Ce qu'il faut lire dans sa vie

An older reader reflects on the shock of how much significant writing remains unread and critiques time wasted on ephemeral journalism and fashionable reviews; he proposes a practical lifelong reading regimen, advising a steady menu of important authors and genres distributed across successive life stages, with poetry, fiction, classics, history, philosophy, and religious works appearing at different periods, allowance for occasional indulgences, and a pace calibrated to professional duties—roughly a modest average of one substantial volume per quarter in active years and fewer in old age—to build sustained acquaintance with major writings without overwhelming daily obligations.