Do you need a mental detox from the glucose rush of today’s self-help inspired “how to…” Christian books? Longing for something meaty, a nutrition technology that releases its mental nutrients gradually and satisfies for longer? Then C. S. Lewis has just the diet for you.
You need to become a paleolibricist!
First of all, paleolibricism is history’s natural way of ensuring that only the very best fare enters into your system. Most books written in past centuries have been unceremoniously tossed in the garbage can of history by former generations. Many of them were pretty good, as good as much of what is written today, but the select volumes that remain in circulation are the elite, the top 1%, the deliciously rich crème de la crème. Think of it as history’s quality control on your reading diet: crowdsourcing for your mind by dead people. Why would you not want to make use of that? After all: garbage in, garbage out; you are what you read.
Still not convinced to become a paleolibricist? Then how about this: Fancy a break? Want to get away from it all? Then old books are for you. Let James Houston convince you that one of the best ways to step outside your own culture is to read old books. Paleolibricism is the vacation of the mind, because travel makes us see our own world in new ways. “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.”
Or perhaps you are not the holiday type. You want to shake things up, rattle some cages, cut against the grain of today’s culture; you are the sort who thinks that only dead fish follow the current. Comrade, you need to become a paleolibricist. Old books are the fifth column in our midst. They refuse to conform to the patterns of our contemporary culture; they don’t share our blind spots; they whisper sedition and subversion on every musty page. Paleolibricists of the Christian world, unite! We have nothing to lose but our cultural chains.
Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t read any new books; paleolibricists can have their treats and snacks. But if you are a neolibricist of strict observance you’re missing out on the nutrition of a healthy and balanced mental diet.
Still not convinced? Here’s one final argument that is bound to win you over: it’s also easier on your bank account! Old books are out of copyright and in the public domain; almost all the great Christian classics are available free for kindle and e-readers or as audiobooks, and for a pittance in your local bookstore. What’ s not to love? Grab your knife and fork and hop over to my post on what to read and how to read it, or munch through Pascal’s Pensées along with me; stock up with some free, nutritious, time-tested old books and add some real richness to your mental diet this month.
Become a paleolibricist: it’s yesterday’s best today, for a brighter tomorrow.
