A Familiar Situation

You just finished reading a book.

You learned a lot from the book -- at least you think you learned a lot -- and you feel like what you read is somehow important. You feel pretty good about having read the book, and maybe you're a little sad that it's over. Most likely, you want to run and tell a friend about it, because isn't that what people who read meaningful books do? Like a toddler with a new favorite toy, you feel compelled to share your life-changing discovery with the world. So you go and tell your friend.

Before you pause to consider what will happen next, you blurt out to your friend, "I just read the most amazing book!" You say it with a smile, or maybe you are a little shy and you partially cloak your excitement. Either way, your friend turns to you and says, "Oh? What was it about?" Your smile immediately drops and your eyes go wide. You have no idea how to answer this question.

Crap! This book is so meaningful! At least, you think it is. Now you are not so sure, because you can't seem to give any basic details. You give it a go. If you just finished a novel, you give a terrible and overlong plot summary, during which you realize that the book actually sounds retarded when you describe it this way. You attempt to redeem yourself by shouting, "I know it sounds dumb, but it's so good!" If you just finished a nonfiction, you either spout off a few random facts and miss the central arguments entirely ("locust brains grow larger when they get together in a plague!"), or you describe the arguments with so much jargon that your friend is now thinking about what he/she ate for lunch, having experienced regret ten minutes ago for asking about the book, and having stopped feeling guilty about not paying attention nine minutes ago.

You wish that your friend had just read the dang book, because they obviously would be feeling the same things you are feeling if they had read the book, and then you could have spared you and them this awkward situation. Before you finish talking, you either mentally recommit to join a book club ("this time I really will!"), or you swear off all brainy literature and nonfiction for Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and That New Book in the Checkout Line That Features Beefy Men and Seductive Women on the Front Cover. 

You feel like a failure as a reader, and you feel like you've let down the author because you're pretty sure that you've scared someone away from their book forever. You feel sad and lonely, so you pick up another book and start reading. Eventually you forget about your past failure and you are fully taken in by the new story. "Wow!" you think, "this book is so meaningful!"

***

This blog is dedicated to all those who see pieces of themselves in the cycle above.

I use these pages to practice writing about the things I read and study, because I strongly believe that you don't really know something unless you can convey its meaning to others in a way they can understand. The kind of knowing I'm talking about here is the bookish, nerdy kind. I wholeheartedly believe that you can be a master of some skill and be a terrible teacher, but when it comes to reading books and articles, I think the ability to talk about it is actually a pretty good measure of how much we learned. It's certainly not a good measure of how much we feel -- the frustration described above is a result of our feelings exceeding our ability to rationally justify them -- but I for one would like to be able to hold on to more than a collection of powerful feelings. I want books to change me through emotions, yes, but I also want to be able to use the books in the future, and you can't do that very well if you only remember how you felt.

Each post will include a very brief, accessible summary of the book, followed by a brief analysis. A single book will likely have multiple entries. There will probably be spoilers in the analyses, but I'll make sure to give warnings in advance. I'll try to be funny sometimes, because honestly, this stuff can get unbearably dull. I'll avoid talking about how much I liked or disliked the book, because that's the sort of shallow evaluation that I'm trying to go beyond. Finally, I'll encourage discussion by including a question or two in each post for interested readers to ponder and respond. I'll probably copy entries over to my Goodreads page too. If you've ever reached the end of a book and thought "Oh no, I'm on the last page and I still have no idea what this book is about," then this blog might be for you.

Reading is fun. Reading and thinking is fun and useful. So, fellow readers, let's get our thoughts together.