Umberto Eco's essay; On Unread Books - https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/11/02/on-unread-books/ https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/11/02/on-unread-

Umberto Eco's essay; On Unread Books - https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/11/02/on-unread-books/ https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/11/02/on-unread-boo... Excerpts: Knowing a book’s relationship to other books often means you know more about it than you do on actually reading it. Bayard shows how, when you read certain neglected books, you realize you’re familiar with their contents because they have been read by others who have talked about them, quoted from them, or have moved in the same current of ideas. we also forget a very large percentage of the books we have actually read, and indeed we build a sort of virtual picture of them that consists not so much of what they say but what they have conjured up in our mind. every reading or nonreading or imperfect reading must have a creative aspect, ... since talking about unread books is a means to self-awareness.