Category: Literature

How do you pick an imprint for classics?

Posted May 3, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 8 Comments

Every publisher seems to have their own classics section. Penguin Random House now control most of the market (Penguin Classics, Modern Classics, Signet Classics, Vintage Classics, etc). So how do you choose which collection to buy from? Do you even pay attention to the publisher? When I first started hording collecting books, I didn’t pay too much attention and went for the prettier cover but I’m beginning to wonder if this is a decent solution.

Sure, I would love to own every book released in the Pulp! the Classics; they are fun and I do own a few of them already but buying a classic because of their covers isn’t really effective. Not all editions are the same, in particular translated classics. When picking up a Russian classic do you know which translator to pick? Do you spend time researching the best translator or do you have a publisher you can trust?

I’ve often contemplated this question and since studying at university I’ve noticed that they often recommend two publishers more than any other; Norton Classics and Oxford World Classics. While they don’t have the best covers, I’ve had the greatest success with Oxford World Classics, to the point that I don’t want to buy any other editions. If asking the internet which translation of a novel I should read, for War and Peace it is Louise and Aylmer Maude and for Crime and Punishment, Jessie Coulson is often the answer. They are the translators used in the Oxford World Classics.

I’m not sure what it is, I just trust Oxford World Classics more than any other and they often offer some great questions to ask yourself in the back of the novel. My new found love for Oxford World Classics and the reason for this post is not to give a sales pitch or anything like that; I’m just curious if others think about this topic in as much detail as I do. If so, which publisher do you trust over all others?

What I Hate about Book Blogging

Posted April 26, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 12 Comments

As much as I love book blogging and have no desire to slow down anytime soon, there is one thing that annoys me. It is not exactly a huge problem and I think this falls under the category ‘First World Problems’ but it has been coming an increasing annoyance for me. I’m not talking about the lack of commenting (I know I’m guilty of this) or the struggle to be part of the crowd of first readers, who boost about all the wonderful ARC’s they read. I’m even not complaining about the lack of male book bloggers or the excess of blogs talking about the exact same thing, this is something completely different.

I started book blogging in April 2012 as a way to track my reading journal. I have an autodidactic blog where I previously discussed literature, but I found myself losing focus on what that blog was all about. I transferred most of my literary posts onto this blog and started blogging passionately about the books I’ve read, loved and hated. I love the way this blog documents my reading journey but the problem is the fact that it only covers my journey from 2012 onwards.

I started reading in 2009 when the reading bug hit me hard; in that time I read some fantastic books but they don’t show up on my blog. I’m at a point in blogging were I want to make reference to books I read before I started blogging but I have no post to link it to. This isn’t a huge problem but it is something that has become increasingly annoying.

I’m now at a stage in my book blogging where I want to go back and re-read a lot of those great or interesting books just so I can blog about them. This also means if I ever want to write a blog post on every book that is on the ‘1001 Books you must Read Before you Die’ list (a life goal of mine) then I will have to re-read over 50 of the books on the list. I was just wondering if I’m the only one who feels this way or if anyone has gone to the extreme of re-reading most of the books from their past just to blog about them?

Where is the Overall Story Arc in a Crime Series?

Posted April 19, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 2 Comments

One thing that annoys me about reading a crime series is the lack of an overall story arc. I’m not saying that this is the case with all book series but it seems to be for the majority of them. Within crime fiction especially, the overall story arc is often very basic and often feels like a crime of the week format. This isn’t the case with romance, science fiction and fantasy they are more likely to have a continuous story line and have huge success with it.

When I read a series it is more than often a crime series and I wish the ‘new novel, new crime’ wasn’t the norm. When I watch TV, I often enjoy a series with an ongoing story; Veronica Mars is a prime example on television of what I want in a crime novel. A case that needs to be solved in every book but a bigger mystery that lasts over a couple of novels. Why can’t they do that in a novel series? I know a book is a bigger investment but I often read one book in a series and never continue because there is nothing to keep me reading.

The problem is that everything seems to be a series at the moment; I like the idea of returning to a great character but I need more. I like hard-boiled and noir crime novels but I find myself reading them less and less. I don’t want to read a series if there is nothing to keep me reading. A character has to be amazing to keep me reading, or they could just give me an unanswered mystery. Does anyone know of a good crime series that develops characters over a long period of time and also has an overall story arc? Let me know. I wish I could write, I have been developing a concept in my head but I have no idea how to put it onto a page.

Is Formalism still Relevant?

Posted April 12, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 2 Comments

In a time of revolution a new form of literary theory also emerged. Russian Formalism was an influential school of literary criticism that involved a number of influential scholars including Viktor Shklovsky, Yuri Tynianov, Vladimir Propp, Boris Eichenbaum, Roman Jakobson, Boris Tomashevsky and Grigory Gukovsky. The movement may have been short lived from the 1910’s to the 1930’s but it played a big part in influencing modern criticism, including structuralism and post-structuralism.

