How Should One Read a Book?

A recurring theme in this essay is the pursuit of pleasure in consuming art. Woolf explores several answers to the nominal question of the essay, “How Should One Read a Book?” but in the end circles back to a word she uses early on: pleasure. In the second paragraph, she asks two questions: “What am I to do to get the utmost possible pleasure out of them? And is it pleasure, or profit, or what is it that I should seek?” (2). She asks the first question under the assumption that pleasure is the goal but then rescinds this assumption by asking the second question, suggesting that the essay will explore the reasons for seeking pleasure when reading.

In order to explore this theme, Woolf uses metaphors, drawing comparisons between reading and other forms of consumption. Early on, she compares her desire to read with a hunger for food: “My appetite is so fitful and so capricious” (2). The pleasures of reading, then, reflect the satisfaction of being full. Continuing the metaphor, she advises that sometimes the most challenging reads can “yield the richest fruits,” and even if one is not initially drawn to them at first, they may become “appetizing and essential” later (9).