Irresistible Geographical Settings

I am drawn to certain novels because of their geographical settings. I especially cannot resist novels set in India, San Francisco, Manhattan, or England. In the cases of the first two, the reasons are obvious: I grew up in India, and that experience will always be an essential part of who I am, and I have lived in San Francisco most of my adult life. Manhattan settings are appealing for at least two reasons. First, New York is the center of American literature; it is the one place in the United States that almost all serious readers know and can picture. Second, it has a glamor and excitement that most of us are drawn to. I have never lived there, but have visited fairly often, and always feel it is a sort of magic, larger-than-life city. As for England: As I mentioned in an earlier post (on mysteries), I have always been an Anglophile (perhaps not surprising for a person born in Canada and raised in barely postcolonial India). So much of the literature and culture that means the most to me comes from England. Although I have only visited a few times, I feel I know London, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Brighton, the English countryside, the English seaside, the English cliffs...I have read about them so very often in the novels I love. They are the settings portrayed so vividly by Austen, the Brontes, Eliot, Dickens, Hardy, Mitford, Pym, Thirkell, and so many more English authors. These places will always be part of my mental and emotional geography. These are the settings that draw me in; I am sure all readers have their own such lists...

Reading to Children

One of the great pleasures of parenthood (and for others with children in their lives) is reading to one's children. I remember when my daughter was small, I read to her for hours and hour...maybe hundreds or even thousands of hours over those first few years of her life. We started with the usual hard-paged books, and tactile books such as "Pat the Bunny." I loved reading her books that I myself had loved as a child, such as "Charlotte's Web" (which my mom would read to me, and I would cry, and then ask her to read it again...and again...and again...and cry each time! And I loved every minute of it!). My daughter and I enjoyed going to libraries and bookstores, especially for story hours, but also for browsing. I remember one children's bookstore that had replicated, full size, the scene of the book "Good Night, Moon" in a nook near the entry way -- furniture and all -- it was enchanting! Later we read the Ramona books, the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, the Anne of Green Gables books (all favorites of my own childhood as well), and many many more. Those hours reading together are some of my best memories of my daughter's childhood.

Please Patronize Independent Bookstores!

At the risk of "preaching to the converted," I urge readers to spend their money at independent bookstores rather than at the large chains or online vendors. Some of the many reasons to do so are as follows:
1. Local, independent bookstores are more individualized, often more specialized. They are attuned to their local customers and their locales. They do their own buying, rather than having a national office make decisions for the whole country.
2. Booksellers at independent bookstores are usually more knowledgeable about books.
3. Independent bookstores often have great readings and classes. It is true that some chains do as well, but the local bookstores can focus on local authors and cater to local interests.
4. Independent bookstores are more community-oriented. They often have programs that benefit local schools and other community institutions.
5. Statistics show that a much higher percentage of profits of independent bookstores goes back into the local community; profits don't go to the national corporate offices as they do with the chains.
6. Chains are often predatory, moving in very nearby to existing independent bookstores, undercutting the prices of those bookstores (because they have the corporate resources to do so), driving them out, and then sometimes raising prices again. (I have seen this happen in the area where I live; a few years back we lost the beloved A Clean Well Lighted Place for Books, here in Marin County, this way.)

Independent bookstores have been closing at a disturbingly high rate. If we lose these stores, we will have lost something essential and irreplaceable. Then all we will have left is the cookie cutter chain experience.

I would like to end by recognizing some of my favorite local, independent bookstores in the San Francisco Bay Area: Green Apple, on Clement Street in SF; Book Passage, in Corte Madera; and Books, Inc., on California Street in SF. I treasure these wonderful bookstores; long may they live!

What are your favorite independent bookstores?

Three Recent Books on Reading and Writing

Those of us who love reading and writing often like to read about reading and writing as well. Below are three recent books on the topic that I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend. All three authors - each in her own way - perfectly and evocatively capture connections among reading, writing, and life.

1. "Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books," by Maureen Corrigan (Random House,2005). -- Corrigan, who reviews books for NPR's "Fresh Air" (my favorite radio program, very literate in its own right), is a self-described "obsessive reader" who tells us that "from adolescence on, at least, I've read my life in terms of fiction."

2. "Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for those Who Want to Write Them," by Francine Prose (HarperCollins, 2006). -- Prose, a well-known novelist, writes about how essential careful reading is to good writing. This book is a blend of close reading and analysis of great books; Prose's own personal stories; advice for readers and for writers; and a list of recommended reading.