The idea of Formalism is to study the mode, genre, discourse and forms of literature. Ignoring the social or cultural influences, Formalism choices to analyse the structure rather than analyse the meaning behind it. The approach takes a more scientific look at literature over the others at the time, but still influenced by other schools of thought like Ferdinand de Saussure’s linguistic theories and Symbolism.

While I don’t know much about literary theory, the concept of Formalism has been on my mind lately, and even been the subject of an interesting debate on Twitter. While this an out-dated school of thought, I do believe it is a useful form of literary criticism. While I wouldn’t recommend focusing on Formalism, it can serve as a basis into diving into the world of literary criticism. I have to wonder, is it just my university or does Formalism get taught as an early concept in other English lit courses?

By developing a basic understanding of mode, genre, discourse and forms, it allows us to ask questions we may not normally ask. Why is the text written in one perspective over another? What does the form say about its content? How does paradox, irony, ambiguity, or tension work in the text? The idea is to help to develop critical thought, giving students a basis to work with.

Formalism is not a term used in the current subject I’m taking; it’s called Approaches to English Literature but the concept is the same. However recent trends in academic literary criticism suggest that maybe Formalism making a comeback. While I would never focus on Formalism, I think it is a useful skill to learn; I believe there is a use for this school of literary criticism. It may only be to develop skills needed for future studies. What are your thoughts on Formalism? Do you believe its useful or making a comeback? If you’ve studied it, do you believe it helped develop critical thinking?

A Two Year Reflection

Posted April 6, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 4 Comments

One of the things I love about book blogging is just expressing my bookish thoughts, the stuff I’ve been thinking about. My goal was to post a non-review at least once a week (Saturday) but sometimes life gets in the way, you get busy and fall behind on book reviews. I’m pleased to say I’ve written all my book reviews so now I can get back to what I love about book blogging. Two years ago (this month) I started book blogging, my newfound love for literature was evident on my now neglected autodidactic blog Knowledge Lost and I felt the need to document my reading journey.

While this book is a documentation of my reading journey over the past few years, I also want to share my bookish thoughts. It is interesting to see how much they change over the course of a few years. So this post is kind of like a reflection of the past few years and see how much things have changed. Surprisingly for two years of blogging, Literary Exploration has just over 600 posts and over 340 of those are book reviews. While I would like to see more non-review posts, I’m very happy with the direction this blog has taken.

Over the past few years you can see just how much my reading (see my infographic) and book reviews have improved, as I grow as a reader so does this blog. I’ve gone from avoiding re-read books to wanting to re-read favourites just so I can blog about those books. That is one of the biggest problems with book blogging, so many books I’ve read before blogging that I need to re-read just so I can add them to my review list. My literary wall of shame is now a little less shameful (I should write a new one), I still dislike eucatastrophic endings and I’m still planning to complete the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

As for literary studies, most people know that I’m now starting at university part time, but I feel like my autodidactic studies are more educational. Those concepts of metafiction, satire and formalism (post coming soon) are all concepts I feel like I’ve got a handle on but still hope to learn about in more detail. If I were ever to teach an introduction course to literature, I probably would still pick the same books as those in this post.

It’s been a great two years, I love book blogging and I don’t plan to let up anytime soon. If I was better at self-editing I would probably try to post every day but unfortunately that is still a pipe dream. Though pop-culture is still destroying literature, books are still better than their movie adaptations. Books are here to stay, even if it feels like there is less and less people reading. I hope book bloggers are here to stay as well, but I would love to see more male bloggers out there.

2014 Reading Goals

Posted December 21, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 9 Comments

With 2014 so close, it is time again to start thinking about what my reading goals will be for next year. Firstly I want to have a quick look at how I went with my 2013 Reading Goals. First of all I went on a semi book buying ban which lasted most of the year but didn’t do much to reduce my TBR (To Be Read shelf) but it did get me to use the library more (see my post Book Buying Bans Don’t Work). Secondly there was the reading goal of 150 books (on Goodreads) which I did complete. I stated in my 2013 Reading Goals post that “I would just take the time and read some bigger books and some non-fiction” which I feel I failed. I did read some bigger books and non-fiction but not enough to satisfy myself. Lastly there was the Literary Exploration reading challenge, which was a lot of fun and I did complete.

What does that mean for 2014? Well I would like to move away from a reading goal, I like the idea of trying to hit 100 or 150 books in the year but I want the freedom. I don’t want to pressure myself to read x amount of books a week or year, I want to read bigger books and with no reading goal I might be able to achieve this. I’m not sure if I will achieve this, I’m sure I’ll cave and set my reading goal on Goodreads to 150 books.

