On Reading Well

On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books. This is the title of a recent book by one avid reader and writer Karen Swallow Prior, a US professor in English from New England. Perhaps these kind of books appeal in a special way to someone (like me) not schooled and bred in the anglosphere. If you get charmed by putting popular modern classics in touch with solid timeless wisdom (Aristotle onward) and like to read books about books... the theme here is the classical virtues, and how they come close into nearly everything to do with stories. Each chapter is linking one particular virtue to one particular story. Among the chosen are The Great Gatsby, A Tale of Two Cities, Ethan Frome - by Edith Wharton, The Road - by Cormac McCarthy, and Silence - the now motion picture and perhaps last major work by director Martin Scorsese. The virtues according to the five titles mentioned are: Temperance, Justice, Chastity, Hope and Faith. If someone here have a recommendation to share for any other kind of "book on books" it would be appreciated. This one is such an easy read that it has took me much less time than usual to savor. I am enjoying it a lot!