Excellent article! I am reminded of the age of Covid when everyone in their Zoom calls on all the news , sports and business shows lined up their books just so. Then a humble man who really didn’t care what everyone else thought was asked “where are all your books “? He held up his kindle and said they are all in here . That is I .
At first I thought this was going to be about me and my addiction to collecting books. I have a huge TBR pile but I read them. I love physical books compared to on my Kindle. I read anything from nonfiction to fiction minus a couple of genres. Over the past couple of years, I have found I really love historical fiction that is not only based on a real event but has a lot of research included in it. I find myself researching the people or event myself, leading me to be amazed and grateful this was brought to my attention.
While I do read a lot, I have found a couple of things that have stood out since the pandemic.
1) Like everything these days, the cost of books have gotten more expensive. A hardcover new fiction release can go for $30 or more.
2) I used to love romance and chick lit. Now though, I can't stand it. Why? It is so formulaic it drives me crazy. I do belong to a couple of book clubs and as they send them out, I will read them. I do not typically DNF a book but some of these are so outrageous. I have found that the ones that have been published within the last three years MUST include wokeness in them in some capacity. Again, this is for mostly romance and chick lit. It is hard to put an agenda in a historical fiction if we are keeping it as close to the event as possible.
Could have had a few references to Barthes Death of the Author where the essay emphasizes the primacy of each individual reader's interpretation of the work over any "definitive" meaning intended by the author.
Designers sometimes buy rows of books that have the same color spines regardless of topic. That way the bookshelves match the walls and furniture. Color-coded books as decor are about as performative as you can get. No one makes it their goal to read all of the red ones.
I was not aware of faux reading. It's stupid. However, I write novels. If any influencer with a large following is interested in pretending to read one of my books, I'll give you one.
The 1st book I ever read was "Tip and Mitten" and got into trouble with my 1st grade teacher because, when it was my turn to read aloud from it to the class, I used a mocking sing-song voice that reflected my contempt for its repetitive inanity. 65 years later, after reading and relishing thousands of books, I feel that I've come full circle; finding good new books has become a difficult process of sifting through all the mountains of agenda-literature on all sides. The sheer ease of purchasing a book on Amazon or B&N and the vast number of books available conceals the counterintuitive irony that the volume of crap camouflages the stuff worth reading. Book awards, reviewers, publishing houses and even book clubs have become so identity obsessed as to render them useless for anything except to find more iterations of the tropes, issues, and grievances they so eagerly promote. True art in literature has been supplanted by artfulness in which authors skilled in crafting sentences and paragraphs have abandoned originality of theme in service to their respective creeds. Nowadays, for every book I read, enjoy, and lovingly shelve, there are two that go into the recycling bin after a chapter or two.
So Ms. Rosenfeld, if there is such a segmentation, I'd like your thoughts on those who keep their books (often on display at home it seems) and those who don't. I read a lot of hard cover and paperback books, mostly new books and about science topics, keep very few, and the few I keep aren't on display. What's your diagnosis?
I went to Portland to visit my brother a few weeks ago, and I stopped by Powell's City of Books. That place is pure content fodder. They have so many dusty books on their shelves that have been there for years. Their staff selections are as progressive and woke as anything. I picked up a book "Against Common Sense" as recommended by a staff member's blurb which said something like the simple truth is often used for violence, as such, needed to be fought against.
During years when I lived alone, and during my first marriage, I collected books - but never as a performance. I only bought ones I thought I'd like though some I never touched. Several years ago I moved to my new wife's home about 60 miles distant from the house where I raised my two kids. No room for a "performative" library, so the books went to Goodwill (and, when I ran out of time, on a 1-800-GotJunk truck) along with much of my old furniture. Now, what I buy is what I read. My new stepdaughter (she is 47 and I am 67 so I'm not quite used to the term as I associate it with child-rearing) gave me a Kindle a few years back, and I've downloaded some great vacation books. She is also known to give me Barnes and Noble gift cards which, due to my frugal nature, I use for softcover editions. They become like all my most-loved books: quite dog-eared and with lots of folded pages (a habit my parents and teachers failed to break in me). My most recent: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. Anything by Erdrich is a modern gem.
Obviously, I'd need more evidence than the book in your hand to come to any reliable conclusions about your intelligence. But you'd be off to a much better start if I noticed you reading Jordan Peterson than The Guardian.
