The article “The Bionic Book Worm” appeared in The Independent on the 25th of September. The following is a response to the opinions expressed in the article.
So Sir Peter Stothard, a privileged white male (this is significant), is the editor of the Times Literary Supplement and a judge of the Man Booker Prize. According to him, the world of literary criticism is in danger because of bloggers who “will leave the industry “worse off” with their uneducated reviews of books they read and then write about. (Of course, some will assert that we do not write reviews, we write blog posts. Damned if we do and damned if we don’t.)
Stothard goes on to say that “[n]ot everyone’s opinion is worth the same.”
My lovely readers, I did not make this up. He is quoted verbatim. So, what we can understand from this article is that book bloggers like you and me? Our opinions count for nothing because whaddya know, we may not all have the same high level of tertiary education that is so necessary for us before we can tell whether we like a book or not. Our opinions have no bearing because we are not all speaking the literary critic’s language. Apparently “I like this book and this is why” has no bearing in the face of “confident criticism.”
Okay, show me hands if you read critical commentaries or book reviews to find out what book to read next? Because I don’t. I depend on people who read books I like. I read for entertainment and sometimes for knowledge. To be intellectually challenged as well as entertained – two main reasons I read. And the kind of literary criticism that Stothard talks about? I’ll be honest with you – they make books that I may want to read sound utterly boring so I avoid them. I want enthusiasm and glee and a sort of fanaticism that is only present in people who have shed all snobbery and elitism to push the books they love on other people. In other words, book bloggers.
This is not to suggest that other people do not read these literary criticisms Stothard is so proud of. They probably do, all 300 of them. Because let’s face it, literary novels may win honors, prizes, medals whatever but the audience? It will always, without fail flock to Twilight or 50 Shades of Gray or whatever novel promises the most entertainment. Which is not to say that I particularly liked any of those novels but these are facts, the numbers will prove my point. Literary novels such as the ones winning the Man Booker Prize do not have as much readership as genre fiction does. Stick with me, I have a point.
You do not see book bloggers making elitist comments saying that literary critics are a dying breed (which they might be) because we are cool like that. We love reading. We love talking about reading. So we may not have the degrees or the so-called qualifications to analyze a book, but we are certainly capable of discerning whether a novel affords enjoyment or not. The best thing about book blogging? The number of voices there are. Not all of us are privileged or white, not all of us have the same education but what we do have in amazing amounts is a love for books and where I come from, that’s all you need.
And of course Stothard is right when saying that not all opinions mean the same thing because his opinion means nothing to me. It makes me angry, yeah, that such an elitist, alarmist comment exists in the first place but honestly? Who cares? He will certainly not venture out into the crowds where bloggers lurk and even if he did, I doubt he’d find much of a warm welcome unless he gives up his hoity toity attitude. Colonialism ended a long time ago – we are no longer under any aegis to think that any race (societal construct though that may be) means more than any other.
Oh and according to Stothard, reading 145 books in one year is “unnatural”. I have read 334 books this year. I read widely and from many different genres. And I am not alone. Many of my fellow book blogger friends have read more than 150 books this year. And many of them read more than one genre – literary or otherwise. If you were to consider from that angle, it would make us book bloggers far more qualified to talk about books than some people I could mention.
Agreed, x100.
Yay!
Please excuse my language, but what a pompous twat.
It’s bad enough that he assumes that book bloggers aren’t readers (hint: they are. About 99% of them are.), but that he thinks that we’ll bring about the end of literature is a laugh. I’ve read so many reviews in literary mags and in newspapers, and they’re all so boring. They don’t tell me what’s good or bad about the story, they just find ways to describe the book as pompously and eloquently as possible.
Don’t even get me started on the “unnatural” aspects of reading more than 20 books a year. I’ve hardly read as many as you, but it’s still a fair amount. I read so many books because… surprise surprise, I like it. He makes it seem like it’s a chore. It shouldn’t be. It should be a passion.
Ugh, I hate this elitist crap.
Very well said. I applaud your comment!
When people say things like that I tend to think “They don’t really support reading for the masses.” Reading is for everyone. Books should not only be accesible to the intellectually elite. Reading should be for the educated, the uneducated, children, teens because reading (even not the literary type) inspires people. It gives people hope, escape, shows them about other cultures and makes them think. Even YA and genre fiction have this power.
Well said!
