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How I Read and Why

2019-05-07 · letter vlog · John · 3:43 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion

John, a former Booklist and New York Times Book Review reviewer who favors reviewing, argues that criticism matters most when it lifts up work worth attention rather than cataloguing flaws; he reads to be moved, calls a good book one that repays generous attention, and admits he is now uncertain about everything.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Timing disclaimer; John's reviewing career at Booklist and the NYT Book Review; the age of reviewing and The Anthropocene Reviewed

  • ★ John says he made this video at a time distant from any book or adaptation release so it doesn't seem to be about him, though he is inevitably warped by his own experience. — 00:00:01
  • ★★ John began his writing career as a book reviewer, reviewing hundreds of books for Booklist from 2000 to 2005, from YA novels and picture books to boxing, early Islamic history and conjoined twins. — 00:00:13
  • ★ John notes that the number of books about conjoined twins is truly astonishing. (playful) — 00:00:29
  • ★★ John has also reviewed great books for the New York Times Book Review, including Eleanor & Park, The Book Thief and The Hunger Games. — 00:00:33 · The New York Times
  • ★★ John's reviewing happened at the beginning of the age of everyone reviewing everything, a wave he has ridden profitably if at times uncomfortably his whole adult life; his fascination with reviews led to his podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed. — 00:00:39 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

00:01:01 — For reviewing but against 'Everything Wrong with X' criticism: lift up work worth attention, read to be moved, a good book repays generous reading

  • ★★★ John strongly favors reviewing: thoughtful analysis of art is vital to making good art, and reading art through a lens (Game of Thrones via climate change, Jane Eyre via gender norms) helps. — 00:01:01 · climate change
  • ★★★ John is less moved by colloquial criticism such as 'Everything Wrong with X' or '14 Reasons Z is Terrible', though pointing out flaws can encourage better art. — 00:01:20
  • ★★★ The most important thing criticism can do is find and lift up important and beautiful work that might otherwise go unnoticed. — 00:01:35

  • ★★★ John doesn't read to find what's wrong with a story but to be moved in every sense: to go places he hasn't been and glimpse worlds, including within himself. — 00:01:43

    “I read to be moved, in every sense of the word.”

  • ★★ Critics, in the New York Times or on Goodreads, can help us find books that will move us and give us a framework for thinking about them. — 00:01:57 · The New York Times

  • ★★★ Calling a book good means it is worth our attention: a good book, read generously, offers big gifts in return. — 00:02:05

    “A good book is one that, if read generously, will offer big gifts in return.”

  • ★★★ The 'Everything Wrong with X' school mostly argues for not paying attention to something, a case usually best made by not paying attention to it. — 00:02:15

  • ★★★ Apart from exceptions like culturally destructive popular work, communities organized around hating art that deserves less attention are less productive than communities organized around loving art that deserves more. — 00:02:27
  • ★★ John tries to read and critique by asking what in the experience is valuable and worthy of attention, and which stories expanded his universe or changed how he thinks. — 00:02:44

00:02:52 — Recent reads: The Moment of Lift and the Kindred graphic novel as good investments of attention

  • ★★ Melinda Gates's The Moment of Lift changed how John thinks about gender discrimination and its role in poverty. — 00:02:54
  • ★★ The graphic novel adaptation of Kindred has kept John thinking about the past's omnipresence. — 00:02:58
  • ★★ Both books were good investments of attention; John tries to think less about whether art is good or bad and more about which works to look at and how. — 00:03:03

00:03:15 — John may be wrong: he is now uncertain about everything and lets books, art and life shake his beliefs; sign-off

  • ★★★ John may be wrong about how to read: he once felt sure he was contributing positively to culture, but that moment passed and he is now uncertain about everything, even about being uncertain. — 00:03:15
  • ★★ Perhaps he should have unshakable beliefs, but for now John is letting books, art and life shake them. (hedged) — 00:03:33

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description invites viewers who want to discuss books further to the book club John runs with Rosianna at lifeslibrarybookclub.com. — video description · Rosianna Halse Rojas
  • ★ The description calls the video a response or update to the video that introduced Crash Course Literature. — video description · Crash Course

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Projects: The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

Works: A Song of Ice and Fire · Eleanor & Park · Jane Eyre · Kindred (graphic novel) · The Book Thief · The Hunger Games (book series) · The Moment of Lift

Organizations: Booklist · Goodreads · The New York Times · The New York Times Book Review

Concepts: climate change · conjoined twins · gender inequality · gender role · graphic novel · principle of charity · young adult literature

Only in the description or credits: Crash Course · Life's Library · Melinda French Gates · Rosianna Halse Rojas

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