Comments for Novel Readings

Comment on Catching Up and Looking Ahead by Alex in Leeds

Alex in Leeds — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:17:08 +0000

I am belatedly catching up with my feed reader but had to say ‘Yes please’ for the prospect of a book of Eliot essays. I’m always surprised by the fact that she lacks the supporting literature you see for the Brontes or Dickens.

Comment on Binge Reading vs. Close Reading by Aven

Aven — Wed, 08 May 2013 00:49:21 +0000

I once had an almost complete collection : 80+! Then I decided I didn’t want them & got rid of most. And then I changed my mind & re-acquired a bunch. Thank goodness they’re cheap & widely available 2nd hand!

Comment on Binge Reading vs. Close Reading by Rohan

Rohan — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:52:08 +0000

“the law of diminishing returns”: a good way to put it. After a while, too, I start to hear (or think I hear) the machinery creaking: I become more aware of the formula than of the particulars, while after a break to read something else, the freshness is back. DF is holding up reasonably well, though – he doesn’t ever waste my time, for one thing, and the various subcultures he takes us into are often intrinsically very interesting, from kidnap recovery to glass blowing to oil painting.

Comment on Binge Reading vs. Close Reading by Rohan

Rohan — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:49:28 +0000

That all definitely counts as binge reading! And you own a lot of Agatha Christies!

Comment on Binge Reading vs. Close Reading by litlove

litlove — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:08:43 +0000

It’s funny, when I was researching, I had no trouble reading lots of books with the same theme – but then they were probably quite varied when it came to structure and story. The reading I’ve been doing for my week on spy fiction has already started to suffer from the law of diminishing returns and I’m only on the third book! And they are all by different people. I understand the pull to read lots of a favourite genre author, and often feel it when I’ve finished a book I’ve enjoyed. But I’ve never actually done it, and that does make me curious to know how I would feel with a Dick Francis-fest equivalent. I hope you’ll say more about how you get on!

Comment on Binge Reading vs. Close Reading by Aven

Aven — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:35:23 +0000

I don’t know if I count, because I’m an academic, but not in English. And I will quite often read or reread as much of an author as I can get my hands on. Mostly genre stuff, too, so these aren’t trivial numbers. I’ve more than once read through all the Christies I own (~60?) in a batch; I did Dick Francis a couple of years ago (only the ~25 I own, admittedly), and Piers Anthony (~35 of them) last summer.

Comment on Binge Reading vs. Close Reading by Liz Mc2

Liz Mc2 — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:18:16 +0000

Romance readers talk about “the glom” all the time (and romance even sucked Rohan a little way into that!). A reader discovers an author she likes and immediately goes on the that author’s often extensive backlist. Personally I find it a fast way to kill my enjoyment of a good thing, but I know lots of readers who do it.

Comment on Binge Reading vs. Close Reading by Rohan

Rohan — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:17:07 +0000

Interesting question. Maybe it depends on how you define “binge.” I certainly hear from family and friends who say things like “I’m rereading all my X books right now” or “I’m in an X phase,” but they are not compelled to press on if they get tired of it any more than I had to keep reading Mary Balogh without a break.

Comment on Binge Reading vs. Close Reading by steve donoghue

steve donoghue — Mon, 06 May 2013 01:41:44 +0000

I wonder: does anybody really do this kind of ‘binge-reading’ if they aren’t either an academic or a book critic? Sometimes it seems like a peculiar penance we undergo on behalf of readers so they won’t have to read 40 Dick Francis novels (or 400 Star Trek novels)(or 4000 Regency romances)!

Comment on About Me by Rohan Maitzen

Rohan Maitzen — Sun, 05 May 2013 01:13:38 +0000

Thanks, Ada: what an interesting project you are involved with. I supervised an honours thesis in International Development Studies once, focusing on Elizabeth Gaskell!