I've been subscribed to the vlogbrothers YouTube channel for years, but I only watch videos whose titles call out to me. On Tuesday of this week, John put out this video, entitled 'How I Read and Why'. In it, he talks of his role as a book critic, the role criticism plays in creating, and, unsurprisingly from the title, how he reads books.
The 'how' of the title doesn't mean the physical how - the where and the when and the how you sit to make sure you're comfortable for long periods (though these are all important considerations). 'How' focuses instead on what is important in a book, what you can take from it.
Studying English at university has offered me the opportunity to read a lot of books I otherwise wouldn't have. Many of them I have disliked, I can't lie, but I've definitely learnt to appreciate a greater variety of books because of my time here. I'd like to praise those tutors who have specifically made the effort to diversify the reading material offered to us, exploring literature outside of the canon to show us that varied perspectives are important in order to create an informed view of the world. In his video, John claims criticism should find and lift up good art which may otherwise go unnoticed. Likewise, it is these tutors who need to continue teaching good art in order to make sure these voices get heard. If it I wasn't for these people, I wouldn't have found many of the inspiring and revealing books I now love.
Why I read
I've started to read in order to learn. It sounds obvious, but it's actually a really different experience to reading to enjoy. I've read a lot of books I haven't enjoyed, but that doesn't mean they're not an opportunity to learn. Whether it's learning about a culture or simply learning that I don't want to read books where a woman talks of nothing but her love for a man (I cannot tell you how many times I've read this story is various formats), either way books are endless offer to learn something new and that is one of the most important things to me when it comes to reading.
The motivation to pick up a book lies in the idea that is has something to teach me. I believe great art has the power to change people, and I hope that by continuing to read I can continue to grow, and that by sharing my thoughts on books here, I can help other people to learn something new, and open a discussion as to how we can read things to get the most out of them.
How I want to read
John makes an important point that he would like to think less about whether art is good or bad, and more about what art he should be looking at and how to look at it. I'd like to keep expanding my horizons and seeing what I can get from texts I don't enjoy so much, looking at them from a different point of view to understand why somebody took the time to write it, or even to do some self-examination and ask what about it I dislike and why I dislike it.
Recommendations
In the vein of expanding your reading horizons and continuing to learn, here are three books that taught me something new:
The Good Immigrant, ed. by Nikesh Shukla
I'm still reading this collection, but it's actually one of the most interesting books I've read in a long time. It's a number of essays by BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) authors on their life experiences. Some of my favourites include Riz Ahmed's 'Airports and Auditions' and Coco Khan's 'Flags' but there's a huge variety of topics from religion to sex to writing fiction, and the various styles of the authors mean it's like reading something new every time you return to the book. Could not recommend this enough to learn a lot about immigrant (or even native, non-white) experiences in Britain.
Trumpet, Jackie Kay
I was massively surprised by how much I enjoyed Trumpet but Jackie Kay is a really engaging writer, exploring important topics of race, nationality, and gender. The book is about a transgender trumpet player in the 1990s and the affect the revelation of his gender has on those around him. It's really well-written and a very honest look at the difficulty that can come from having someone close to you come out.
Lonely Londoners, Sam Selvon
Lonely Londoners was required reading for a Post-War to Post-Modern module, but, much like The Good Immigrant revealed a lot about immigrant experience in Britain. Written in the 50s by Trinidadian Sam Selvon, it is a fictionalisation of his experiences in London, exploring how various Caribbean immigrants experience the city and make it their own. Considering the reappearance of the phrase 'Windrush generation' last year, this might be an interesting one to pick up to learn a little more about the lives that phrase refers to.
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