BOOKS

Why Is It A Sin To Read For Fun?

Jodi Picoult makes lots of people love books—but has she become too successful to be taken seriously?

By Jennie Yabroff | NEWSWEEK
Published Apr 11, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Apr 20, 2009

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  • Posted By: richwood90 @ 04/14/2009 9:20:54 PM

    It is absolutely ridiculous of Picoult to think of herself as above Stephenie Meyer. She in no way shape or form is better if anything she is worse. While I have never personally read any of Picoult's book many many people I know have and I have the heard the same thing. There is a series events that happen in the same sort of manner in all of books. Besides the fact of the formulaic storyline I have read the classics from Austen to Salinger to Shakespeare to Meyer. Many in literary circles would not consider Meyer as being on the same level as the authors mentioned above I tend to disagree. How many authors can say that people have read all of their books 6 or 7 times? Meyer does paint an unrealistic world but that is the point. Who wants to read about school shootings when every other week there is another massacre? The world today is too full of tragic events that I do not need to read about them and feel more depressed. Picoult should not say that she is a step above Meyer in any respect because she is in no place to judge and have any of her books been top sellers in 2009? No that would Meyer's Twilight series which holds the top 4 spots for books sold this year. There is a reason for the following behing the Twilight series that should can not be overlooked. Meyer has proven that she can write and captivate an audiance and she should be recognized for it.

    • Posted By: drsyko1 @ 04/16/2009 3:24:18 PM

      Wow, you've never actually read any of her books but because some of your friends have you think that qualifies you to say which is the better writer? Are you always this arrogant??

    • Posted By: LynnC @ 04/16/2009 2:16:09 PM

      Honey - I've read the Meyer books. They are Barbara Cartland vampire novels for the pre teen set.

      And I like vampire novels. And I loved Barbara Cartland (and had 100 or so paperbacks).

      When I was 13.

  • Posted By: LynnC @ 04/16/2009 2:12:52 PM

    My personal collection ranges from some of Ms. Picoult's novels to The Illiad, from Laurell K. Hamilton to Simone de Beauvoir. You might find Hai Jin's novels next to Phillipa Gregory, who is tucked beside the entire Horblower series, who are currently romancing the Sisters Bronte, who are fascinated with father and sons Dumas. Hawthorne resides next to Hemingway, and they all know better than to go sledding with ole Ethan. Poe hangs out with the Shelley's (and yes, he sits next to "vindication of the righs of women").

    My mother told me when she taught me to read that reading was the tool to becoming empowered and educated. And you know...she was right! I'm so happy that people read, and are literate, that I don't care WHAT anyone reads!

  • Posted By: PhaedoRevisited @ 04/11/2009 7:34:53 PM

    If I hear one more uneducated blowhard compare the Harry Potter books to insignificant dime-store quality novels, I'll give up on our educational system entirely. I have to assume that either those accusors have not actually read them or that they recieved such an inadequate education that they are incapable of following more than the basic plot that the series' younger readers are able to. The reader must have an education that includes philosophy, classics, the developement of western civilization, as well as modern history, and some knowledge of world literature and mythology as well as astronomy to fully appreciate the depths of Rowling's work. That's why her books are harrolded. That's why they're brilliant. They are literature in it's truest sense. Relating that to your piece, here, I think the concern you're expressing is very relevant, as it seems that many who consider themselves intellectuals and avid readers are missing historical references and philosophical questions in even the most famous works of our time.

    • Posted By: opheliaspeaks @ 04/16/2009 12:43:46 PM

      I am a veteran English teacher, and my only response to this is... AMEN!

  • Posted By: Nancy Rose Steinbock @ 04/15/2009 3:42:17 PM

    The price of literary success! Were people wondering if Dickens, Shakespeare, Austen or Twain were too successful to be taken seriously? Did the success of Harriet Beecher Stowe reduce the impact of what she was writing about, i.e., the abolition of slavery? Reading on a wider scale is a fairly new phenomenon in the world of communication of ideas given that the printing press is only several hundreds of years old in comparison to the pictographic and oral stories that have enchanted or informed us for eons. And, doesn't a writer's style come from our recognition of that particular 'formula' or literary prose characteristic of the author? The fact is, most people in the world probably don't read very much or regularly and those of us who do read do so for various purposes depending upon our needs be it intellectual, psychological or emotional.

