More like How to Read Literature if You're a Struggling High School Student

[Hannah]

In “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, there is a lack in overall substance. While this book can be helpful for a student struggling in their literature class, it would not be an ideal “beach read”. Foster is repetitive and tends to put too much of a focus on theme.
Thomas Foster, the author, writes in a very condescending tone that comes across as pretentious. It seems as if he is trying to connect with a kindergartener, rather than a high school student or someone wanting to get a higher-level degree in literature. Foster is very wordy and doesn’t quite grasp the concept of condensing his words. While an abundance of examples can be helpful, it can become excessive an annoying for the reader. For example, in chapter five when discussing pattern recognition, it takes Foster five whole pages to get to the point. Presumably, Foster uses so many examples to reach a broader audience, but it can become inconvenient and boring for a reader who understands it the first time. The excessive detail can be distracting and cause for a reader to not be engaged and lose interest. By the end of the chapter, one could forget what it was about altogether. Although some conversational inserts could potentially grasp the reader’s attention, overall he babbled too much and couldn’t seem to get to the point.
On a more positive note, when Foster’s tone wasn’t condescending, it was lighthearted. While his informal tone can be annoying at times, it can make for a more enjoyable, understandable reading experience. Foster’s words can be eye opening to something you might not have thought about before. Even though, he does talk excessively about symbolism, it can be helpful if someone doesn’t understand that specific topic. If a reader struggles with symbolism, they certainly won’t after reading this book.
Overall, unless you’re a high school student, or someone who is really interested in literature, I wouldn’t recommend this book. It is helpful to better understand challenging books as a high school student, but past that unless you want to be a literature professor, it’s not useful.

[Harish]

I too felt that overall content was too watered down.

Also another point I feel is that his interpretations are western oriented. It helps to comprehend an English or European novel. But for novels from other parts of the world, Asian or African books, another system has to be developed.