7:33:29beach#'<name> is taken by READ to be a reader macro, so READ returns (FUNCTION <name>) whereas '<name> is taken by read to be a different reader macro so READ returns (QUOTE <name>).
7:37:14beachAs you can see, you can specify the stream to read from.
8:13:29beachrendar: READ turns a sequence of characters into a data structure in memory that we call an S-expression. An S-expression is either an atom or a CONS cell containing an S-expression it its CAR slot and another S-expression in its CDR slot.
8:13:51beachrendar: The evaluator does not handle sequences of characters, but these S-expressions.