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How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines, Revised Edition
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Original price was: $19.99.$9.00Current price is: $9.00.
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A thoroughly revised and expanded edition of Thomas C. Foster’s classic guide—a lively and entertaining introduction to literature and literary basics, including symbols, themes and contexts, that shows you how to make your everyday reading experience more rewarding and enjoyable.
While many books can be enjoyed for their basic stories, there are often deeper literary meanings interwoven in these texts. How to Read Literature Like a Professor helps us to discover those hidden truths by looking at literature with the eyes—and the literary codes—of the ultimate professional reader, the college professor.
What does it mean when a literary hero is traveling along a dusty road? When he hands a drink to his companion? When he’s drenched in a sudden rain shower?
Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices and form, Thomas C. Foster provides us with a broad overview of literature—a world where a road leads to a quest, a shared meal may signify a communion, and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just a shower-and shows us how to make our reading experience more enriching, satisfying, and fun.
This revised edition includes new chapters, a new preface and epilogue, and incorporates updated teaching points that Foster has developed over the past decade.
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How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines, Revised Edition
Price:
Original price was: $19.99.$9.00Current price is: $9.00.
Jingjing Xie –
The most enlightening and entertaining book on understanding western literature indeed. In a way, it’s still daunting for someone from outside the Greek/ Christian tradition.
El –
It’s been 15 years since I was last in a literature class, and it felt good to feel my brain cells jigging and popping again! Thomas Foster loves literature, writers, characters and figuring out ‘what it all means’…( to him, obviously, he never pretends to be all-knowing and leaves room for everyone’s interpretations), connecting stories to larger symbolicism that reaches out to us all. He is never boring or obnoxious, truly sharing his passion with gusto. As an added boon to me, as a French reader, I very much enjoyed the chapters about the influence of Shakespeare and the Bible on literature since they were never addressed in my classes.
I am looking forward to his next books!
Barbara Müller –
Das Buch ist eigentlich ein Muss für jeden, der gern und viel liest. Man bekommt jede Menge Infos über die Dinge, denen man in der Literatur ständig begegnet. Welche Rolle spielen das Wetter, die Jahreszeiten, die Geografie in einem literarischen Werk? Welche Symbole werden oft verwendet? Wie charakterisiere ich die Figuren? Diese und andere Fragen beantwortet Foster in diesem Buch. Außerdem macht er auf Anleihen aus anderen Werken aufmerksam, die man in vielen Büchern findet. Sie stammen meist von Shakespeare, der Bibel oder aus der griechischen Mythologie. Und er stellt eine These auf. Eigentlich gibt es nur ein Buch bzw. ein enziges literarisches Thema und alle anderen Bücher sind nur Varitationen dieses Themas. Das Ziel des Autors, nämlich den Leser zu befähigen, künfitg mit noch mehr Vergnügen als vorher zu lesen, hat der Autor auf jeden Fall erreicht. Das alles ist auf sehr unterhaltsame Weise, mit viel Humor und überhaupt nicht langweilig geschrieben. Ich konnte das Buch kaum aus der Hand legen und habe es verschlungen. Ganz nebenbei erhält der Leser viele Anregungen für weitere Lektüre und wenn man die erwähnten Bücher bereits gelesen hat, hat man natürlich auch viele Aha-Erlebnisse. Ein Buch mit Mehrwert, das ich absolut empfehle.
Matthew Rapaport –
My favorite book on writing novels is Foster’s “How to Read Novels Like a Professor” (2008). I know the title says “Read,” but it struck me (a wanna-be novelist) that everything Foster says in that book is a clue about writing and reading both. It works this way because its only subject is the novel.
How to Read Literature Like a Professor is only a little like that because it is more broad. Foster writes about novels, short stories, plays, poems, songs, movies, and sometimes even comic books. What do these have in common besides that they are written down (movies are no exception. They are stories. Foster’s observations apply)? They all contain symbolism. Elements of the story, which might be the plot, characters and what they do (or happens to them) moment to moment, or some particulars of setting or conditions–possibly some or all of these–are suggestions, hints, or overt pointers to something beyond themselves.
