There has been a series of theoretical "culture wars" in the academy in the past quarter century, and these have taken their toll on the actual practice of reading literature qua literature, and not merely as the expression of some oppressive ideology, or simply the deplorable detritus left behind by dead European males. Academics have been so busy saying "18th century British imperialism is evil and it must stop now!" that they have not bothered to remember what a chiasmus is, what "structure" means, how... more info
Books Are A Treasure For Some.:
This book proves that reading is more than for research; it can be a source of real pleasure to lose yourself in a tempting novel or to learn from biographies about your heroes. When I chose this 'history' at a book sale, I was told it's a textbook. It does give sevreal theories about how we are able to read, but we are not told what to read. We are what we read. "You should make it a habit, when reading books, to attend more to the sense than to the words, to concentrate on the fruit rather than the... more info
I Just Don't Understand:
Who could look past the irony? A book entitled "The Pleasures of Reading" that is a nightmare to read. Here are just a few passages taken at random: "The efflorescence of metaphor and the hesitations of syntax." (E flor escence !)
""The multiplication of metaphors goes hand in hand with a restless accretion of syntactic particles, as though an endless patience of accumulation were necessary to approach an object of thought that was intrinsically elusive." (A pleasure to read)
"The aspect of... more info
The pleasures of interpreting literature:
Robert Alter is a lover of literature who reads and interprets it for pleasure. In this work he criticizes the academic practice of focusing on literary theory and babbling in abstract terms rather getting down to reading and enjoying the texts themselves. In this work he shows what he means by reading by reading some of the world 's great literature including the Bible, Shakespeare, Stendhal, Dickens. His book is structured into discussions of fundamental aspects of literature, character and its connection... more info
