sawsaw, Barthes

In Roland Barthes' The Pleasure of the Text, the point I found most interesting was how people read different texts differently. He writes on page 108, "We do not read everything with the same intensity of reading; a rhythm is established, casual, unconcerned with the integrity of the text; our very avidity for knowledge impels us to skim or to skip certain passages in order to get more quickly to the warmer parts of the anecdote." I find this statement to be very true in my own life. When I am reading a required text that I don't find interesting I skim through it without really letting the language sink in. When I am reading a text that I find enjoyable I try to let every word sink in and meditate on every sentence. When you are truly enjoying a piece of literature you become encompassed in the language and essence of the writer. Barthes writes on page 111, "The pleasure of the text is that moment when my body pursues its own ideas." The essence of what Barthes is trying to say here is that readers really need to take pleasure in the text. We need to allow ourselves to truly take pleasure in the words and allow our minds to explore places they never have.