Each Tuesday I try to post about somthing interesting in the literary world. I have posted before about programs like One City, One Book, because the idea of an entire city choosing to read the same work is just fascinating to me. The latest program I stumbled across is “Big Read” courtesy of the L.A. Times online newspaper.
Here are a few excerpts about this program and some thought-provoking questions to ponder:
Developed by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Big Read funds projects nationwide in an effort, NEA literature director David Kipen explains, “to restore reading to the heart of American life.”
“No two Big Reads are alike,” he says. “It’s kind of unavoidable — and rather stirring to behold.”
While the projects are diverse, there is a clear structure. Each year, communities nationwide choose from the Big Read’s list of books, map out projects and submit a formal grant application.
Kipen hopes that the Big Read will “reintroduce America to its neighbors, and give everybody something more interesting in common to talk about than the weather.”
Currently, there are 22 books on the Big Read list. That includes novels by Twain, Tolstoy and Edith Wharton, as well as 20th century classics by Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Steinbeck. There is some science fiction — Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451″ and “A Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula K. Le Guin– as well as books that deal with race and culture, such as “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston and Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club.”
The Big Read is doing its best to make sure there is something for everyone.
But is that really possible? What does reading mean? The idea that we should read together, talk about books and do unusual, exciting, book-related things together takes for granted that reading is a communal activity. The popularity of Oprah’s book club shows that, for many, this is the case.
For some, however, reading is highly personal, private even.
Perhaps the truth is that we want conflicting things from reading: to find someone just like us, say, or to learn about someone very different. Maybe we want to enrich our connection to the place we live, which makes San Francisco’s Hammett seem an odd choice for L.A.
We might love a fast-moving plot or prefer spending time with characters we have come to love. All these desires may exist in the same person; how, then, can anyone expect to find the right book for a whole community?
So, what do you think? Is it realistic to “expect the find the right book for a whole community”? And is finding the right book the point? What do YOU want from the experience of reading?
I get hope, inspiration, and more understanding about mankind from reading. Escapism for sure, but I also get to peak into other people’s lives as well. A Thousand Splendid Sun’s allowed me to glimpse into the life of a woman living in Afghanistan. JD Robb allows me to see what the future might be like. To Kill a Mocking Bird allowed me to see the injustice of man and the courts are neither blind nor equal. Poetry allows me to see the human sprit is still alive. The Great Gatsby and The Given Day allows me to see what life was like in the 1920’s from two different points of view, the wealthy and the working class. Gone With The Wind allowed me to see the triumph of the human sprit by a women non the less
One of the things I like best about being in a book club is reading books I never would have picked up otherwise. A community read has the potential to offer this experience to a larger group.
I’ve participated (with one of my book clubs) in Silicon Valley Reads for the last 4 years. This is the first year I’ve really enjoyed the book, but I’ve always been glad I read them. The books have always been selected with an idea of a tie to the local community, which adds extra layers to the discussion.
Will one book ever be THE right book for a whole community? No, but I think that one book can fit into the range of right books for most of the community, and I think it is an effort worth making.