This is among the very best books I've ever read, and is so packed with profound insight that I'm not sure how to review it, even after having read the print version a few months ago and having just finished listening to the unabridged audiobook. But one would hope that two passes through the book are sufficient, and I've recently gotten into the practice of reviewing every book I read (or listen to), so I guess it's time to try.
I think that the main thing this book accomplishes is to "invert" our relationship to books. Most of us are conditioned to treat books as though they're fixed objects with fixed contents, and so our job is to struggle to attain an "accurate" and "complete" understanding of each book, much as a scientist might aim to understand an atom, rock, or starfish. Therefore, if we're unable to properly understand a book in the first place, or if we come to misunderstand or forget a book over time, the fault and failure are ours.
Instead of falling prey to this sad state of affairs, Bayard teaches us that we should view books as being there to serve us, not the other way around (hence the inversion), and so we should freely take (or not take) what we need and want from books. And the "us" I refer to is each of us as an individual, as well as all of us collectively, interacting both with each other and with the (essentially infinite) universe of books.
When we adopt this perspective, we realize that there's no sin in skimming books, forgetting books, abandoning books, learning about books through the comments of others, interpreting books in an idiosyncratic way, disagreeing with books, judging that books are poorly written, or even deliberately not reading particular books at all. Sometimes it might even be permissible to talk about books you haven't read.
Bayard convincingly leads us to this perspective in a systematic and sophisticated way, using well-chosen case studies and very witty and entertaining prose (translated flawlessly from the original French). Sometimes Bayard engages in what seems like provocative hyperbole, but I don't think that this book is quite a work of satire, since all of the ideas fit together too coherently. Rather, I think that even Bayard's hyperbole always contains a kernel of truth, and often much more than a kernel, so part of the reader's challenge and fun is to figure out how seriously to take him.
Again, this is one the very best books I've ever read, so of course I highly recommend it, especially for people who read with any regularity. Indeed, for that audience this book is a must read, even though the book makes the case that non-reading is also sometimes appropriate. This book has the potential to radically transform your relationship to books in a way that's liberating and even empowering.
Ultimately, Bayard doesn't argue for not reading, or reading in a lazy or sloppy way. He argues for reading actively and wisely, with a conscious awareness of what one hopes to gain from reading.
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2014Format: Paperback
Top reviews from other countries
- Robert A. CampbellReviewed in Canada on December 13, 2017
Hilarious and thought-provoking
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase - Jonathan MillerReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2007
Absolutely splendid
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase -
- Annabel GaskellReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 22, 2008
A curate's oeuf of a book!
