivate one's taste in English prose, the most effective way is to read English books extensively.

Yet one may be at a loss to choose the appropriate books, especially as a beginner.

I would like to share some of my experience.

My first English novel was Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, recommended by many English teachers and professors as an ideal book for English learners.

But my experience was somewhat disastrous.

Stumbling along the lines, I had great difficulty in understanding the novel, let alone enjoying it.

It's not the vocabulary that troubled me, but rather the way Austen constructs sentences, and her way of thinking, which seemed too remote to me at that time.

My fading enthusiasm was much recovered after reading Hemingway's novel Farewell to Arms.

No long and complicated sentences.

And I particularly liked his concise and straightforward style.

So my first suggestion is, as a beginner, you'd better choose contemporary novels instead of classical ones.

You can easily engage yourself in reading, get fun out of it, and gradually build up confidence.

I do not mean to exclude classical novels forever.

It is only that classical novels are less accessible to beginners due to their language styles and social background.

However, reading novels is not the only way to improve your English.

In fact, if you restrict yourself to novels you will miss a lot of treasures.

English essays can at once inform you, entertain you, and refine your taste in English.

Here comes my second suggestion－essays are indispensable.

My last advice is never follow others' recommendations and opinions blindly, however famous or influential the person might be.

As an old saying goes, one man's meat is another man's poison.

With that in mind, we are bound to find out our favorite writers through reading and develop our fine taste in English.