Summary Of William Lyon Phelps The Pleasure Of Books

People In Pages: The Reasons Within William Lyon Phelps’“The Pleasure of Books”

In the 21st century, it has become increasingly easier to gain access to the text sources of many historic literature pieces, whether it is in a physical or digital format. With the rise of e-readers,as well as the growth in libraries, the ownership of a personal book collection is starting to appear outdated. In 1933, William Lyon Phelps, a retired Yale English professor, hosted a radio address titled “The Pleasure of Books”. In his broadcast, Professor Phelps discusses the idea of owning a personal library, and the benefits of doing so. Within “The Pleasure of Books”, William Lyon Phelps’ three major reasons to own books are the various hindrances and formalities

Given these various discourses, it would be a bold statement to claim that these mysterious people’s personalities can be easily unmasked. Professor Phelps makes this same claim about the authors, expressing that: “they did their ultimate best to entertain you, to make a favorable impression. You are as necessary to them as an audience is to an actor; only instead of seeing them masked, you look into their innermost heart of heart” (Phelps 66-70). Phelps presents the argument that a personal library is almost a cast of ever-present acquaintances, due to the author’s personal investment into writing it. The ownership of books tends to enhance With a borrowed book, a reader will only ever experience the author’s personality maybe once, or a few times, and never has the books, or characters, at an on demand basis. Professor Phelps encourages the usage of a library because: “in a private library, you can at any moment converse with Socrates or Shakespeare or Carlyle or Dumas or Dickens or Shaw or Barrie or Galsworthy And there is no doubt that within these books you see these men at their best”(Phelps 60-65). Owning a library allows a person to have various personalities around himself, at all times, allowing for a basic interaction from when people are not physically

The literature-free society presents characters who have lost touch with any sort of analysis. For example, Mildred, after being introduced to Montag, she has trouble finding any interest in the books, having the belief that: “Books aren’t people. You read and I look all around, but there isn’t anybody!”(Bradbury 73) Mildred lacks the patience to put insight into her entertainment, after being acclimated to the instant gratification found on television, she has a very shortsighted view compared to Professor Phelps, dismissing any personality within the books due to a lack of it being told to her. The civilians of Fahrenheit 451 represent the aftermath of a world which did not listen to William Lyon Phelps’ message, they lack the patience to find the value of books, and do not bother uprising, due to satiation at a very low level. While Professor Phelps’ message to personally own books does not entirely line up with Bradbury’s, both sources send a message on the value of literature, preaching the importance of literature as a source of information and