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The Unreadable Book Club Introduction
THE UNREADABLE BOOK CLUB
By Steven Schneider
Introduction
Obviously tongue in cheek, the Unreadable Book Club began with the observation that there are a number of books that most people know by reputation but probably haven’t read unless forced to in some high school or college English or Literature class. These books, though unread, have the interesting quality of being familiar enough in some respects to be the butt of jokes understood by most of the population. We all know that War and Peace is really long and perhaps boring because of this, and so we understand that a joke by Woody Allen is funny even if we haven’t read the book: “I took a speed reading course and read War and Peace. It’s about Russia.” Badda Bing!
Even so, the people that have decided that these books have great value, other than to torture high school students, must be sort of like us, right? A so-called Great Book is merely a book that speaks to some of us over the centuries in a familiar language of human emotion and intellect that we may have thought was ours alone. At a certain time in our lives this connection can become an unparalleled siren call out of our family of origin into the depth and breadth of humanity.
You alone will know if a book touches you deeply, but you might need a guide to even recognize the possibility that this can be true. These lessons then are not meant to comprehensive or authoritative, but merely to share my own experience of this phenomenon, assuming again that my audience may share my appreciation.
In my own experience, before Les Miz was even imagined on Broadway (in the 70’s) I was required to read Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, another massive book about France, Napoleon, War, Revolution and Love. I liked it so much that I read it three times before I was 20. Mostly it impressed me in the way people so far removed from me in time, circumstance and geography had feelings and passions that I could understand. After all, what is more familiar to a teenager than unrequited love, obsession, unreasoning idealism and despair?
If you follow along here, you may not be touched, but will at least understand more jokes about War and Peace without having read it.
By Steven Schneider
Introduction
Obviously tongue in cheek, the Unreadable Book Club began with the observation that there are a number of books that most people know by reputation but probably haven’t read unless forced to in some high school or college English or Literature class. These books, though unread, have the interesting quality of being familiar enough in some respects to be the butt of jokes understood by most of the population. We all know that War and Peace is really long and perhaps boring because of this, and so we understand that a joke by Woody Allen is funny even if we haven’t read the book: “I took a speed reading course and read War and Peace. It’s about Russia.” Badda Bing!
Even so, the people that have decided that these books have great value, other than to torture high school students, must be sort of like us, right? A so-called Great Book is merely a book that speaks to some of us over the centuries in a familiar language of human emotion and intellect that we may have thought was ours alone. At a certain time in our lives this connection can become an unparalleled siren call out of our family of origin into the depth and breadth of humanity.
You alone will know if a book touches you deeply, but you might need a guide to even recognize the possibility that this can be true. These lessons then are not meant to comprehensive or authoritative, but merely to share my own experience of this phenomenon, assuming again that my audience may share my appreciation.
In my own experience, before Les Miz was even imagined on Broadway (in the 70’s) I was required to read Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, another massive book about France, Napoleon, War, Revolution and Love. I liked it so much that I read it three times before I was 20. Mostly it impressed me in the way people so far removed from me in time, circumstance and geography had feelings and passions that I could understand. After all, what is more familiar to a teenager than unrequited love, obsession, unreasoning idealism and despair?
If you follow along here, you may not be touched, but will at least understand more jokes about War and Peace without having read it.
The Unreadable Book Blog
Obviously tongue in cheek, the Unreadable Book Club began with the observation that there are a number of books that most people know by reputation but probably haven’t read unless forced to in some h
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