uring the last few years I have been focused on reading the old, the well-worn, and the classic. Whether for the pursuit of my English degree or on my own, I only read lines scoured again and again by those readers before me. Yet this habit never matched my consumption of other media. While reading old books I would crave new music, seeking it out obsessively. While with movies I at least offer a glance at recent releases, yet I never have offered contemporary literature this common courtesy.
Somehow this part of my relationship with literature has long been overlooked. I hope to change that in some ways this year, and this blog is part of that project.
I'm hoping with this blog to throw myself into the sea of newly released literature, while occasionally coming up to breath with another type of cultural artifact. I hope to keep this blog as something personal and interpretative, and while this will bring with it the necessary amount literary theory, it will not be my goal to simply evaluate the quality of what I read. In this way my goal is not to review but to add my personal critical opinion to the ever growing world of literary thought. That said I want to be able to vehemently defend my opinions from those who disagree, and by throwing my hat into the online critical ring I hope to be challenged by those with different backgrounds and opinions.
This sounds great, and something I can relate to.
ReplyDeleteHow do you plan on navigating through 'new literature'? Are you picking up whatever sounds interesting, or are you leaning on awards and cannons for some guidance? Or all of the above?
Thanks for the question Andrew.
ReplyDeleteThis is an issue that I'm still struggling with myself. At the inception of this idea, I thought it would be great if I could avoid other critical voices and therefore go into books blindly and surprise myself with what I read. However the more I think about this project and the more the project becomes reality this goal seems all but impossible. Not only do I like reading reviews and other critical pieces, but I can't avoid them. Every book I pick up will probably be covered in them. In fact, If it isn't, I will immediately wonder why and put the book back.
Additionally not relying on reviews will probably make me rely on something worse i.e. book titles, name recognition, or cover art... It would also limit my exposure to new authors as I would be drawn to those I know and love.
Basically I will try to do all of the above. I will try to pick up new books in the library with little knowledge about them, and I will continue to read reviews and seek out things that I hear are important and worthwhile.