It is common to say that we“love”a book. but when we say it, we really mean all sorts of things. Sometimes we mean only that we have read a book once and enjoyed it. Sometimes we mean that a ( ア ) was important to us in our youth, though we haven't picked it ( イ ) in years. Sometimes what we“love”is a vague impression as opposed ( ウ ) the experience of reading an actual text deeply and thoughtfully, and, all too often, ( エ ) claim to love books they haven't read at all. Then there are the books we love so ( オ ) that we read them every year or two, and ( 力 ) passages of them by heart ; that cheer us ( キ ) we are sick or sad and never fail to amuse us when we take them up at random; that we recommend to all our friends and acquaintances; and to ( ク ) we return again and again with equal enthusiasm over the course of a lifetime. I think it goes without ( ケ ) that most books that engage readers on this very high level are masterpieces;* and this is ( コ ) I believe that True Grit by Charles Portis is a masterpiece.

【Adapted from Afterword by Donna Tartt to True Grit, by Charles Portis (2010)The Overlook Press, pp225-226】