Ginnie's review

How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read
by Pierre Bayard

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1143788.How_to_Talk_About_Books_You_Haven_t_Read?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read" border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41dwNjuT3cL._SL160_.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1143788.How_to_Talk_About_Books_You_Haven_t_Read?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/32811.Pierre_Bayard">Pierre Bayard</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8366026?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 2 of 5 stars He may say it elegantly but there is nothing here that any solid Bookster hasn't been practicing for years. Recently a group of us were posting back and forth on the Chesil Beach site, some saying we couldn't get into one or another of the author's novels, some saying they have been meaning to try this or that but being aware that a certain title existed, some saying they had completely read everything Ian McEwan has written. Bayard says exactly the same thing. His only original concept to me is his simple code which I will copy out:
 UB - Unknown Book to me
 SB - Skimmed Book
 HB - Heard About Book
 FB - Forgotten Book
 ++ - Extremely Positive Opinion
 + - Positive Opinion
 - - Negative Opinion
 -- - Extremely Negative Opinion
 
 Now, wasn't that simple.
 
 DEC 30, 2007 REVIEW IN TIMES ONLINE by Lynne Truss: <a target="_blank" href="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article3099865.ece?&E">http://entertainment.timesonli...</a>
 
 In the NYT Magazine, Bayard says:
 "What do you mean when you say, “I read it”? One of the purposes of my book is to show that it is not so easy to say that you have read a book. It’s important to know how to read from the first line to the last line, but there are also other ways of reading. You can skim books, you can just have heard about them, you can have read them and forgotten them. I think between reading and nonreading there is an indeterminate space that is quite important, a space where you have books you have skimmed, books you have heard about and books you have forgotten. You don’t have to feel guilty about it. Of course I read in order to feel something. And to feel an end to my loneliness, of course, just as you. I think a great reader is able to read from the first line to the last line; if you want to do that with some books, it’s necessary to skim other books. If you want to fall in love with someone, it’s necessary to meet many people. You see what I mean? 
 
 Take Proust - Proust is very difficult to read. His sentences are long and have very strange constructions, so it is not very possible to read it from the first line to the last line. You are obliged to use another way of reading.
 
 Are you saying you skimmed Proust? Yes, of course I did! I prefer to say that I live with Proust. He’s a companion. Sometimes I go to Proust and I seek advice for my life. I open it and I skim some pages. That is to live with books. It’s important to live with books."
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/354189?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Ginnie's review
rating:

bookshelves: books-about-books
recommended for: only if you want something to talk about at a party
status: Read in December, 2007

He may say it elegantly but there is nothing here that any solid Bookster hasn't been practicing for years. Recently a group of us were posting back and forth on the Chesil Beach site, some saying we couldn't get into one or another of the author's novels, some saying they have been meaning to try this or that but being aware that a certain title existed, some saying they had completely read everything Ian McEwan has written. Bayard says exactly the same thing. His only original concept to me is his simple code which I will copy out:
UB - Unknown Book to me
SB - Skimmed Book
HB - Heard About Book
FB - Forgotten Book
++ - Extremely Positive Opinion
+ - Positive Opinion
- - Negative Opinion
-- - Extremely Negative Opinion

Now, wasn't that simple.

DEC 30, 2007 REVIEW IN TIMES ONLINE by Lynne Truss: http://entertainment.timesonli...

In ...more He may say it elegantly but there is nothing here that any solid Bookster hasn't been practicing for years. Recently a group of us were posting back and forth on the Chesil Beach site, some saying we couldn't get into one or another of the author's novels, some saying they have been meaning to try this or that but being aware that a certain title existed, some saying they had completely read everything Ian McEwan has written. Bayard says exactly the same thing. His only original concept to me is his simple code which I will copy out:
UB - Unknown Book to me
SB - Skimmed Book
HB - Heard About Book
FB - Forgotten Book
++ - Extremely Positive Opinion
+ - Positive Opinion
- - Negative Opinion
-- - Extremely Negative Opinion

Now, wasn't that simple.

DEC 30, 2007 REVIEW IN TIMES ONLINE by Lynne Truss: http://entertainment.timesonli...

In the NYT Magazine, Bayard says:
"What do you mean when you say, “I read it”? One of the purposes of my book is to show that it is not so easy to say that you have read a book. It’s important to know how to read from the first line to the last line, but there are also other ways of reading. You can skim books, you can just have heard about them, you can have read them and forgotten them. I think between reading and nonreading there is an indeterminate space that is quite important, a space where you have books you have skimmed, books you have heard about and books you have forgotten. You don’t have to feel guilty about it. Of course I read in order to feel something. And to feel an end to my loneliness, of course, just as you. I think a great reader is able to read from the first line to the last line; if you want to do that with some books, it’s necessary to skim other books. If you want to fall in love with someone, it’s necessary to meet many people. You see what I mean?

Take Proust - Proust is very difficult to read. His sentences are long and have very strange constructions, so it is not very possible to read it from the first line to the last line. You are obliged to use another way of reading.

Are you saying you skimmed Proust? Yes, of course I did! I prefer to say that I live with Proust. He’s a companion. Sometimes I go to Proust and I seek advice for my life. I open it and I skim some pages. That is to live with books. It’s important to live with books."...less

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message 1: by Laura

12/18/2007 02:55PM

Well, my philosophy is that everything has been said, but not everything has been said well. So to me, saying something elegantly is worth a hell of a lot -- so few people do say things elegantly, after all.