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The Best Books Get Better

2022-12-20 · letter vlog · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

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

John argues that while almost all books get worse over time, a rare few get better, citing The Great Gatsby and Parable of the Sower, and says Hank's two novels are such books, feeling more contemporary as they age; he closes his last video of 2022 noting Vlogbrothers will soon be old enough to drive.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Most books get worse over time (John Dos Passos); rarely, a book gets better

  • ★★★ John says almost all books get worse over time: John Dos Passos was considered a great American novelist 70 years ago and is hardly read now, not because his books weren't good then but because they aren't as good now. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ John says times and people change unpredictably, so books useful in some moments are less useful in others. — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — Two examples: The Great Gatsby's revival and Parable of the Sower's foresight

  • ★★★ John says that occasionally, very occasionally, a book starts out good and then gets better. — 00:00:29
  • ★★★ John says The Great Gatsby was mostly forgotten within a couple of years of its 1925 publication; critics found it inferior to This Side of Paradise, and H. L. Mencken called it obviously unimportant. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ John says Gatsby sold only about 20,000 copies, and when Fitzgerald died about 15 years later it wasn't even for sale at most bookstores. — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ John says Gatsby proved more than a book for the season because its themes of class, inequality and the American dream grew more poignant through the Great Depression, World War II and the post-war era. — 00:00:58 · economic inequality
  • ★★★ John says Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower was not among the 1990s' bestselling science fiction and fantasy, and made the New York Times bestseller list only 27 years after publication and 14 years after her death. — 00:01:27 · The New York Times
  • ★★ John describes Parable of the Sower: a young black woman narrates a future America of collapsing systems, a demagogue president, climate havoc and a substance abuse epidemic, things that feel just a little contemporary. (playful) — 00:01:27 · climate change

  • ★★★ John says Parable of the Sower, acclaimed on release, has gotten better over 30 years because it shows that much of our present was not just foreseeable but foreseen. — 00:01:56

    “much of our now wasn't just foreseeable, it was foreseen”

  • ★★ John says the novel's explorations of unifying polarized communities and collaborating across difference are profoundly instructive, and like Gatsby it is a great story. — 00:01:56

00:02:26 — Hank's An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor are getting better too

00:03:24 — Hope Hank writes in 2023; John's last video of 2022; Vlogbrothers turns 16; sign-off

  • ★ John finds it so weird that his brother wrote those books. (playful) — 00:03:24 · Hank Green
  • ★★ John hopes Hank finds spare minutes to write in 2023, because he really loves Hank's writing. — 00:03:24 · Hank Green
  • ★★ John is taking next week (week of 26 December 2022) off, so this is his last Vlogbrothers video of 2022. — 00:03:24 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ John notes that on January 1, 2023, Vlogbrothers will be old enough to drive a car in the United States, which is strange and lovely. (playful) — 00:03:24 · Vlogbrothers

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says Hank's books managed to foresee everything from ChatGPT to Late Stage Twitter. (playful) — video description · Twitter
  • ★★ In a channel comment John says he was very interested in This Side of Paradise while writing Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, and is still fond of its rhythmic prose though it feels dated. — creator comment · Looking for Alaska (novel), Paper Towns
  • ★★ In a channel comment John says that when writing he always reminds himself to write for the rereader. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing · Parable of the Sower · The Great Gatsby

Also: People: F. Scott Fitzgerald · H. L. Mencken · John Dos Passos · Octavia E. Butler

Works: This Side of Paradise

Organizations: The New York Times

Concepts: American Dream · celebrity · climate change · economic inequality · political polarization · social class · substance abuse

Events: Great Depression · World War II

Only in the description or credits: ChatGPT · Twitter

Also centred on Parable of the Sower: Kindness

Also centred on The Great Gatsby: Froghoppin' with Gatsby · Question Tuesday! Paula Deen Riding Me (and critical reading) · THE FAULT IN OUR STARS · Gatsby's American Dream: Reading The Great Gatsby Critically, Chapter 1 · The Great Gatsby: Living the Dream in the Valley of Ashes · Our Capacity for Wonder: A Review

Later videos replying to this one