Good Books on Reading
It's becoming habitual for me to begin a new year with a book on reading. I like reading, but sometimes I like to read about other people's love for reading.
At the beginning of 2009, I entered a Barnes and Noble and started browsing the literary criticism section. I pulled out Harold Bloom's How to Read and Why? I had always seen this book and avoided it, silently disputing the level of authority Bloom seemed to have given himself--telling people how to read, and giving them a reason for why they should read the way he was telling them to. I was judging the book by its title.
But when I started browsing it, I found out that it was rich, providing a map with which to navigate the works of such writers as Chekhov, Kafka, and others. I started annotating the book, which then meant that I had to buy it. It would turn out to be one of the greatest book purchases of 2009.
Bloom connects the authors, and for the short story, he groups the writers into the Chekhovian and Borgesian schools. The former consists of realists while the latter is made up of writers whose work has elements of fantasy, phantasmagoria even, magical realism, and so on.
Within a week of reading Bloom's book, I had visited different branches of the Sacramento Public Library to borrow as many of the titles as possible. Of course, I found out that there was a limit to how many I could borrow since my account only allowed a maximum of 30 books at a time.
How to Read and Why opened up new ways of reading for me.
Now at the beginning of 2010, I am reading Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for those Who Want to Write Them. Already, Prose is talking about her love for Chekhov, Flannery O'Connor, James Joyce, Nabokov, Kafka...most of the same authors in Bloom's book. But her love for reading is infectious.
So perhaps there is this pantheon of classic books we should experience before we become seasoned readers of anything else, or if we are already seasoned readers, before we become humble writers. I believe reading humbles a writer, it helps you understand the amount of work that went into the work you are enjoying.
Both books carry the same basic message: slow down and read; then (in the case of Francince Prose) write.
Have a happy reading year everybody!
At the beginning of 2009, I entered a Barnes and Noble and started browsing the literary criticism section. I pulled out Harold Bloom's How to Read and Why? I had always seen this book and avoided it, silently disputing the level of authority Bloom seemed to have given himself--telling people how to read, and giving them a reason for why they should read the way he was telling them to. I was judging the book by its title.
But when I started browsing it, I found out that it was rich, providing a map with which to navigate the works of such writers as Chekhov, Kafka, and others. I started annotating the book, which then meant that I had to buy it. It would turn out to be one of the greatest book purchases of 2009.
Bloom connects the authors, and for the short story, he groups the writers into the Chekhovian and Borgesian schools. The former consists of realists while the latter is made up of writers whose work has elements of fantasy, phantasmagoria even, magical realism, and so on.
Within a week of reading Bloom's book, I had visited different branches of the Sacramento Public Library to borrow as many of the titles as possible. Of course, I found out that there was a limit to how many I could borrow since my account only allowed a maximum of 30 books at a time.
How to Read and Why opened up new ways of reading for me.
Now at the beginning of 2010, I am reading Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for those Who Want to Write Them. Already, Prose is talking about her love for Chekhov, Flannery O'Connor, James Joyce, Nabokov, Kafka...most of the same authors in Bloom's book. But her love for reading is infectious.
So perhaps there is this pantheon of classic books we should experience before we become seasoned readers of anything else, or if we are already seasoned readers, before we become humble writers. I believe reading humbles a writer, it helps you understand the amount of work that went into the work you are enjoying.
Both books carry the same basic message: slow down and read; then (in the case of Francince Prose) write.
Have a happy reading year everybody!
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