Understanding the text
On Libraries_ Oliver Sacks
Answer the following questions.
a.
Where could the author be found when he was late for lunch or dinner?
The author could be found when completely absorbed by a
book, in the library he was late for lunch and dinner
b.
What are his first memories?
He learned to read early, at three or four, and books, and our library, his among my first memories.
c.
Why did he dislike school?
He disliked school, sitting in class, receiving instruction; information
seemed to go in one ear and out by the other. he could not be passive, hre had to be active,
learn for himself, learn what he wanted, and in the way which suited him the best. He was not
a good pupil, but he was a good learner.
d.
What did he feel about at the library?
At the library, he felt free to look at the thousands, tens of thousands, of books; free to roam and to
enjoy the special atmosphere and the quiet companionship of other readers. He was fond of the feeling of being on quests of a good book on his own.
e.
Why was he so biased about sciences especially astronomy and chemistry?
As he got older, his reading was increasingly biased towards the sciences, especially
astronomy and chemistry. St. Paul’s School, where he went when he was twelve, had an
excellent general library, the Walker Library, which was particularly heavy in history
and politics—but it could not provide all of the science and especially chemistry books
he had hunger for.
f.
Why did he become so fascinated by Hook?
He became so fascinated by Theodore Hook because he was a man greatly admired in the early nineteenth
century for his wit and his genius for theatrical and musical improvisation and he was said
to have composed more than five hundred operas on the spot so he became so fascinated
by Hook. Later in his life that he decided to write a sort of biography or “case-history” of Hook.
g.
Describe library at the Queen’s College.
The library he most loved at Oxford was a library at the Queen’s College. The
magnificent library building itself had been designed by Christopher Wren, and beneath
this, in an underground maze of heating pipes and shelves, were the vast subterranean
holdings of the library. To hold ancient books, incunabula, in my own hands was a new
experience for me—Oliver Sacks particularly adored Gesner’s HistoriaeAnimalium (1551), richly
illustrated with Dürer’s drawing of a rhinoceros and Agassiz’s four-volume work
on fossil fishes. It was there, too, that he saw all of Darwin’s works in their original
editions, and it was in the stacks that he found and fell in love with all the works of
Sir Thomas Browne—his Religio Medici, his Hydrotaphia, and The Garden of Cyrus
(The Quincunciall Lozenge). How absurd some of these were, but how magnificent the
language! And if Browne’s classical magniloquence became too much at times, one
could switch to the lapidary cut-and-thrust of Swift—all of whose works, of course,
were there in their original editions.It was the catacombs of the Queen’s library that
introduced to seventeenth- and eighteenth-century literature—John-son, Hume,
Pope, and Dryden to Sacks. All of these books were freely available, not in some special,
locked-away rare books enclave, but just sitting on the shelves, as they had done. It was in the vaults of the Queen’s College that Sacks really gained a sense of history, and of my his language.
h.
Why did the students ignore the bookshelves in the 1990s?
The students ignored the bookshelves in the 1990s because they then had computers. Few of
them went to the shelves anymore. The books, so far as they were concerned, were
unnecessary. And since the majority of users were no longer using the books themselves,
the college decided, ultimately, to dispose of them.
i.
Why was he horrified when he visited the library a couple of months ago?
He was horrified when he visited the library a couple of months ago because he found the shelves, once overflowing, sparsely occupied. Over the last few years, most of the books, it seems, have been thrown out, with remarkably little objection from anyone. he felt that a murder, a crime had been committed—the destruction of centuries of knowledge.
Reference to the context
a.
The author says, “I was not a good pupil, but I was a good listener.” Justify it
with the textual evidences.
b.
A proverb says, "Nothing is pleasanter than exploring a library." Does this
proverb apply in the essay? Explain.
c.
Are there any other services that you would like to see added to the library?
Reference beyond the text
a.
Write an essay on Libraries and its uses for students.
b.
Do you have any public library in your locality? If so, do the people in your
community use it? Give a couple of examples.
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