How to Read Novels Like a Professor

Better than his book on reading literature, but the same problems - nothing means anything, no definitions of bad or good. The constant reference to the French Lieutenant's Woman is annoying if you haven't read it.

I got about half way through this books and just didn't really feel I was getting anything out of it. Most of the references to novels he uses are to classics which I haven't read so I felt I was missing something in not in the well read enough club to really appreciate the book.

I love books. You know that about me. But what probably you don't know is that there are some books that I don't like, some books I actually hate. Yes, it's true. I hate textbooks.

I loathe textbooks. I hate the pompous, condescending tone of textbooks. I hate the know-it-all attitude of textbooks. I hate the way textbooks act like they don't have to try to be well-written; textbooks know people will be read them anyway because people are forced to read them. I hate textbooks.

So I will say, sadly, that I found this book to be a textbook. There is, sadly, nothing jaunty about this book. I liked How to Read Literature Like a Professor, this author's previous book. But maybe Foster used up all his jauntiness in that book. In any case, I was bored to death reading this book and that's a shame.