History Versus is a production of I Heart Radio and Mental Flaws. Theodore Roosevelt once reportedly said that reading with me is a disease, and indeed you could find the twenty six president of the United States himself, the author of more than thirty books, reading basically everywhere in front
of the fire, in bed, in his train car. On hunting trips for a year long safari in Africa, for example, he brought along a trunk of sixty books, and even when pursuing both thieves in the Dakota bad Lands in that case, he started with Anna Karenina and when he finished that borrowed a dime novel from one of the thieves.
From an early age, he devoured almost any book he could get his hands on, from main reads, adventure novels and David Livingstone's missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, to James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans and Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, to poetry by
the likes of Samuel Taylor, Coleridge and Edwin Arlington. Robinson as an adult, Tier read several books at a time even when he was busy, usually finishing around a book a day, and sometimes more, flicking through two to three pages a minute. He was so absorbed when he was reading that he wouldn't even hear his own name being called. Biographer Edmund Morris writes that nothing short of a thump
on the back would regain his attention. Tr owned many many books, and accounting of all the Roosevelt family's books at Sagamore Hill with seventy seven pages long seventy seven Tier acknowledged in his autobiography that books are everywhere. There are as many in the north room and in the parlor as in the library. The gun room at the top of the house contains more books than any of the other rooms. The books have overflowed into all the
other rooms too. In nineteen fifteen, Ladies Home Journal asked the former president to pen a piece titled the Books that I Read and When and How I do my reading. This piece is a gift. It's so delightful. Roosevelt, who's said that he didn't follow any plan when it came to reading, caution that it would be impossible to try to enumerate all the books I read, or even all the kinds which given how quickly he could read, and
how curious he was doesn't seem to be hyperbole. That said, he did have some practical advice for readers, And in this bonus episode of History Verses, we're going to go through a few of them. Some of them you might want to follow, and some of you might want to disregard. But they're all a fascinating glimpse into the mind of one of the biggest bibliophiles in history. Okay, let's get started.
Tip number one train yourself to read the classics. Tr wrote that if anyone finds that he never reads serious literature, if all his reading is frothy and trashy, he would do well to try to train himself to like books that the general agreement of cultivated and sound thinking persons has placed among the classics. Let man or woman, young man or girl read some good author until sustained mental
effort brings power to enjoy the books worth enjoying. According to tr only when this has been done can the reader trust himself to pick out for himself the particular good books which appeal to him. Tip number two, find a few minutes to read every day. You think you're too busy to read well. That was not an excuse Theodore Roosevelt would have accepted. If he could make time well, you can make time to Tier wrote that he typically read for half an hour before bed, but he didn't
dream of limiting himself to just that short window. All kinds of odd moments turn up during even a busy day in which it is possible to enjoy a book, he wrote. And then there are rainy afternoons in the country in autumn, and stormy days in winter, when one's work outdoors is finished, and after wet clothes have been changed for dry, the rocking chair in front of the open wood fire simply demands an accompanying book. It's hard to disagree with him. There tip number three, don't read
which you don't like. When choosing a book to read, Roosevelt noted that the reader's personal and individual taste must be the guiding factor. He compared taste in books to taste in food. He wrote that while he liked apples, pears, and oranges, he disliked bananas and prunes, adding at times and the tropics, I have been exceedingly sorry I could not learn to like bananas, and on roundups in the cow country in the old days, it was even more
unfortunate not to like prunes. But I simply could not make myself like either, and that was all there was to it. Roosevelt went on to say that of the books he had most recently tried to read, he could read Guy Mannering, The Antiquary Pen, Dennis Vanity Fair, Our Mutual Friend, and the Pickwick Papers over and over, but he did not care for Fortunes of Nigel Esmond, and The Old Curiosity Shop. I have no question that the latter three books are as good as the first six,
he wrote. Doubtless for other people they are better, but I do not like them anymore than I like prunes and bananas. He concluded that at my age, I might will own up at least to myself, to my limitations, and read the books I thoroughly enjoy. Tip number four, don't look down on people who don't like the same
books as you. Books are almost as individual as friends, Tire wrote in his autobiography, adding that some meet the needs of one person and some of another, and each person should be aware of the book lover's besetting sin of what Mr Edgar Allan Poe calls the mad pride of intellectuality, taking the shape of arrogant pity for the man who does not like the same kind of books.
Given this mindset, it's no surprise that Tier had what he described as no sympathy for concepts like one hundred best Books in the five foot library, the concept created by a Harvard president that a person could get a liberal education by reading fifty one set books that fit on a five foot shelf. Tr wrote in his autobiography that it is all right for a man to amuse himself by composing a list of a hundred very good books.