P.S. Full disclosure: I'm a retired reference librarian with over 8000 books in my home library (on all subjects, though heavily weighted to literature, philosophy and intellectual history)--yet I've never selected something for subway or waiting room reading for the purpose of making a public statement. If you see me reading Husserl's Logical Investigations, it's because I'm in the middle of the thing. Admittedly, though, I'm the same person who, on getting off a train in Paris in the 1970s and finding myself beside a young lady wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt, asked her in all innocence, "How are the Buckeyes doing this year?" Informed by her blank look that she had no idea what I was talking about, I followed up with, "You don't really go to Ohio State, do you?" "No," she said, looking at me as if I'd just dropped in from outer space, "it's just a cool sweatshirt." In retrospect, she was well ahead of the same curve that I'm still trailing.
P.P.S. Though there's no photo evidence, yes, I have read Ulysses. It's not all that difficult; in fact, it's a wonderful experience. It also has the most exhilarating last line in all literature, well worth the journey to get there.
I enjoyed reading this piece (and it was done in private - until now, I suppose). The "reader aesthetic" is, like Kat shows with the MM pic, not new, but I have seen it be more of a thing recently as well. It reminds me of the "indie movie watcher aesthetic" of the early- and mid-2000s, when a whole new generation of people (me included) discovered Truffaut, Godard, Rossini, Rossellini, Fellini, etc. Dorms and live rooms were adorned with 'Breathless' and '400 Blows' posters - in their original French was even more impressive - but upon further pressing it was obvious that the person who put it up did not really watch the movies, but rather celebrated the "vibe" (before it was called that).
I read all the books I'm seen in public with, and worry that I'll get attacked for the titles: Trans, Left Is Not Woke, The Cancelling of the American Mind, Woke Racism, White Liberals and Black Rednecks. ;)
There is a third type of reader -- one who for years has not been exposed to basic English grammar. Who thinks "they" is the proper pronoun for an individual, a company, an idea or any group. Who thinks that "comprise" is a synonym for "compose." Who accepts that the Associated Press journalism guide is correct to tell us that "data" is a singular noun now for all us clods and is appropriately used as a plural (which it is) only by scientists. Same with "media."
A few more years of this hooey, and the general population will be unable process ideas by reading typed publications.
I can’t help thinking about LeBron walking around with a visible (and quite clearly, unread) copy of Malcom X.
Excellent article! I am reminded of the age of Covid when everyone in their Zoom calls on all the news , sports and business shows lined up their books just so. Then a humble man who really didn’t care what everyone else thought was asked “where are all your books “? He held up his kindle and said they are all in here . That is I .
At first I thought this was going to be about me and my addiction to collecting books. I have a huge TBR pile but I read them. I love physical books compared to on my Kindle. I read anything from nonfiction to fiction minus a couple of genres. Over the past couple of years, I have found I really love historical fiction that is not only based on a real event but has a lot of research included in it. I find myself researching the people or event myself, leading me to be amazed and grateful this was brought to my attention.
While I do read a lot, I have found a couple of things that have stood out since the pandemic.
1) Like everything these days, the cost of books have gotten more expensive. A hardcover new fiction release can go for $30 or more.
2) I used to love romance and chick lit. Now though, I can't stand it. Why? It is so formulaic it drives me crazy. I do belong to a couple of book clubs and as they send them out, I will read them. I do not typically DNF a book but some of these are so outrageous. I have found that the ones that have been published within the last three years MUST include wokeness in them in some capacity. Again, this is for mostly romance and chick lit. It is hard to put an agenda in a historical fiction if we are keeping it as close to the event as possible.
Could have had a few references to Barthes Death of the Author where the essay emphasizes the primacy of each individual reader's interpretation of the work over any "definitive" meaning intended by the author.
Designers sometimes buy rows of books that have the same color spines regardless of topic. That way the bookshelves match the walls and furniture. Color-coded books as decor are about as performative as you can get. No one makes it their goal to read all of the red ones.
I was not aware of faux reading. It's stupid. However, I write novels. If any influencer with a large following is interested in pretending to read one of my books, I'll give you one.
The 1st book I ever read was "Tip and Mitten" and got into trouble with my 1st grade teacher because, when it was my turn to read aloud from it to the class, I used a mocking sing-song voice that reflected my contempt for its repetitive inanity. 65 years later, after reading and relishing thousands of books, I feel that I've come full circle; finding good new books has become a difficult process of sifting through all the mountains of agenda-literature on all sides. The sheer ease of purchasing a book on Amazon or B&N and the vast number of books available conceals the counterintuitive irony that the volume of crap camouflages the stuff worth reading. Book awards, reviewers, publishing houses and even book clubs have become so identity obsessed as to render them useless for anything except to find more iterations of the tropes, issues, and grievances they so eagerly promote. True art in literature has been supplanted by artfulness in which authors skilled in crafting sentences and paragraphs have abandoned originality of theme in service to their respective creeds. Nowadays, for every book I read, enjoy, and lovingly shelve, there are two that go into the recycling bin after a chapter or two.
