The quote to chew and digest

Svetlana Mikheyeva

Sir Francis Bacon was one of greatest minds of the English Renaissance. He left an abundance of writings in various fields: science, jurisdiction, theology and literature. As an efficient and witted philosopher he has generated innumerable aphorisms in his works that expressed his views on a variety of subjects. One of them represents his way of treating literary works: Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. So let us ponder on the message and meaning of the quotation and risk reading between the lines. To begin with, I should say that the quote given this way leaves a dim impression of some witticism with rather an obscure idea. Its meaning may be reduced to the statement: a majority of books are bad, but there are few good ones somewhere. The reader is in a quandary: that doesnt come up to his or her expectance of some profound facetiousness. That happens because it is not the full quote. The author himself gives us the keys to perceiving the message. The full phrase sounds as follows: Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. That gives us a hand in figuring out the message intended but still leaves a lot to ponder on to ones hearts content. For example, why does the author draw a parallel between the digestive system and perceiving visual information? Evidently, Sir Francis Bacon did not have a mind to develop any esoteric teaching, however, the metaphor of tasting and digesting is not just a stylistic device, to my belief. There is evidence, or, to be precise, a theory I take fancy to, that a human has at least three levels of nourishment, and the substantial food and water are what is always associated with it, but it is a first level, only one from a number, and not the most important. Without the supply of energy from the second level humans dont live more than 5-7 minutes. It is the oxygen that we so desperately need, and the pattern of its circulation is similar to one of food digestion. The next level is the level of our sense perception, and the author spoke about the most important way of obtaining the energy here the visual one (audiobooks havent come into being then yet though there wouldnt be much difference as theres the sole organ processing all the data the brain). If we treat all the three kinds of energy flowing into us as a food for different parts of ourselves, we may as well apply to them the rules and terms similar to those we use for food and digestion in their original meaning. Thus, the metaphors of the quote may maintain their literal meaning, and that gives us the opportunity to contemplate further. Let me present my own view on the idea the author reveals us in the quote. To be honest, Im still literally in two minds about it. Why should we eat books in different ways? We might apply this approach to different types of books. For example, we read dictionaries or encyclopedias only in parts, its like we taste their

content eat a small bit. We swallow the poems or light-hearted humoristic stories, something which is made for amusement (or something we think is made to amuse us). And we chew and digest parables and novels that reflect the reality and teach us. But if we suppose that sir Francis Bacon meant only fiction, we may suppose that he assesses the quality inherent to literary works. Thence I may suppose that we should taste all the works that any well-bred man should know, we swallow the shallow lowbrow books if we want a bit of light entertainment, and we digest the books we ourselves find very important and appealing to us. To conclude with, I would like to point out that it is just a personal opinion, and only one of many possible renderings. Their abundance signifies the depth and complexity of the quotation, giving an opportunity to develop sharp wit and better understanding, and shows once again the brilliance of the author. We can just swallow this quote, as we often do with many of the wise sayings, but we can apply it to our lives, selecting and classifying the works that we encounter.