The Golden One - Marcus Follin - A Note on Reading Books – A Note on Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment
Aired: 2022-02-02
Duration: 07:34


=== Why Reading Should Be Purposeful (07:11) ===

[00:00:22]  Greetings my esteemed subscribers.
[00:00:25]  Today I want to talk a bit about books.
[00:00:27]  I have a great teaching to share that will hopefully make your reading a bit more rewarding and insightful.
[00:00:34]  Now to explain this I will share an anecdote.
[00:00:38]  A few years back I was at an event in good old Netherlands and there were many supporters of mine there as well.
[00:00:44]  One supporter in particular, shout out to you if you see this, a connoisseur of whiskey.
[00:00:49]  We started talking about whiskey and he had brought some fine whiskey with him.
[00:00:54]  Now as you all know I'm no fan of alcohol, I never get drunk or anything like that.
[00:00:58]  Now I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to gain some new insights so I took a few sips and he guided me through the sensation and basically what he told me and this is what I will tell you to do when it comes to books.
[00:01:14]  So he told me to focus on certain flavors and to focus on certain sensations when I took the sips and it made sense.
[00:01:21]  It made sense in a completely different way.
[00:01:24]  I had tasted whiskey before many years prior to this and I thought it tasted absolutely horrendous but tasting it again with a different mindset it made a great difference.
[00:01:37]  Now you can say the same thing about coffee for example.
[00:01:40]  You can have this gourmet coffee right here and it says on the packaging characteristics chocolate red berries and citrus then if you're a connoisseur then you can try to find those flavors within the coffee.
[00:01:55]  Same thing if you're a connoisseur of wine.
[00:01:58]  You try to find certain flavors within the wine.
[00:02:01]  This can be applied to anything including books.
[00:02:04]  Which brings me into my main point of this video.
[00:02:08]  I read this book a while back Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky.
[00:02:18]  A true classic.
[00:02:19]  Now if you read this with the intention of just wanting to be able to say that I have read this book you will fall asleep 10 pages in and I can't blame you in the list.
[00:02:30]  It's not a particularly good or interesting book taken outside of its context.
[00:02:36]  However, here is the main point.
[00:02:38]  If you know the context of it then it becomes supremely interesting.
[00:02:43]  So what is this you might ask?
[00:02:45]  It's a novel.
[00:02:46]  Yes, but it's more importantly it's a discussion on morality and it's a historical document as it were from Russia during the 19th century.
[00:02:58]  So written a few decades prior to the Bolshevik Revolution, so one of the most horrific events in world history.
[00:03:06]  That is what makes it interesting.
[00:03:08]  So if you approach this as a connoisseur, you know that why am I reading this?
[00:03:13]  Yes, I'm reading this because I want to get a glimpse at the discussions on morality in Russian society leading up to the Bolshevik Revolution.
[00:03:23]  That is why this book is interesting.
[00:03:26]  If you don't read it with that in mind, it will not be a good book.
[00:03:30]  This is not an interesting book in terms of characters or plot or whatever.
[00:03:34]  The interesting part is this social commentary.
[00:03:38]  Now I read this and yeah, it was quite hard to get through, not particularly exciting as such, but I got a bit of a taste for the works of Dostoevsky, so I decided to read Notes from Underground.
[00:03:53]  Now this was much more enjoyable because I knew how to approach the book in a different way.
[00:03:58]  So I had learned how to read Dostoevsky.
[00:04:02]  I knew what to look out for in the book.
[00:04:05]  I know what sort of things I could expect.
[00:04:08]  So now I actively looked for discussions on morality.
[00:04:12]  And this is a good book to start with, by the way, especially if you want a good discussion on the, yes, it says the, it doesn't say, but the underground man, the lower that I've talked about before, the mentality.
[00:04:25]  So it can be a good way to put yourself into the mind of such a person.
[00:04:29]  And whatever you do, don't read it just so that you can say that you've read it, because then you won't understand anything and you will only waste time.
[00:04:36]  Now, of course, there are many books.
[00:04:39]  If you are just starting out, I suppose all of you are interested in Roman history.
[00:04:44]  I can't imagine I have any subscribers that are not, so I can recommend Harry Sidebottom.
[00:04:50]  He is a historian.
[00:04:51]  I've mentioned him before.
[00:04:52]  I think he writes really well, really insightful.
[00:04:56]  So this is set in the waning years of the Roman Empire, so not the golden years anymore.
[00:05:01]  So basically, this is historical fiction, which is good if you want something that is more easily digestible.
[00:05:08]  You can read in the sun whilst relaxing.
[00:05:10]  So keep that in mind.
[00:05:12]  Why do you read something?
[00:05:14]  Yes, to gain a certain insight into something.
[00:05:17]  Don't just read to be able to say that you read, because that's a waste of time.
[00:05:22]  So if you aren't interested in a discussion on morality in the Russian society during the 19th century, don't read this.
[00:05:32]  Don't read it.
[00:05:33]  If you are interested in Russian history, the social developments that led up to the Bolshevik Revolution, then you can read it.
[00:05:42]  Otherwise, no.
[00:05:43]  Now, what is absolutely mandatory to read?
[00:05:46]  Of course, I've said it before.
[00:05:51]  Absolutely aesthetic.
[00:05:52]  So this, as it says, it's a handbook.
[00:05:55]  This is how you should approach it.
[00:05:56]  You should approach it in the sense that you try to find some teachings you can implement successfully in your life.
[00:06:02]  Find habits that you can implement in your life.
[00:06:05]  That is the purpose of it.
[00:06:07]  And of course, some social insights as well.
[00:06:10]  So, point being, know why you are reading a certain book.
[00:06:16]  If you have that understanding, I'm reading this because of X, Y, Z, whatever, then you know what to look for.
[00:06:25]  If you don't know what to look for, you will just skim through it and you won't get any appreciation for the material.
[00:06:32]  So before you begin to read, say to yourself, okay, why am I reading this?
[00:06:36]  Then you start reading, then you know what to look for.
[00:06:39]  Just as a connoisseur of whiskey or coffee or wine, he knows beforehand sort of what to look for and how to enjoy it.
[00:06:47]  Same thing with these books.
[00:06:50]  So anyway, that's how you should approach at least Dostoevsky.
[00:06:53]  In my humble opinion, there are those who are much more well-read than I am who have better takes on Dostoevsky.
[00:07:01]  This is just my impression.
[00:07:03]  I've read two of his books, so by no means an expert, but if you read, that's how I would advise you to approach the material at least.
[00:07:12]  So anyway, thank you for watching.
[00:07:15]  Looking absolutely juicy today, if I may be so bold.
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[00:07:24]  So if you haven't already ordered Dauntless, do so immediately.
[00:07:29]  Any arguments to the contrary are totally invalid.
[00:07:33]  Now, thank you for watching.