So Ms. Rosenfeld, if there is such a segmentation, I'd like your thoughts on those who keep their books (often on display at home it seems) and those who don't. I read a lot of hard cover and paperback books, mostly new books and about science topics, keep very few, and the few I keep aren't on display. What's your diagnosis?
I went to Portland to visit my brother a few weeks ago, and I stopped by Powell's City of Books. That place is pure content fodder. They have so many dusty books on their shelves that have been there for years. Their staff selections are as progressive and woke as anything. I picked up a book "Against Common Sense" as recommended by a staff member's blurb which said something like the simple truth is often used for violence, as such, needed to be fought against.
Such a great article, I resonate with this as an avid reader who’s been disappointed with Goodreads and deleting that app now
During years when I lived alone, and during my first marriage, I collected books - but never as a performance. I only bought ones I thought I'd like though some I never touched. Several years ago I moved to my new wife's home about 60 miles distant from the house where I raised my two kids. No room for a "performative" library, so the books went to Goodwill (and, when I ran out of time, on a 1-800-GotJunk truck) along with much of my old furniture. Now, what I buy is what I read. My new stepdaughter (she is 47 and I am 67 so I'm not quite used to the term as I associate it with child-rearing) gave me a Kindle a few years back, and I've downloaded some great vacation books. She is also known to give me Barnes and Noble gift cards which, due to my frugal nature, I use for softcover editions. They become like all my most-loved books: quite dog-eared and with lots of folded pages (a habit my parents and teachers failed to break in me). My most recent: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. Anything by Erdrich is a modern gem.
Obviously, I'd need more evidence than the book in your hand to come to any reliable conclusions about your intelligence. But you'd be off to a much better start if I noticed you reading Jordan Peterson than The Guardian.
P.S. Full disclosure: I'm a retired reference librarian with over 8000 books in my home library (on all subjects, though heavily weighted to literature, philosophy and intellectual history)--yet I've never selected something for subway or waiting room reading for the purpose of making a public statement. If you see me reading Husserl's Logical Investigations, it's because I'm in the middle of the thing. Admittedly, though, I'm the same person who, on getting off a train in Paris in the 1970s and finding myself beside a young lady wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt, asked her in all innocence, "How are the Buckeyes doing this year?" Informed by her blank look that she had no idea what I was talking about, I followed up with, "You don't really go to Ohio State, do you?" "No," she said, looking at me as if I'd just dropped in from outer space, "it's just a cool sweatshirt." In retrospect, she was well ahead of the same curve that I'm still trailing.
P.P.S. Though there's no photo evidence, yes, I have read Ulysses. It's not all that difficult; in fact, it's a wonderful experience. It also has the most exhilarating last line in all literature, well worth the journey to get there.
I enjoyed reading this piece (and it was done in private - until now, I suppose). The "reader aesthetic" is, like Kat shows with the MM pic, not new, but I have seen it be more of a thing recently as well. It reminds me of the "indie movie watcher aesthetic" of the early- and mid-2000s, when a whole new generation of people (me included) discovered Truffaut, Godard, Rossini, Rossellini, Fellini, etc. Dorms and live rooms were adorned with 'Breathless' and '400 Blows' posters - in their original French was even more impressive - but upon further pressing it was obvious that the person who put it up did not really watch the movies, but rather celebrated the "vibe" (before it was called that).
I read all the books I'm seen in public with, and worry that I'll get attacked for the titles: Trans, Left Is Not Woke, The Cancelling of the American Mind, Woke Racism, White Liberals and Black Rednecks. ;)
There is a third type of reader -- one who for years has not been exposed to basic English grammar. Who thinks "they" is the proper pronoun for an individual, a company, an idea or any group. Who thinks that "comprise" is a synonym for "compose." Who accepts that the Associated Press journalism guide is correct to tell us that "data" is a singular noun now for all us clods and is appropriately used as a plural (which it is) only by scientists. Same with "media."
A few more years of this hooey, and the general population will be unable process ideas by reading typed publications.
Jordan Peterson is actually an intelligent man, in spite of his grating voice. It’s a pity he has been made into a meme.