3. "Reading, Writing, and Leaving Home: Life on the Page," by Lynn Freed (Harcourt, 2005). -- This South African novelist and short story writer focuses on the ways in which a writer's experiences, particularly childhood experiences, influence her writing; she is generous in sharing her own experiences.

"Diary of a Provincial Lady"

I'd like to recommend a rather quirky, hilarious book, "Diary of a Provincial Lady," by E. M. Delafield (originally published in 1931, now available in a 1982 edition from Academy Chicago). The narrator, a middle-aged married English woman living in the countryside, writes in a low-key, faux-straightforward, but actually ironic, voice. She makes deadpan, ever-so-slightly-barbed comments about her husband, children, neighbors, and herself, and all the small events and concerns of the family and neighborhood. Just under the surface is a kind of anarchic quality, perhaps an almost feminist dismay at her circumstances, yet the narrator manages to do her duties, contain her feelings in front of others, and express them through gentle but deadly accurate observations written in her diary. Despite these veiled criticisms, the reader senses that the narrator is actually, mostly, quite happy with her family and her life. I found myself laughing out loud several times as I read. The humorous line drawings throughout the book add to the reader's enjoyment.

There is a sequel, in which the provincial lady goes to London; this volume is also enjoyable, but a bit of a letdown after the first book.

"Middlebrow" Novels

Some years ago, critics used to speak of "middlebrow" literature. These novels were assigned a place somewhere between, on the one hand, "good," serious literature, critically acclaimed, and on the other hand, "lowbrow" literature, genre fiction, and "beach reads." This category still exists, although we don't often use the term "middlebrow" these days. Although I generally seek out and read "serious" literature, I have a place in my heart for middlebrow authors who are usually extremely skilled and competent at creating very readable, even compelling works. I think of them as craftswomen (the ones I like are almost always women) and good writers, but their novels are just a bit too undemanding, predictable and formulaic to be great. Yet I can rely on them to interest and entertain me, every time. When I learn that their newest novels are out, I almost always look for and read them. Among my favorite middlebrow authors are Elizabeth Berg, Anita Shreve, Anne Rivers Siddons, Nancy Thayer, and Joanna Trollope. I give these authors great credit, and thank them for the many hours of reading pleasure they have provided me.

Campus Novels

Campus novels are strangely compelling. As an academic myself, I particularly enjoy them, but I think anyone who has ever been a student, or worked on a campus, finds them intriguing. Here I list (in order of publication dates) some of the best such novels I have read over the years. (As I am making the list, I am reminded of how many of these books are satirical. I wonder what that says about campuses and academe?)

1. The Professor's House (1925), by Willa Cather. A lovely if sometimes sad book by the wonderful, pioneering Cather.
2. Groves of Academe (1952), by Mary McCarthy. As sharp in tone as McCarthy's work usually is, and great fun to read.
3. Pictures from an Institution (1952), by Randall Jarrell. His fictional college is based on Sarah Lawrence College, where he taught. Scathing in places.
4. Lucky Jim (1954), by Kingsley Amis. Probably the most famous campus novel ever. Satirical and hilarious.
5. The War Between the Tates (1974), by Alison Lurie (1974). As much about the couple's relationship as about the campus, but it is all connected. Also hilariously, if appallingly, candid.
6. Changing Places (1975), Small World (1984), and Nice Work (1988), all by David Lodge. All very funny and great fun to read. Lodge also gets some great potshots in on both sides of the Atlantic, writing about academe in the U.S. and England, especially in Changing Places.
7. Moo (1995), by Jane Smiley. About a midwestern agricultural (thus the title) university. Very funny in parts, if a bit too detailed and sometimes a bit over the top.
8. Straight Man (1997), by Richard Russo. Funny, but also explores the human dilemma. By one of my favorite authors.
9. On Beauty (2005), by Zadie Smith. A British professor, with his multicultural family, comes to the U.S. to teach at an Ivy League university; there they both connect and clash with another professor's family. The British Smith, who spent a year teaching in the U.S. herself, has some very sharp but sometimes affectionate observations to make about race, class, multiculturalism, youth, romance, marriage, pride, and more. She has said that E. M. Forster's novel Howard's End provided a inspiration and a framework to this novel. A "big" novel with many wonderful aspects to savor.

What are your favorite campus novels?