On Teaching: "Peeling a Book"

Browsing through one of my dictionaries today, I came across the word “peel” and was immediately intrigued by it. The first definition was “to strip or cut away the skin, rind, or bark from”, and I thought instantly of the way my students and I are reading A Tale of Two Cities. The book is like a large piece of succulent fruit, and we have picked it from the tree and are carefully peeling away the layers to get at the inside “juices”, the interior themes of the book. We are taking our sweet time about it, because, as with any tasty cuisine, we want to extend the enjoyable experience as long as possible. (I’m sure my students don’t find the book nearly as “tasty” as I do, but...oh, well, at least I can hope.) Many people read books in a different way. Following the fruit analogy, they don’t take the time to peel a book and get to the luscious insides; rather, you might say they just hurriedly scrape away at the skin, get as much as they can as quickly as possible, and then toss the book aside, largely uneaten. Often the best parts of the book – the beauty and wisdom that lie beneath the surface – are left completely untouched by these hasty readers. If you’re reading a fluffy beach book, that approach may be acceptable, but with a large, delicious piece of fruit like a classic novel or a Shakespeare play, a more meticulous approach is called for – one like my students and I are employing. We realize that there’s no rush, just as there’s no rush in eating a scrumptious orange. We’re painstakingly peeling the layers of the book away and are beginning (I hope) to discover some of the secret, flavorsome inner parts. It’s a slow process, but that’s the way it often is with the truly profound experiences in our lives.