As an undergraduate student in English Literature, I’ve come to find that I’m not entirely satisfied with the way I’m asked to read and think about books and literature within an academic context. The scholarly essay remains a good way to write about literature, of course, but there are other ways, which must not be neglected.
Thinking about books in a personal, honest, subjective manner is a method every reader uses instinctively to appraise books when he or she begins reading, and I think it’s necessary to return to this method later on in one’s reading life. It isn’t so much about finding meaning, about teasing out tropes and symbols and themes. It’s about one’s reaction, deeply human and visceral, to literature, and what one can do with that reaction. Academics and scholars shy away from the dangers of a subjective or, god forbid, an emotional response to literature. Thankfully, there are book blogs for that.
I was first introduced to the pleasures of the the so called “Familiar Essay” by Anne Fadiman, in her brilliant books Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader (which was followed by her equally delicious, although slightly less book-minded At Large and at Small) — Fadiman being herself a disciple of Charles Lamb and his own forays in the genre. The Familiar Essay is an old genre, its heyday being the beginning of the 19th Century, but I think it’s due for a comeback. I believe it suits the medium of the blog (more specifically the book blog) perfectly because it melds the insight and knowledge of hard intellectual enquiry with the quaint, attractive, confessional feel of a conversation with a friend. It invites discussion, upholding an interest in triviality and the pleasure of learning.
The other subject connected to Literature in which I have a deep and lasting interest is all the meta-textual stuff: book design, book-related paraphernalia, book marketing, bookshops, book storage, writer’s habits, literature prizes, translations, polemics, books made into films… All these things are extrinsic to literature and reading, but very important in the way in which readers react to books.
Finally, the thing in which I don’t really like to speak about so much is e-books and the end of the book as an object (although I know it’s a meaning built into the title). I deeply believe that books will keep on existing and being an important part in the lives of loads of people if we all just hold on to them. It’s our choice, after all — nothing is forcing us to read off screens. I know I’ll stick to good old paper for another while…
