Ever since I read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, I have been an Anne Fadiman fan. Ex Libris was no disappointment, and neither is At Large and At Small. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, a collection of essays over a variety of topics. She talks in the introduction about the fact that essays are out of vogue, but this made me want to go out and write one, something I haven't done in almost twenty years (ouch!). Her language is great and I found that, at least for me, a dictionary close by was a must.
I've been trying to figure out which essay was my favorite- I liked all of them, but the one I keep coming back to is "Procrustes and the Culture Wars". She discusses four questions about reading, that I have wondered about myself.
Should we read great books because of their literary value or because they provide moral lessons- that is, because they teach us how to live?
Should the life of the writer affect our valuation of the work?
Should a book be demoted if its plot fails to meet standards of behavior that have changed since it was written?
What should you do when a work's language excludes you?
Although these questions can't really be answered completely, Fadiman looks at different sides of these issues, gives great examples, and lets us know her opinions on the questions. I don't know that I agree with everything she presents, but I liked stewing over it a bit.
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