Why Read?

Rating:
Summary: Insightful, yet ultimately a disappointing critique
Review: "Why Read?" is a further elucidation of a student's (or anyone's for that matter) journey to self-knowledge and understanding of the world that the author began in "Teacher," an auto-biographical account of high-schoolers in a working class environment being given the opportunity to expand their horizons through the encouragement of an unconventional teacher. In the present case, the author has moved to the college classroom where literary classics are ideally read for their potential of answering such questions as: "Who Am I?" or "What Is Life?" There is the implication that the student at the college level feels a need to move beyond conventional socialization. This all seems to be standard practice - why write a book?

The author is more than a little concerned that the university has essentially adopted the values and the modus operandi of the broader consumer and entertainment society. A certain superficiality has engulfed our society. Being "hip" and "cool," that is projecting an image, must be the foremost stance taken in life, which excludes both passion and doubt. Multifarious information, often obtained via the Internet, displaces wisdom. That is what students expect within the university. Future technocrats and businessmen need an instrumental, factual education, not a "useless" wholesale examination of values. That entire orientation is to be contrasted with the author's view that "the function of a liberal arts education is to use major works of art and intellect to influence one's Final Narrative, ..., the ultimate set of terms that we use to confer value on experience." The self-doubt and introspection crucial to developing a Final Narrative is outside the boundaries of ubiquitous casualness.

Beyond disinterest in the classics, in criticism directed more towards the humanities professorate, there is the additional concern that literary works are being interpreted with a political agenda, which distorts the original authors' intents and, furthermore, interferes with the educational value of the works. For example, Dickens' novels concerning the horrid social conditions in early industrial England are used in hegemonic critiques not intended by Dickens. Nonetheless, the chiding of those advancing a Foucaultian "normalization and control" of society agenda by grafting such analyses onto literary works, comes across as more than a little disingenuous given the author's overall views.

"Democracy and democratic humanism" - those are the components of the author's "religion." He invites us to "imagine a nation, a world, where people have fuller self-knowledge, fuller self-determination, where self-making is a primary objective not just in the material sphere but in the circles of the mind and heart. We humanities teachers can help create such a world." There is no disagreement with the nobility of the goal here, but where is the reconciliation with the realities of a superficial, consumer ethos and Foucaultian control. In a world of artificiality, how does a student become aware of a need for self-discovery? How can a student possibly know whether such a search is possible in an institution without the assumption that awareness has already been obtained? And then there is the very real possibility of such an enlightened student wrecking on the realities outside the university. We can't all have the safe haven of college tenure to widely explore and espouse eternal truths. At one point the author recognizes that seeking truth is a subversive endeavor. But there seems to be little appreciation for the consequences.

The author disclaims that his approach is one of personal therapy. Yet it does seem to be very much one of personal growth and personal interpretation of the classics. He especially advocates the reading of poetry as being foremost in finding personal truth, which in the view of many is a particularly subjective endeavor. Literature comes before history in his view. Presumably that same ordering applies to any body of knowledge. He seems to require that a work engenders an emotional response, that the work of art can be lived, for it to be considered essential for self-discovery. He specifically discounts works that merely "teach us something about the larger world." This is a most curious position. Broad, historical understanding of political, economic, and social systems would seem to enhance anyone's pursuit of trying to define a life to live. Constructing a personal reality based on the personal interpretation of literary works, devoid of significant context, seems to merely self-indulging, with little to do with attaining intellectual heights.

"Why Read?" is thought-provoking, but puzzles because of the author's unwillingness to complete his analysis. It is clear that the author understands much: the culture is dumbed-down; the university system makes little effort to advance the growth and wisdom of attendees; a business mentality permeates our society; democracy, humanistic or otherwise, is a tenuous project in our society; and tremendous risks are incurred if one confronts this hegemonic situation.

What is to be inferred here? Does the author accept the fact that substantial wealth is a legitimate litmus test in allowing attendance at his employing university, which ultimately will amount to little more than gaining a credential to enter the business world at an elevated position? Where is the call for reform? Where is the political critique? Is he genuinely interested in democratic empowerment?

The book is ultimately just not that satisfying because even though the author is well aware of the landscape, he doesn't seem to be going anywhere with his understanding. What a waste.


Rating:
Summary: Why Read A Must Read
Review: Edmundson has written the most provocative essay on the "crisis in the humanities" since Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind. Unlike that book, however, Why Read? is itself eminently readable-- in fact a great pleasure from first page to last. Teachers in particular will find Edmundson's diagnosis and prescriptions bracing; he reminds us what got us into books in the first place, and why reading great works is indispensable to living the good life. Whether you agree with him or not, Edmundson's swift, lively polemic is already ingiting a debate we badly need to have.

Rating:
Summary: Edmundson Rules!
Review: In his book, "Why Read," Mark Edmundson writes that I once possessed "movie-star" good looks. That is not why I recommend the book. People who read to be sparked creatively, enriched and spiritually uplifted will be hard pressed to find a more satisfying book this season. There is one way. If you start by reading his earlier memoir, "Teacher: The One Who Made the Difference," so that you have a sense of who Edmundson is, you'll get even more out of this book.

Mark Edmundson is an earnest, honest, intelligent and disciplined teacher. What's more, he loves his students and work in the purest sense. He enters into relationship with them with an open mind, which is to say he attends and listens without predisposition, motive or bias. When he tells us to approach literature in the same way, to allow it its "maximum advocacy," he is both modeling and advocating the same message. The man lives what he teaches and it makes for grace and power, whether speaking or writing.

As Edmundson explains so elegantly, the real issue is not why we should read but how we should live. With the tail of our economic system increasingly wagging the dog of our political system - and swatting our freedoms in the process, it has become a critical question. Are we, as individuals as well as a society, going to proclaim our faith in ourselves and truly listen to one another, or are we going to give in to fear and assert to the exclusion of listening? Edmundson has the faith in himself to listen and he teaches us how to develop that same faith in ourselves by listening to ourselves through literature. Though short and sweet, "Why Read" is a profoundly wise and inspiring book.


Rating:
Summary: A Jeffersonian in the English Department
Review: Mark Edmundson's book will make you wish that you had studied English at the University of Virginia and that you had been fortunate enough to have been in one of Prof. Edmundson's classes. (I did not have this good fortune.) Edmundson's passion for life and learning, which no doubt makes him an outstanding professor, also makes this book such a pleasure to read.

Edmundson's argument in support of the examined life is all the more compelling because it is so democratic. Edumundson believes that the life of the mind is available to all, not just to a privileged elite. Thomas Jefferson would be proud of Mark Edmundson and glad to have him on the faculty of his university.

But you're already an avid reader? You read and you know why you read. Do you really need a book entitled "Why Read?" I think so. Edmundson's argument is really much broader than the title would seem to indicate, and he will also renew your interest in reading and reading widely.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't know Frederich Hayek or the Road to Serfdom
Review: On C-SPAN's Booknotes, an in-depth interview hosted by Brian Lamb, Mark Edmundson was asked his opinion of Friedrich Hayek's Road to Serfdom, the most influential and well-known "deconstruction" of socialism/communism/liberalism.Mr. Edmundson never heard of the book.