about reader's world

Wondering what The Muse Of Literature has in mind for you serious readers? Readers World is all about the kinds of things readers need to know; it's about things readers want to know and do. Here's a smattering of what to expect:

Literature is rich; it's packed with facts you need to know to follow the action and get the most out of what the author is trying to convey. Need to understand Russian patronymics and metronymics to get through War and Peace? Wondering why the Crimea was important in English literature? Need to translate a Latin phrase in an obscure passage in an English novel or poem?

• Find answers to all sorts of questions about what you are reading, while you are reading—about the content, subject matter, style, or structure of books, poems, plays, or other literary materials.
• Find suggestions and ideas that will help you select books, magazines, articles, and other reading materials.

Most great literature can be subtle and complex, even when it seems simple at the surface. Reading well and efficiently is a skill that can be learned.

• See features about how to read discerningly.
• Appreciate why reading is itself an art.
• Discover tips, tricks, and techniques that will help you hone your reading attack skills.
• Learn to analyze what you read.

In short, help yourself get the most out of what you read.

As the term suggests, Reader's World is a world of, by, and for readers; it's a world filled with readers. Make contact with others who feel the way you do about reading. Share experiences. Help others by answering their questions or let others help you. Suggest or find reading that's good or bad, authors that deserve attention or authors to shun.

• Share you reading experiences by participating in a Reader's World discussion group.

Literature is filled with language facts:

• Get help with finding and using all sorts of reference works and online resources related to what you read.

Availability

The Muse Of Literature believes that Reader's World will continue to grow indefinitely. Why?

Because Reader's World is a little like the Jeremy character in the Beatles movie, The Yellow Submarine. Jeremy is a scholar who frequently expresses a scholar's dismay at how much more research there is to do before the subject at hand is ready for publication. The more he learns, the more he understands how much remains for him to learn. Because there's so much work ahead before he's ready to start writing, he never starts; he's too busy whining.

To make his dismay clear, Jeremy frequently repeats the couplet

Fortunately, Reader's World is not Jeremy, at least not in all ways. Jeremy is reduced to impotence by the prospect of how much work lies ahead but The Muse Of Literature is not.

Unlike Jeremy, The Muse subscribes to another dictum, one attributed to the Chinese sage and philosopher, Lao-tsu, founder of Taoism. Said Lao-tsu some 2,500 years ago: "a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." You are looking at the single and first step.

The kinds of things you can do at Reader's World (shown on this page, above) are only examples of what's ahead. You can't do all of them now but, if The Muse has it's way, they're a taste of things to come.