What about simple verisimilitude? Foster mentions it twice. Might it be raining not to symbolize a cleansing of some sort but because the story happens to be set in Seattle in the winter, where and when it rains a lot? I think Foster would say it might be only that, but then he might ask: why set the story in Seattle in the winter? Foster is writing about LITERARY fiction written by acknowledged masters, or at least good writers, of whatever form the literature takes. These authors are also prolific readers. Most of the time, they fully intend the symbolism that educated readers find in their stories, but sometimes, their subconscious supplies the symbolic element even when they don’t consciously intend it.
Foster seems to think that, most of the time, great writers do intend their symbolism, and his book is a well-written, easy-to-read traipse through dozens of symbols and a multiplicity of possible meanings from dozens of example works. There are, of course, many more symbols and even more meanings than those he covers. They are as endless as literature itself. His effort in this book gives us who are not literature majors some tools that help us deepen our appreciation of whatever literature we read. It’s a good start!
Riya mishra –
This book is so easy to read yet provides so much good information at the same time . It’s a must for anyone who is looking forward to improve their literary analytical skills .
JMR –
Muy recomendable para los que empiezan a leer, pues te facilita el modo de aprendizaje de la literatura. Muy recomendable para maestros, para saber cómo dar la clase, y alumnos que no saben por dónde empezar a leer. Muy buen libro y muy claro!
audrey frances –
The author is an English professor at the University of Michigan and it becomes apparent quite quickly that he is one of those popular professors who is chatty and has lots of students signing up for his introductory courses on literature. The language is friendly and the examples are entertaining as well as informative. If I lived in Flint, I’d take his classes.
There have been many times I’ve read a book and just *known* the author is trying to impart more than I am taking away from the prose, and I hear about symbolism in literature, yet I have very little success finding it on my own. One time in high school I had a very good English teacher who would point out the symbolism in stories and novels, but he never told us how to do it, as this book does. With chapters on a wide range of topics (journeys, meals, poetry, Shakespeare, the Bible, mythology, fairy tales, weather, geography, violence, politics, sex and illness, among others) and a wide variety of examples, I found myself learning A LOT. Certainly this would not be of much value to a literature graduate student or professor, but for the rest of us this is a great introduction to getting more out of our reading (or viewing, as the author also touches on film, though to a lesser extent).
The book concludes with a test, in which you read a short story and interpret it using the principles put forth by Professor Foster, then interpretations by several students and Foster himself — delightful and illuminating! Finally, the author gives a suggested reading/viewing list and an index.
Two problems with the book: first, as I mentioned, the style of the author is conversational, but sometimes to the point of being distracting; secondly, the topics covered are quite idiosyncratic, leaving out as many as are included, though the author addresses this. Still, I give the book 5 out of 5 because it was entertaining, accessible and it has improved my understanding and appreciation of subsequent books I’ve read and even films I’ve seen.
Update (06/12/16): Critical reviews seem to concentrate on two negatives — that the author overgeneralizes (“Every meal is communion”) and that the material is repetitive. Perhaps both elements can be explained by noting the intended audience — college undergraduates. Critics want it known that “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”. I agree wholeheartedly. It’s been a while since I read this book (Can it really be over a decade?!) but I don’t remember coming away thinking that symbolism was universal and nothing was ever meant literally. If the author actually made that statement I do disagree. Perhaps he qualified the universal within the text? Regardless, even if the author overstated his position in that instance I garnered so much benefit from the book that its ideas inform my reading to this day. No book is perfect, and I suppose the professor would enjoy that some readers do criticise his ideas!
As to the second perceived flaw, repetitiveness, if you’ve ever taught you know that you can’t say something once and assume it’s been internalized. Personally I found repeating concepts often helped me, and often the same idea is related in a different context, so it’s not presented identically, if I remember correctly.
I do not know, but I suspect, that those readers who did not enjoy it were either too sophisticated for the material, or not ready for it. Personally, as someone with a background in the sciences and social sciences who reads a fair amount of fiction, and not someone who has heard these concepts discussed very much, I learned a lot from this book and believe it continues to add to my enjoyment and understanding of fiction in books and film.
I would still give it 5 stars. But man, do I feel old!