    As a language therapist, mother and now, specialist in bilingual education of course I want people to read and read well and be well-read. After all, this is how we can actively expand our vocabularies, our depth of knowledge and our thinking -- research bears this out. Is it important that we judge people by the cover of their books or is it more meaningful to accept that 'reading' and 'readers' are people -- some who delve and some who prefer to float on the surface. If people are inculcated from an early age to observe, reflect, takes risks in their thinking and ideas and become activists in their own lives, then they will find their way to the written and spoken materials and to the people they need to realize themselves. There is a lot of writing out there, from trash to mediocre to sublime . But, these are the judgments that each person must make for himself/herself and while we might (and perhaps, unfortunately, even smugly) eschew choices we deem unsuitable or a waste of precious time, this is the history of modern literature -- from dimestore novels to more eloquent prose or poetry. I choose not to spend a lot of time with people who do not necessarily share my interests or do not compel me to think in new ways. . so it should be with our books. If an author is 'talking' about something I want to explore, savor aesthetically or just ease myself along with, I'll do it and if need be, put it down temporarily or forever. The beauty of books -- they speak to us as individuals or as part of a group sharing. More to the point is the sin of media hype -- how ridiculous is the notion of a new book on a parents' heartfelt portrayal of their journey with their autistic son being touted by one bookseller as the new "3 Cups of Tea." Spare me the comparison and let me browse in peace.

    Nancy Rose Steinbock
    Inglese Dinamico
    Venice, Italy

    • Posted By: Cazador72 @ 04/15/2009 9:02:39 PM

      I call this the Titanic Effect; when art loses credibility because of market success. Titanic made more money than any other film in history, yet mere months after it left theaters I could not find one single person who admitted liking it (except for myself). I had a friend who saw it THREE TIMES in the theater and still claimed to have hated it (why would anyone subject themselves repeatedly to a three hour movie they claimed not to like it's either a lie or downright hypocrisy). As someone rightly said, if Titanic had been a DUD at the box office it may have gone down in the minds of critics as one of the best movies ever. Piccoult writes fluffy books but the principle is the same.

      • Posted By: Cazador72 @ 04/15/2009 9:13:11 PM

        Having read The Sound and the Fury and The Autumn of the Patriarch makes one seem a serious reader but I enjoyed neither, and to be honest, have gotten more out of less critic friendly novels. Interestingly, Faulkner had been out of print in the US for many years, until the French Existentialists "discovered" him and he suddenly became a must-read-author again ("Some French intellectuals are saying he is good so, heck, there's something to the man after all!"). That was over 60 years ago, and the man has not been out of print since!

  • Posted By: cuppajava @ 04/15/2009 6:18:06 PM

    I'm a total print junkie. I will read the trashiest beach fiction alongside the stuff that wins humanities prizes...it's all good. But, I do remember feeling all weird when I picked up an old copy of The Thorn Birds at a garage sale, read it and thought, hey that was pretty good writing---but being told that it was too cheesy to be any good. Apparently, great literature is supposed to "elevate" the mind, changes your life, informs about the human condition ---so that means you can't wear a bikini and read it while eating sandwiches on the beach. I can appreciate the notion of transformative literature but there seems to be too much focus on class. There is plenty of room on the bookshelf for something classic and beautiful like To Kill A Mockingbird (which many people consider a perfect book) and something like that Junot Diaz novel, or the Story of Edgar Sawtelle, PLUS throw in some easy but fun Harlan Coben. Shoot, I still read my Agatha Christie books and I know what happens in every one.

  • Posted By: Jeanne @ 04/15/2009 4:19:58 PM

    I have been a teacher for 32 years, and a reading specialist for most of that time. I see absolutely no problem with kids, teens, or adults reading solely for pleasure, whether they are reading Jodi Picoult, Stephanie Meyers or J.K. Rowling. I myself can read only escapist novels during the school year! I have lately been reading Harlan Coben mysteries; my late mother, a medical technition, liked multi-generational family sagas and Perry Mason books. Two of my teenage nephews read much science fiction. Another reads, well, almost everything from Shakespeare to the aforementioned Rowling. I still feel the loss, some years back, of Chaim Potok, and more recently of Madeline L'Engle, both of whom wrote fiction as well as nonfiction. But it's their novels that first seized my mind and heart and that continue to delight. Zanie Smith, whom you quoted, and her ilk need to get over themselves.

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