A review by morebedsidebooks
How to Talk about Books You Haven't Read by Pierre Bayard

lighthearted
“Reading is first and foremost non-reading. Even in the case of the most passionate lifelong readers, the act of picking up and opening a book masks the counter gesture that occurs at the same time: the involuntary act of not picking up and not opening all the other books in the universe.” 

 

In How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read French literary academic Pierre Bayard waxes on about the consequences of the read and non-read, when literature enters personal, social, or academic spheres, and the knowledge positionally, culturally and where tension arise with an “inner book” or likewise different libraries (inner, collective, and virtual). In a lighthearted way breaking down the very concept of what is a book and reading. 

As a voracious reader who also discusses and writes about books, I found the title interesting. Though I must have escaped the social/mental beating for not reading X or feeling ashamed if a likewise Y comes up in some situation or *gasp* not sharing reading/books in common with a partner. (Though the example of Bill Murray’s character Phil in Groundhog Day quoting poetry was rather romantic. It’s a trope, no?) It’s also worth noting that on the author’s scale of opinion there is no neutrality, only degrees of positive and negative. I don’t know but there are books I’ve read or not read that I would say I have no opinion one way or the other about. So, is that true or, in reality a position falling within the author’s binary? Also, a pet peeve, language being gendered as it is, when Bayard generally speaks about the station of writer or author this is masculine. When specific, examples favour men too. 

Still, anyone who thinks about books should give How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read at least a look. The English edition translated by Jeffrey Mehlman is also available as an audio book read by Grover Gardner. 

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