Episode 44: Types of Reader

[[deleted user]]

I wonder if it is just the British who get hung up about the types of book we read? Although I can imagine the French, with all their intellectual obsessions, might be similar.

The British, or perhaps more specifically the English, have long made judgements about each other based on class and culture. Class distinctions and cultural differences may have receded somewhat in recent decades, but cultural snobbery appears to be alive and well when it comes to people's taste in books (and arts and entertainment more generally). There seems to be an expectation that people should choose a single genre and stick with it. This is surely absurd? No one would be expected to eat only food from one country, or to dress in the same way from one day to the next regardless of what one was doing.

Simon should not feel bad about liking a wide variety of books, encompassing both high literature and "cosy crime". I see this has having a varied taste not a lack of taste. If what you are lacking is a neat phrase to encapsulate the kind of reader you are, then a curious reader would seem to fit the bill.

AJ seems to have even less grounds for feeling inadequate as a reader simply for not having read Dickens. As a typical Englishman, capable of reading only my mother tongue, I am in awe at anyone who cannot only get by in other languages but is sufficiently fluent to read great literature in its original language and even to translate scientific writing, which is often difficult enough to grasp in one's first language.

[Sarah]

I agree, David. I was listening to the podcast wondering why Simon & AJ were being so hard on themselves, and at the same time realising that I'm embarrassed by some of the books I've read & that are on my shelves. Ridiculous really!
I definitely couldn't pigeonhole myself to a certain genre. I've just finished Mr Peanut (crime/ mystery) & couldn't read another crime novel now. I like to read something completely different to my last read each time I start a new book.

[Elizabeth☮]

i read a broad range, but find there are gaping holes in the genres, authors or classics i've never read. but there are so many books, so how can all of my time be devoted to one mission? i have made an effort to read more american classics and read a total of two thus far.

i say if we're all reading, we are doing well for ourselves.

[jeniwren]

My twitter name incorporates the word *wellread* in my moniker and I wonder if this implies some snobbishness on my behalf. However I regard myself to be a reader who reads a wide range of books and is willing to give almost anything a try although I draw the line at romance novels and bad writing. I too have struggled with some of the classics and if they don't appeal well so be it. Simon.... I hear you re Dickens!
So really what does it matter as long as you enjoy reading and continue to discover wonderful books old and new along the way.

[Monique]

agree, agree, agree! we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves when it comes to reading. books are to be enjoyed; reading gives us the opportunity to be entertained, swept up in fabulous stories and, if we choose to be, challenged. there are many books i've never read and want to read, but i refuse to beat myself up if i once again pass up reading Dickens for anything else, haha!

another great episode, Simon! AJ was a great guest host! i never thought to before, but definitely plan to start paying more attention when it comes to translators.

[Elizabeth☮]

i did want to let AJ know i found the discussion on translation fascinating. the nuances of words from language to another are often times difficult to explain.

i am a spanish speaker and though no fluent, when i read neruda in spanish rather than the translations, there is just some essence of his emotion not quite capture in the english.

thanks for the insight AJ.

[Ruthiella]

I am currently reading a collection of essays by A.A. Milne and there is one titled “Intellectual Snobbery” wherein Milne admits to never finishing the two Henry James novels he once started and he recounts the story of an acquaintance who always carried a Russian novel in Russian on the off chance that if he were ever in an accident, it would make him look intelligent in his obituary to be found with a Russian novel in the original in his pocket. “It is absurd that we (I say ‘we’, for I include you now) should behave like this, for there is no book over which we need be ashamed, either to have read it or not read it.” So this “how well read am I” quandary is probably pretty timeless!

[[deleted user]]

Ruthiella wrote: "... It would make him look intelligent in his obituary to be found with a Russian novel in the original in his pocket. ..."

Brilliant. I think Stephen Hawking sold quite a few books on the similar premise that people wanted to be seen to have him on the shelf.

[Esther]

I have a friend who looks embarrassed and actually apologizes to me when she talks about reading the Twilight series. This is particularly ridiculous as she knows I have also read them.