My unread book pile is out of control and you aren’t helping! Admittedly a lot of them are history books for my podcast. Anyway, The Whale arrives tomorrow 🙂
Have you read A Fraction of the Whole? Remarkable I thought.
But isn't that the whole point? Reading contemporary American literature brings neither joy nor material reward, so why do it?
I can read the Mahabharata all day long, but the world doesn't really need me to tell it that the Mahabharata is worth reading. Surely it already knows that.
I guess I am saying we can read from other places (also James was amazing! some modern American lit is great) and if we want more and better novels we need an improved audience---status bitching about men reading Catcher in the Rye will only make things worse not better at the margin. Also, I'm guessing a lot of people do need telling! Or at least would benefit from enthusiastic advocacy! As Johnson said, men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.
I agree with this, and the Johnson quote is so apt! But school is the main place where people are told this kind of thing. After that, most people are more-or-less impossible to reach unless they already have some degree of interest. That's why plummeting enrollments in the humanities are such a big deal. An even bigger deal, though less discussed, are the changes in the high school curriculum. Less literature is assigned, especially older literature, and page counts have dropped dramatically. More schools focus on "language arts"--basic comprehension of text, often nonfiction, and basic writing skills. My incredibly bright students enter college having read essentially no classic literature, and it's mostly already too late. I'm married to a high school English teacher (who's also a Miltonist) so I've been watching this happen in real time, especially during and after the pandemic. Literacy in American public schools is, on average, low enough that there are no easy answers: a Victorian novel would be impossible for the vast majority. And AI has made teaching writing orders of magnitude more difficult.
Currently reading an incredible book that comes out next year in US, maybe it's already out in the UK? It's called Victorian Psycho, by the author of Mrs. March, Virginia Feito. It's basically exactly what you think but the fact that it goes all the way into self parody being honestly horrific is exhilarating. Every odiously morose word choice is a balm to my soul, which is swirling around somewhere dark (as is our titular Psycho's). Does for Victorian alabaster wretchedness what it's reference, American Psycho, did for corporate yuppie depersonalization. It's also a short little book. Can't recommend enough!
It's sad and annoying and frustrating isn't it? I read The Glutton earlier this year and absolutely loved it. I tried to lend it to three other people as a good read - all refused on the basis of a)the cover, or b)the blurb. It's an extraordinary book and should be racking up awards. I also read two newly published novelisations of the same subject. One was awful. One really good. One was fêted as a magnificent debut novel (all 116 pages of it), and splashed all over everywhere. The other one not so much. Guess which one was the awful one. Sigh. Is it me? I'm no literary reviewer but even I can tell good writing from pretty poor stuff.
My unread book pile is out of control and you aren’t helping! Admittedly a lot of them are history books for my podcast. Anyway, The Whale arrives tomorrow 🙂
Have you read A Fraction of the Whole? Remarkable I thought.
haha sorry not sorry! Do lmk what you think of The Whale! I have not... looks long but also intriguing
But isn't that the whole point? Reading contemporary American literature brings neither joy nor material reward, so why do it?
I can read the Mahabharata all day long, but the world doesn't really need me to tell it that the Mahabharata is worth reading. Surely it already knows that.
I guess I am saying we can read from other places (also James was amazing! some modern American lit is great) and if we want more and better novels we need an improved audience---status bitching about men reading Catcher in the Rye will only make things worse not better at the margin. Also, I'm guessing a lot of people do need telling! Or at least would benefit from enthusiastic advocacy! As Johnson said, men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.
I agree with this, and the Johnson quote is so apt! But school is the main place where people are told this kind of thing. After that, most people are more-or-less impossible to reach unless they already have some degree of interest. That's why plummeting enrollments in the humanities are such a big deal. An even bigger deal, though less discussed, are the changes in the high school curriculum. Less literature is assigned, especially older literature, and page counts have dropped dramatically. More schools focus on "language arts"--basic comprehension of text, often nonfiction, and basic writing skills. My incredibly bright students enter college having read essentially no classic literature, and it's mostly already too late. I'm married to a high school English teacher (who's also a Miltonist) so I've been watching this happen in real time, especially during and after the pandemic. Literacy in American public schools is, on average, low enough that there are no easy answers: a Victorian novel would be impossible for the vast majority. And AI has made teaching writing orders of magnitude more difficult.
Yikes! How dispiriting…
Woah that’s a really compelling story about Ireland
great reporting
Currently reading an incredible book that comes out next year in US, maybe it's already out in the UK? It's called Victorian Psycho, by the author of Mrs. March, Virginia Feito. It's basically exactly what you think but the fact that it goes all the way into self parody being honestly horrific is exhilarating. Every odiously morose word choice is a balm to my soul, which is swirling around somewhere dark (as is our titular Psycho's). Does for Victorian alabaster wretchedness what it's reference, American Psycho, did for corporate yuppie depersonalization. It's also a short little book. Can't recommend enough!
Nice thanks!
It's sad and annoying and frustrating isn't it? I read The Glutton earlier this year and absolutely loved it. I tried to lend it to three other people as a good read - all refused on the basis of a)the cover, or b)the blurb. It's an extraordinary book and should be racking up awards. I also read two newly published novelisations of the same subject. One was awful. One really good. One was fêted as a magnificent debut novel (all 116 pages of it), and splashed all over everywhere. The other one not so much. Guess which one was the awful one. Sigh. Is it me? I'm no literary reviewer but even I can tell good writing from pretty poor stuff.
It’s not you! Thats why we need Substack!!
ps so glad you enjoyed the glutton!
Fabulous. And so different from The Manningtree Witches. Can’t wait for her next.