I do want to read more non-fiction, maybe I can put pressure on this and set a 2 book a month goal on myself. I’ve recently enjoyed more non-fiction and might have finally caught the (non-fiction) reading bug, especially books about books. I want to try and nurture this and hopefully I’ll find a passion towards biographies and non-fiction as well as fiction. As for reading more big books, I’ll continue working on that, but I’m not going to force anything.

Finally the Literary Exploration reading challenge is back for another year. I will be doing the ‘Insane challenge’ again, that is 36 books in different genres. I might even get cocky and try and do two books from the 36 different genres, but I will see how I go. I like that I’m willing to explore all genres and want to make sure I read more in some of the genres I don’t normally read. I will continue to advocate the joys in reading more widely and I hope the Literary Exploration reading challenge will help more people discover this.

What are other people planning for next year? Are any trying something a little bit different? I’m interested in learning more about other people’s reading goals and hopefully discover some new ways to challenge myself for 2015. Hope everyone enjoys the holiday period and are excited for 2014’s reading challenges.

The Literary Exploration Reading Challenge Returns for 2014

Posted December 12, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 9 Comments

The Literary Exploration reading challenge is back, by popular demand. As most people know, Literary Exploration tries to explore all different genres in the hope to become a well-rounded reader and even discover something new. So we are challenging everyone to dedicate either 12, 24 or 36 books that you would normally read during the year to different genres. We have compiled a list which hopefully will give you a chance to explore literature a little deeper.

It’s real simple; below you will see an easy (12 books), hard (24 books) or insane (36 books) challenge. Each genre links to the Goodreads genre page if you need some suggestions on what to read. We want you to have some fun and explore; hopefully you might find a new genre that peaks your interest. To sign up either join the Literary Exploration book club on Goodreads and talk about your progress with others involved or for the bloggers out there, if you want to add it as part of your blogging experience simply let us know with a link (to your Literary Exploration Challenge page) in the comments below so our readers can see how you are going.

This year we have adjusted the insane challenge slightly to make it a little more rounded. The popularity of the reading challenge with overwhelming and we are pleased to see how many people wanted to do it again next year. We have even offered some bonus for those who want to take it to the next level. The idea of this challenge is to have a well-balanced list of genres and not focusing on one genre more than any others.

Good luck all who decide to join in. I personally am going to go for the 36 book, insane challenge and I’m really looking forward to it. While there are some genres I’m not looking forward to reading, it’s all part of being a literary explorer. What could be wrong with that?

Book Buying Bans Don’t Work

Posted December 7, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 9 Comments

This year I decided to go a book buying ban, I was only allowed to buy books that I needed (for book clubs or study). The idea was to reduce my TBR (To Be Read) and focus on the books that are on my shelves that I haven’t read. I have so many unread books that I have a whole bookshelf in my bedroom full of books to read next. I kept to this book buying ban till very recently and what I learnt was; there is no way to reduce your TBR!

As a book blogger, you soon discover there are a lot of ways to get books you want to read without having to pay for them. Granted this is not always the case and for the books you are dying to read, it is probably better to just buy the book. I think all serious readers know the different ways to get free books. I’m not talking illegal; I’m talking about making use to your library, ebook services, galleys, egalleys and so on. You can do pretty well for yourself as a book blogger and never have to buy a book.

For me, I’m not the type of reader that focuses just on new releases so galleys (or ARCs) and egalleys (while great) was not my main source of books this year. Most of the books I read this year were actually from the library and there wasn’t much from my shelf. I spend so much time on the library website looking for books that I had on one of my Goodreads TBR’s selves (I have two on Goodreads one for books on my shelf and one for the books I don’t own) and reserving them.

So what I learnt from this experiment is I like owning books and I’m glad to be out of this book buying ban. But the main lesson was that I need to use the library more, they are a great service and I need to take full advantage of it. There is one other thing I learnt from this book buying ban and that is, some books interest you at a point in time but you often lose interest before actually reading it. There is a heap of books I wanted to read but never got around to it and I’m glad I didn’t impulse buy the books. Buzz books are interesting but sometimes you need to understand what you like to read more than what is so exciting at the time.

Have you tried a book buying ban? If so, I would love to know why you tried it and did it help you achieve what you wanted to achieve. I don’t think I’ll go on a book buying ban again but I think I will approach reading differently. My TBR is so big and I’m not sure how to reduce it, maybe I have to force myself. Let me know if you have any other thoughts on book buying bans, I would love to hear them.

How to Deal with Reading Slumps

Posted November 23, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 16 Comments

I’m currently in a reading slump and about to start another semester of university. This is not a good combination; I don’t want to struggle through my reading while trying to get good grades. This is not the first time I’ve fallen into a slump and I find it so frustrating and stressful. When I finally do break out of a slump, it is so refreshing and I feel so relieved.

