[Emagazine]. Books - teachers, friends

( Quang Ngai Newspaper). Surely we will agree that books are great teachers, friends, loyal and omnipotent of human beings. To me, books are not only a bridge connecting the past - present - future, but also a mirror to reflect on my heart.

Faced with the vast and rich world of books, each person often has a different reading tendency. I prefer classical literature. Because in it, the souls of the ancients are left behind. Coming to ancient books, we will see that "those of thousands of years ago" are not far from us. They are still very close to our generation, even far ahead of us in their vision and humanity beyond all time.

Flipping through the pages of old books, we will realize that ancient Vietnamese people loved books and were fond of reading. A typical example is the national hero Nguyen Trai, who, whenever he had free time, would close his study door all day to read books: “Nhan trung tan nhat be thu trai” (All day idle, closing his study door to read books) - poem “Mo xuan tuc su”. The poet Nguyen Du also had a very good poem, using the story of a butterfly dying in a book to express his passion for books: “Van dao da ung cam nhat tu/ Dam thu do thang vi hoa mang” (Hearing the Tao and then dying is also happy/ Loving books is better than being infatuated with flowers) - Diep tu thu trung.

Not only loving books, our ancestors in the past also highly valued books and emphasized the significance of reading. Unlike Uong Thu, who was too extreme in the Song Dynasty when he thought that everything in the world was inferior, only reading books was noble (Van ban giai ha pham/ Duy huu doc thu cao), our scholar Le Quy Don was more flexible and profound in his message about the role of books: "Even if you have a hundred thousand taels of silver and gold/ It is not as good as a few volumes of classics and history".

Reading the books of the ancients, we also understand more about the concerns of book readers. That is the pain of reading many books but not being able to help the country and the people, as confided by the mandarin Tran Nguyen Dan: "Thirty thousand books have no place to be used/With white hair, we must fail to love the people" - Nham Dan year 6 month composition.

I have a friend from Song Ve, a famous historical researcher in the country. He is a diligent book buyer. There are books related to Vietnamese history that he has to order at very high prices. He often says that when doing history, one must pay attention to original documents, in which contemporary documents and the characters' writings are the most valuable evidence.

I am very pleased with this. Because the work is considered a brainchild, a place to deposit many aspects of the writer's thoughts and soul. We don't need to look far, just read the poems and literature of authors associated with Quang Ngai to see this. Reading "Truong Quang Khe Tien Sinh Tap", we will see how much the famous mandarin Truong Dang Que missed his hometown in Quang Ngai. Reading "Dun Am Van Tap", we can fully understand the feelings of the famous scholar Nguyen Thong in the irrigation work in Quang Ngai as well as his feelings for the land and people here.

“Literature is like a strange person”, seeing literature is like seeing people. One of the best ways to understand the ancients and the moderns is to read their works. For ancient literature, we currently face great barriers in culture and writing (written in Han and Nom characters). However, in recent years, many important Han Nom works have been translated and disseminated. The gap between the past and the present has been greatly narrowed thanks to these publications.

Students of Tran Hung Dao Secondary School (Quang Ngai City) read books at the Provincial General Library. Photo: Jeep Bu

It is no coincidence that the ancients called the reading room “thu trai” (“trai” means both “room” and “keeping oneself clean”), when reading, clothes must be neat, the mind must be pure. Because reading books is not only to collect knowledge of the East and the West, the past and present, but also a way to look back at oneself. Reading books is one of the best ways to nourish the soul. This is also what I have learned after many years of reading books.

During my college years, I was fortunate to buy quite a few books. Of course, most of them were used books and discounted books. The nearly 2,000 titles that I had were mainly obtained through days of searching for used bookstores, sidewalk bookstores, online used book sites, and even scrap yards. Since returning to Quang Ngai, I have bought fewer books, but in return, I have more time to re-read books that I used to skim through to find the passages needed for studying.

Books not only open up new horizons, but also enrich our souls. We don’t have to wait for “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, “Seeds of the Soul” or “Noble Hearts”…, every good book brings readers positive emotions, awakens the good things that seem to have fallen asleep deep in our hearts, helps us reflect on them to purify and mature.

After school, many students of Le Khiet High School for the Gifted satisfy their need to read books in the library, under the shade of ancient trees... The rustling sounds of turning pages in the quiet space of the school library, occasionally there are small smiles because of the rich imagination through the words that are "soaked" into the thoughts of the students. Nguyen Ngoc Bao Uyen, class 10 Math 1, Le Khiet High School for the Gifted, shared that with the development of digital technology as well as diverse forms of entertainment, readers tend to approach more familiar forms such as smartphones, televisions... However, she still maintains the habit of reading printed books, because she likes the feeling of turning pages. Books help her gain a lot of knowledge.

Ho Vu Nhat Lam, class 10E2, Le Khiet High School for the Gifted, said that he likes to read books by writer Nguyen Nhat Anh because the writing style is close to the age of students. Through his books, he learned how to write to apply to his writing. In addition, he often reads books about storytelling such as "Seeds of the Soul and the Meaning of Life". The stories of ordinary people in the book help him learn meaningful lessons in life.

In the digital age, instead of turning the pages of a book, many people take advantage of the superiority of smartphones to access the world's knowledge with e-books. It can be said that switching from reading printed books to e-books is an inevitable trend chosen by many young people. However, the rustling sound when turning the pages of a book is still popular with many people...

“Good books need readers” is the theme of this year’s Book and Reading Culture Day, aiming to build a reading movement, a love for books that contributes to building cultural values and personality of each person. Books play a very important role in life, they are teachers who light up dreams. Books teach each person about virtue, intelligence, trust, courtesy, righteousness... The more we read, the more we realize that our knowledge is very limited compared to the vast world, only with a serious spirit of learning can we see the role of books in life.

Currently, most public libraries focus on building printed book and newspaper information sources to develop information resources and serve readers. At the same time, developing books and newspapers on the basis of digital libraries and audiobooks to help readers choose the type they want. At the Provincial General Library, in addition to digital resources, there are currently more than 200,000 preserved documents in genres such as politics - society, science - technology, literature - art, children's books, skill books, etc. The library has 7 archives, including: Research book repository, children's book repository, newspaper - magazine repository, circulating book repository, borrowing and reading repository, and geographical archive. One of the most popular book repositories for readers is the geographical document repository, with over 1,500 documents.

Students of Dang Thuy Tram Medical College (Quang Ngai City) go to the library to study and research documents. Photo: TRINH PHUONG

At Dang Thuy Tram Medical College, the reading movement among staff, teachers and students is of interest. Principal of Dang Thuy Tram Medical College (Quang Ngai City) To Ky Nam said that to develop the reading movement, the school has upgraded the library.

In addition to printed books, the school also has an electronic library to meet the diverse needs of readers. At the same time, it develops a library of scientific materials with the aim of encouraging teachers and students to actively visit the library to read books and download e-books. The school also expands the source of books for entertainment, general knowledge about the history and culture of Vietnam in general and Quang Ngai in particular...

Content: TUAN VU - TR.PHUONG - M.TUAN

Presented by: P.DUNG

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