I’m sorry, that’s hilarious. Stothard clearly means “worse off” as in “I no longer feel secure.” He made me all indignant as I read this through the first time, but have realized there’s no need for anger against this pathetic whining. Am now picturing modern!Oscar Wilde making some sort of multimedia awesomeness where bloggers, critics, writers, and possibly the literary characters themselves have a drama of manners (I’m thinking the guys like Stothard are assuming they get to marry whatever literary characters/embodiments they want and the literary folks inevitably make them miserable or run away with to Blogland-works like Gretna Green). Stothard is played by Stephen Fry at his most pompous and absurd.
Speaking of glee, can I just thank you for your review of ‘Unspoken’? That’s what made me get excited and request to review it! So many awesome quote! My favorite is Rusty’s, though: “Not doing things you can do is laziness. Not doing things you can’t do is just sensible.”
HAHA! This is an awesome comment, dude. And I hope you liked Unspoken! I still don’t know what went wrong with the ending but most of the book was awesome!
I really enjoyed Unspoken! I read it all the way through yesterday, as a matter of fact. I have theories about the ending, actually. I like to think the abrupt taking away of all the other possibilities with its arbitrariness was meant to mirror Kami’s abrupt loss of all those entwining feelings and thoughts. Therefore, its very arbitrariness makes us share more of Kami’s experience at the end, which hopefully will just make us primed for whatever it is that comes next. Hopefully there’s a lot more Rusty in it. I want a Rusty around.
You are such a champion! This whole “argument” just keeps popping up, regardless of how old it is, and it’s such a pompous, elitist one. You’re spot-on in everything you say (I particularly love this: “Stothard is right when saying that not all opinions mean the same thing because his opinion means nothing to me.”).
There seems to be this implied insinuation, that book bloggers are going to help rot people’s brain and make everyone even stupider than, apparently, they already are. Because only stupid people would read genre books or read for the purposes of entertainment. When I hear people like this Stothard character, all I hear is someone trying to prop themselves up and inflate their own ego by creating or perpetuating a kind of classist division.
We may as well go back to the days when things were written in Latin so that only the priests and highly educated could read them – information and education in the hands of the masses is so bad for the nation!
Exactly, this whole “I’m so above genre-books” is ridiculous. I’ve been hanging out with academics recently and most of them love genre books as much as I do. In fact, I only know one person who consumes literary novels regularly without any breaks in between. I enjoy the odd literary novel too but that doesn’t mean literary novel is the be all and end all of literature. You would think more people would be celebrating the fact that people read so much but alas.
Interesting. Of course, there are also many authors and critics who revile the books that you and I read, deeming them a blight on humanity. Stephen King says he can’t get critical acclaim in spite of being, arguably, one of the best-loved and most-read authors of the 19th century in the horror genre.
People like Stothard need something to be against, because it makes them feel secure in their elitist mentality. For them, an interest in esoteric literature is worn like a uniform or a badge–to brandish to the world and say, “See? I’m special, I’m different. I’ve made my mark on this world and you haven’t.” I think it pathetic and sad.
Thanks for your input in this. I agree on all points.
Ooh, I’ve been seeing that article in a couple places, and I kind of want to blog about it, too. (Knowing me it’ll probably show up a couple months later when everyone is already over it, lol.) Obviously I don’t agree that book bloggers are ruining the industry, but I do think there are a few valid points in his article that I’d want to address, particularly in relation to some other thoughts I’ve had about reviews and criticism lately. Thanks for getting me to think more about this.
Valid points? Like what? I mean, I think I’m pretty “qualified” to critically analyze a book but a book blog usually discusses books in an informal and engaging manner – why the blogger likes it or not. Literary criticism involves a deconstruction of the novel in all its facets, depending, of course, the angle you take – and that rarely is done to encourage people to read it. Critical analysis of literature is done for many reasons but I feel that it is definitely different from reviews etc. So really, I was initially a bit surprised that he would equate the two.
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334 books?! I’m in awe, Nafiza! You’re my hero, but how do you do it?
I think the occasional critical commentaries can be interesting. Like in school where it helps guide discussion. And there was one blogger I used to follow, Red Roofbeam Reader? who reviewed the books he read with a more “critical” eye than most. But, I don’t seek out critical commentary to help me discover new books, and I never have. I don’t know anyone who does. I seek out readers like myself and rummage around in their thoughts. I seek out the people who occasionally squee over an FMC’s love interest or an author’s world building skills or how relatable a character is. Not the people who dissect the style or every subtle symbol
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