So I want to talk about slumps and see if there are other ways to manage and break them. I’ve looked around and have found some peoples hints and maybe I am missing something. We will find out what works for some and open a dialogue about reading slumps here. So here are some suggestions I’ve found.

Read something light: I recently tried reading Moon over Soho which was light and enjoyable and made me want to read the next in the series, if I read the next book does that mean my slump is over? What would happen if I try something heavier?
Read a favourite genre: This can be problematic because I’m a literary explorer and sometimes not too sure what my favourite genre is. Maybe it’s hard-boiled crime but this sounds similar to reading something light, assuming they are talking about reading genre fiction.
Try something short: Short stories, novellas and short books might work, this way you are not spending too much time in a story and feel like we are making progress. I’m not sure if this works, I’ve never tried it.
Recommendations: I’m really don’t think this will work, I’ve got plenty of books recommended to me sitting on my TBR just waiting to be read.
Take a break: While this might be the answer, the idea of not reading at all does not appeal to me.
Revisit a favourite book: This could work; I do need to reread Frankenstein for this semester of university, so if I break that out now and start reading it, will I get out of the slump? At least I know the book is great.
Make time: I’m not sure this would work, this feels like forcing myself to read when I struggle. The stress is already there and being forced to read doesn’t sound like a way to reduce stress.
Read a classic: This could work, classics are normally great books, so reduces the likelihood of reading a dud.
Try non-fiction: Someone suggested trying some non-fiction as a way to break the slump, instead of looking for a great novel to break the slump, maybe learning something new might help. This is a suggestion from my local indie bookstore, so I’ve been trying it out.
Put all books on hold and just read whatever looks appealing: This is what I’m trying at the moment, I had a few books on the go and they have now been put aside and I am just picking up a book that looks appealing. I’m willing to put it aside if it’s not working but at the moment I’m trying to work my way through The Martian and NW.

Now I’ve talked about solutions, I want to see if I can work out the root cause. Is there a way to avoid this in the future? I don’t think so, sometimes life gets in the way or you read too many below average books at a time. For me, I think what caused my slump this time was the fact I read some great books like The Bell Jar and If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler followed by some books that I felt were less than average; The Tale for a Time Being and Harvest, followed by some novels I needed to finish in a limited amount of time (due back to the library or for book club).

I don’t think I can avoid average or bad books, but I should try and be better with abandoning books. I’ve never been good at quitting a book, but I’m getting to a point in my reading career where I feel like I now have a good baseline for judging books. I don’t want to fall into a slump again, and now I know the signs of it coming on maybe I can avoid it. How do others manage slumps and try to avoid them altogether.

Why I Read Confronting Books

Posted November 21, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 4 Comments

I listen to a lot of bookish podcasts and one of my favourites is The Readers. This week on The Readers they talked about Comforting vs. Confronting Reading which got me thinking. So I thought I would try to articulate my response about Confronting Reads. I read a lot of confronting books and I have been thinking about why I do this for a while now. When The Readers spoke about this topic I thought it was time to blog about it.

One of the reasons I like confronting reads has something to do with my interest in transgressive fiction. I like to understand the mind-set of flawed characters and how their minds work. I have an interest in psychology, while I doubt I’ll ever fully understand it completely. It is the same reason why I like TV shows where the men always make mistakes. There is something about getting into the mind of someone who is making mistakes so you don’t have to.

Consider this; if you read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Tampa by Alissa Nutting, The Yearning by Kate Belle, Me and Mr Booker by Cory Taylor and other books with similar themes, does that make you more likely to be a paedophile? I think not. Reading is an emotional experience and if you are part of the suffering and the mistakes of the protagonist, then you probably don’t want to experience it in a more extreme and realistic way. For me, I read about serial killers because I want to understand why a person would have that desire to kill without having first hand experience. Does that make sense or am I missing something here?

There are also many other reasons to read a confronting book; most of these books are satirical and are trying to send a message. Look at Tampa, not only is this a disturbing look at a female sexual psychopath, it is also a look at the schoolboy fantasy of an older woman or the fantasy of getting a boy before he has been corrupted by society; trying to show the reader that these fantasies are extremely damaging. A young boy is not developed enough to handle a purely sexual relationship with an older woman without getting attached or if you get a man before he is corrupted, you are just doing the corrupting.

I find a confronting novel far more enjoyable, I like the macabre and I like a darker plot, but most of all I like that satirical messages in these book (read my post on Satire if you still think it is meant to be humorous). The lessons learnt and the experiences had, may prevent me from making the same mistakes. I’ve made plenty of bad mistakes in my past and the consequences are not pretty. I much rather someone else experience them while I enjoy the book with a cup of tea in my hand. What do you think about confronting reads? Are there more reasons to read them that I haven’t covered here? Let me know in the comments.