But there is no such thing as a hundred books that are best for all men, or for the majority of men, or for one and at all times. And there is no such thing as a five foot library which will satisfy the needs of even one particular man on different occasions extending over a number of years. Tip number five, you don't have to read books that are recommended to you. As we've discussed, Tear found reading and
choosing books to be a highly personal pursuit. He wrote in his autobiography that the reader, the book lover, must meet his own needs without paying too much attention to what his neighbors say those needs should be. In his Ladies Home Journal piece, he noted that suggestions of a possibly helpful character can be made by outsiders, but only suggestions, and they will probably be helpful about in proportion to the outsider's knowledge of the mind and soul of the
person to be helped. In other words, you're the best person to choose the books you want to read, So if a friend recommends a book that doesn't seem like your thing, don't feel guilty for not picking it up. We'll be right back. So far, Theodore Roosevelt has advised us to read the classics and pay no mind to book recommendations. Ready for some more reading tips from tr Here we go Tip number six, read what you're in
the mood for. Tire wrote in his autobiography that a book must be interesting to the particular reader at that particular time, and in the Ladies Home Journal piece, he noted that a man with a real fondness for books of various kinds will find that his varying moods determine which of these books he at the moment needs. He certainly followed his own advice, reading widely on many, many,
many topics, Tip number seven Read in streaks. Roosevelt was a fan of reading in what he called streaks, wherein he would get interested in a particular subject and then read about it in book after book, and then in other subjects suggested by his reading. Even in pure literature having nothing to do with history, philosophy, sociology, or economy, one book will often suggest another, so that one finds one has unconsciously followed a regular course of reading. He
wrote Tip number eight avoid trashy and vicious books. So Tira had a lot to say about letting your mood and your preference guide your choice in books. But let's be clear. He's talking about good books, things like the classics, which he deemed books worth reading. He did not condone the reading of trashy or frothy books his words. By the way, personal preference, according to Theodore Roosevelt, is no excuse for permitting oneself to like what is vicious or
even simply worthless. What is a vicious book? You may ask well. Tr gave us a few examples. If a man read and enjoyed Bellamy, Tire said that he will do well to keep a watch on the reflex centers of his moral nature, and should pick up books by
Eugene Brio and Henry Bordeaux instead. If this reader enjoyed Leo Tolstoy's Anna, Karenina and more in Peace, great, But if the reader preferred the authors e ninety novella The Chritzer Sonata, which, like Bellamy, dealt very frankly with adultery and sex, Tier wrote that he had better make up his mind that, for pathological reasons, he will be wise thereafter to avoid Tolstoy entirely. Tolstoy is an exceedingly interesting
and stimulating writer, but an exceedingly unsafe moral advisor. That's putting it nicely. In the Outlook, tr wrote that Sonata was revolting, and that Tolstoy was a man who, however high he may stand in certain respects, has in him certain dreadful qualities of the moral pervert. Ultimately, Tier concluded that the reading of vicious books for pleasures should be eliminated. It is no less clear that trivial and vulgar books do more damage than can possibly be offset by any
entertainment they yield. Tip number nine, bring big books on vacation if you've ever packed a beet read. You have a little something in common with tr who brought books with him wherever he went. Railway and steamboat journeys were, of course predestined through the ages as aids to the enjoyment of reading. He wrote, I have always taken books
with me when on hunting and exploring trips. He recommended bringing reasonably heavy books on long trips, which he said would allow the reader to tackle more ambitious books and authors, as you never would if surrounded by less formidable authors in your own library. And when you do reach the journey's end, you grasp with eager appetite at old magazines or at the lightest of literature. Tip number ten, use reading to escape look. The real world can be a bummer.
Theodore Roosevelt, who lost family members dear to him and worked in the stressful world of politics, knew that all too well. So even though critics would score and happy endings in books, he actually liked them. There are enough horror and grimness and sordid squalor in real life with which an active man has to grapple, he wrote. When I turned to the world of literature, I do not care to study suffering unless for some sufficient purpose. It is only a very exceptional novel which I will read
if he does not marry her. And even in exceptional novels, I much prefer this consummation. I am not defending my attitude.
I am merely stating it. And perhaps he was speaking from personal experience when he wrote, if one is worried by all kinds of men and events during critical periods in administrative office, or at national conventions, or during congressional investigations, or in hard fought political campaigns, it is the greatest relief and unalloyed delight to take up some really good, really enthralling book and lose all memory of everything grimy and of the baseness that must be parried or conquered.
There are plenty more tier reading tips where these came from, so if you're interested, you can find them at mental flaws dot com. Slash History Versus. Thanks for listening to this bonus episode of History Versus. We'll be back in a couple of weeks with another episode. History Versus is hosted by me Aaron McCarthy. The executive producers are Aaron McCarthy, Julie Douglas, and Tyler Klang. The super revising producer is Dylan Fagan. The show is edited by Dylan Fagan and Loberlante.
If you want to find out more about this episode and Theodore Roosevelt, visit Mental Flash dot com, slash History Versus. That's Mental flaws dot com slash h I S t O R y vs. History Versus is a production of I Heart Radio and Mental Flaws. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.