TANGENTS by John Saccenti: Recovering from literary snobbery and learning to love popular writing.
By: John Saccenti
Not to name drop, but I’m currently reading "The Odyssey," by Homer.
It’s a huge book and a tough read, but I’m plugging through it, again. I’m a big fan of Greek mythology an interest fostered by movies such as "Jason and the Argonauts" and "The Odyssey" is one of those books I try to pick up every few years or so, and never fails to satisfy my craving.
Before that, I read the "Lord of the Rings" books and before that, "Peter Pan." Last summer I hit "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," and a few things by Bill Bryson. In between all that, I read various comic books, silly magazines and assorted other mindless things.
As you can tell, I enjoy reading, and I feel guilty when I’m not. I was an English literature major at Rider College (now University) and got to read many great novels and short stories by many great authors.
However, since graduation, my reading list with the exception of Homer and the occasional Charles Dickens novel has gone from caviar to popcorn, from literary greatness to fare of the kind that rarely, if ever, makes its way into the classroom (perhaps much of it should).
It’s a change that I couldn’t be happier about.
Back in the day, when I was a young, stupid college student, I had a different take on things. My eyes would roll upon hearing names of less than literary greats, such as Stephen King, or any book of the month brain candy. If it didn’t have artistic merit, I thought, then why bother? (This from a guy who was an avid collector and reader of comic books.)
But today, I’m a new man and have overcome this flawed way of thinking. Sure, I still have some hang-ups. I don’t want to read John Grisham, or Danielle Steele, and after reading several Tom Clancy novels, don’t intend to pick up the latest adventure of those novels’ hero, Jack Ryan.
But there’s a lot of great stuff out there that doesn’t exactly scream "high art," the type of stuff your average college book snobs might turn their noses up at, (in other words, popular) and I increasingly find myself enjoying it more and more.
My favorites of the past year include anything by Bill Bryson and "The Lord of the Rings" stuff. (I also would highly recommend works by Michael Chabon, and comic book author Neil Gaiman.)
Now, I realize that a lot of this stuff isn’t necessarily considered fluff. "The Lord of the Rings" is a sprawling fantasy masterpiece that has set the tone for the genre, and Michael Chabon is a Pulitzer Prize winner.
But, I have to wonder if I ever would have cracked open the last five "Harry Potter" books (wonderfully fun reads), or tried the "His Dark Materials Trilogy" by Philip Pulman or "The Wizard of Oz" or "Through the Looking-Glass," if I hadn’t grown up and stopped being such a snob. These books and stories are all great, regardless of where they stand in the literary world, or for what age reader they were intended for.
Now, I wasn’t all bad back in college, I did read the Anne Rice vampire novels, but only because, I think, my friends were reading it. But, if given a choice back then, I would probably would have rolled my eyes at your favorite author and told you to read something along the lines of "Equus," by Peter Shaffer, rather than something you actually wanted to read.
Obnoxious, I know.
I’m not sure why I had this attitude. What I do know is that it’s not uncommon in other people. Even today, I’ve known people to shake their heads in disapproval upon hearing that someone was reading the latest romance or adventure novel to climb its way up the bestseller list, or name drop an author, Steinbeck example, whose work they’re reading, simply because it is part of the English literature canon.
Fortunately, I’ve recovered nicely, and now stand in the position of telling people with this attitude to "get a life."
Who cares what other people are reading this summer. Who cares what I’m reading. It only matters that we are reading, and having fun doing it.
John Saccenti is news editor for the South Brunswick Post and The Cranbury Press. You can e-mail him by clicking here.