How to Read Literature Like a Professor

[Cheryl]

Sorry for the short notice, but Maria and I have just decided to read this book together and we'd love to have you join us. We're planning on starting Saturday, April 7th, GMT -8. I'm guessing it'll take us about a week, but I'll keep following the discussion indefinitely for anyone who wants to post anytime.

[Maria]

I'm here! I'll probably be reading at a weird rate-- I read this book a few years ago, and remember that I liked the way the guy talked.

This time, I'll be skipping around the book, or taking notes on things, or... basically I'll be actually using it, rather than reading it like a novel, which I did last time. XD

I'll also be testing out a reading technique which I read about on the internet a while ago... let's hope it works on e-books. XD

[Cheryl]

Sounds like we'll have fun together!

[Maria]

Most definitely.

[Kate]

I have had this book next to my bed for ages, I might join you. Can you tell me more about the reading technique??

[Maria]

It's something like this:

Read actively.

The actual technique is pretty simple, but hard to summarize without making it sound stupid.

The PDF I read about it is free online, located here: Click!

Aw, Judy! We'll make sure to comment often.

[Cheryl]

I'm printing out that right now. Good thing it's only 9 pp, counting the cover. :)

[Cheryl]

Ok, I started the book - got through the introduction. He's got a witty style, so that's good. But he's not kidding about 'reading like a professor' either. I'm not sure how much of what he advises I'll apply to my reading.

"Memory, symbol, pattern..." Hmm. Funny, I consciously try to judge each book on it's own, not to analyze how it fits into the canon.

This is going to be very interesting....

[Cheryl]

Ok I'm done with the first two chapters. It really is hard to slow down and try to absorb what he's writing about, because he's so concise & conversational.

I've decided to mark it 'currently-reading' to make it easier to 'take notes' and so far in my review box I have more text than I usually do after I *finish* a book!

[Kate]

It's funny because I read books exactly the opposite way (go figure, I am a former high school English teacher!). I am all about where a book fits in to the canon. I used to joke about rolling my eyes when a book had a river in it or a carpenter .... yeah, yeah, river equals life. Carpenter. Oh. Christ figure ..... I jokingly roll my eyes because I totally eat that stuff up.

[Cheryl]

Well then this book would probably be a waste of time for you, Kate. ;)

[Maria]

Kate, that's so funny. I'm a bit in the middle. Since reading it the first time I'll think, every once in a while, that book A is a bit like book X, but it's usually only if it's a bit obvious (Gulliver's Travels reminded me of Sinbad's Voyages).

I just finished All The President's Men and Faust, which I made myself finish before I even thought of getting tangled in this one. So I'll be doing a preliminary reading as described in that 'how to read' pamphlet. Then I'll read the Introduction or something, then go to bed, so I can get an early start tomorrow.

I'll be testing things out on Macbeth and The Witch of Portobello, since those books have to be read before I leave Sydney, along with a few others.

Anticipating a bit of brain mush... but very excited!

[Susan]

I read this last year. I found that a lot of the material it covered I had learned in school. My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Maria]

Then it means, Susan, that you had a good school! I love your review.

Alright, I'm through the Introduction and the first three chapters. I've been taking notes in my sole notebook (which is kind of funny, as it's not even a quarter of the way finished, we're 5 months into the trip, and I'm angsting about using too many pages) so that I can later transcribe them onto the laptop for extra rememberance/referral in later years.

Perhaps note-taking might help you, Cheryl? ANd you're right about the conciseness. When I first read this, I thought he took ages. Now, I'm wondering how he finished the chapter so quickly! SURELY you must have more to say about communion!

Do the literary references annoy anyone? Or are they more of a "I remember that?" Or is it just, "mmhmm, moving on?"

I like them. I know a bit about some of the books (must... read... Doctor Zhivago), but others I have no idea what they're about. Of course when I read them I'll [hopefully not] remember the ending, thus destroying the moment of suspense...

And I have no idea where I'm going with this.

So, yes, I've reached Chapter 3, and I'll be heading to Psychology right now to learn about Memory. Then back to this book!

[Cheryl]

(I'm taking as many notes as I care to just by commenting here and on my review page. :)

What I'm missing is the 'why' - that is, after not too long, if every carpenter is Jesus and every meal is a communion, don't books become boring? It seems to me that they would, so I'm wondering why a reader wants to analyze all the stories they read this way.

As I said, I like the fresh discovery each book that I read provides.

[Maria]

(I think I knew that in some other part of my brain...)

Apparently no one else is doing school today, so no learning about Memory! (YAY!)

I've only just reached Chapter 6, but...

I read Gulliver's Travels, which is a bit like Sinbad's Voyages. Yet it wasn't boring, persay. Each book puts things together differently. You might recognize the symbolism, but for me that just makes things a bit more enjoyable (that is, if the book is any good. If it isn't... well, I'm not going to worry about it).

[Cheryl]

I'm really not familiar with most of the author's references, so I just take him at his word for using them as examples. I did read Daisy Miller and did, basically, get out of it what Foster said I should, but I still didn't think it was a wonderful story.

So, if it turns out that this is a whole incestuous thing, where the people who read Literature are the people for whom Literature is written, I might just choose to stay out of that circle.

Otoh, I did like the chapter about sonnets. So, the idea is, oversimplified, read poetry* like prose, by sentence not by line, but read it aloud so you can hear the lines, and then read it again to appreciate how the poet used the form to scaffold the imagery and metaphor, etc.

*Of course, this doesn't work as well if the poem isn't constructed into a specific form, nor does it work well if one isn't Literary and doesn't recognize the allusions.

[Cheryl]

I just realized I skipped commenting on the vampire chapter. But I don't want to read books about vampires, or Wall Street traders, or bourgeoisie mothers-in-law. So pfft.

[Maria]

XD True!

I'm currently at the 'symbols' chapter... this is the part that always gets me-- I can remember characters and link them and link plot lines, etc, but symbols? Never.

[Cheryl]

I had to take a break for other tasks, sorry. I just read chapter 5, "Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?" and I'm thinking that maybe if he'd started with that one I'd have been more in a frame of mind to appreciate his efforts.

So far it is a great book if you want to do exactly as the title suggests.

Onward!

[Maria]

It's fine! I got caught up in a romance novel spree... now thinking it was a bit of a mistake, as I just had a ridiculous crying jag about always being the odd one out. That might be because of little sleep. ANYWAY...

I finished it. The review is here.

I liked it. I liked it because it pointed out the obvious for me, which I definitely ned at times, and I liked the style of it. It remains to be seen if I'll actually follow the points he's laid out. I'm not in the mood for reading classics at the moment.

[Cheryl]

I might not be able to give it a star rating. I'm enjoying it and struggling with it at the same time, and it's a personal struggle. I have no idea what to say about it for other people.

Yeah, I get what you mean about romance - whenever I try to read one, whether I'm currently in a happy r'ship or not, they make me feel weird. I think that's why I'm such a fan of science fiction - it's not at all personal.

[Maria]

Books are different for everyone.

I love romance... it's just that I blew up a bit. XD I'm more interested in the personal, which is why sci fi isn't my cup of tea.

[Cheryl]

The more I read of this professor book, the more I realize I just am not all that interested in reading the books that would succumb to this kind of analysis.

For example. I just finished the Christ chapter. I don't want to read books that have a martyr in them, or in which a person is crucified or otherwise abused and then forgives and provides for redemption.

Reading this is an excellent experience, helping me clarify how I feel about capital L Literature and 'the canon.'

[Maria]

That's a really interesting point of view!