Talking About Book Series

Book series have been around for a long time. It is safe to say that they have never been more popular than they are today.  Lately, I have been thinking about how some books that are parts of larger series do not work as stand-alone novels. This leads me to ask additional questions. Are there are some books that should not even be considered individual novels?  When a book series comprises such novels, is it more accurate to consider the entire series as one work? Are some books so incapable of standing alone that they are really only half books, or one-third books, or one-quarter books? 

Books that are in series or connected books go back to ancient times. Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad are connected stories. There are many more Greek and Roman myths that can be considered as part of larger mega-tales that contain shared characters and situations. Similarly, the Bible as well as the Hindu Holy Books tell connected stories. 

Many consider François Rabelais’s The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel, originally written in five books, to be the first series written in the modern style. A little later, Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixotewas comprised of two separate books written years apart.

Later came Author Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series, which pioneered a lot of concepts and was enormously influential in terms of what followed. Many other mystery series followed. Fictional detectives created by writers such as Agatha Christie were featured in multiple books. Some mystery series have expanded into dozens of books written over the course of decades.

Since the 1980s, the number of series in science fiction and fantasy genres have exploded. Recently, while looking through recent Hugo and Nebula award winners, I had trouble finding books that were not part of larger series.

JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of The Ring Seriesis a good example of a series composed of books that cannot really stand alone. To make any sense, they really need to be read together. It can be argued that they were originally separated because the length of the series was so long. Many people really look at The Lord of The Rings as a single work anyway. 

There are many other series where the answer to the question that I raised is not clear cut, however. Frank Herbert’s Original Dune can clearly stand as an individual work. However, its sequels really cannot abide an independent existence. With examples such as this, it gets tricky. Many people consider the Dunesequels inferior works. For the record, I like the Dune sequels written by Herbert himself a lot, though they do not match the original. I would not suggest that they be included in the science-fiction masterpiece that is the first book. Yet, I believe them to be very good science fiction that just cannot stand on their own. 

Anthony Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire gets really interesting. Most of the books in the series can exist as stand-alone novels. However, the last two books, The Small House at Allington and The Last Chronicle of Barset, are really not independent books. The Last Chronicle of Barset is a mixture of threads connected to the earlier works. In my opinion, it is a very high-quality work.  I think that it was the second-best book of Barsetshires. Trollope himself thought that it was the best of the series. Yet, a reader just jumping into this book might be befuddled and miss much of its emotional impact. How can this novel be evaluated? I would also add that while Barchester Towers, the second book in the series, can work fine as a stand-alone, reading its predecessor, The Warden,first, strengthens its artistic merits. I use Trollope’s series as an example, but similar issues arise withy many series. 

One can say that all of this does not matter and that one should just read and enjoy books. This is true, but I think that all this is relevant when discussing and reviewing books. I also find the topic very interesting. 

Thinking about all this, I conclude the following: Series comprising of books that really cannot stand independently, such as The Lord of The Rings, should just be considered as one single book.  In addition, a stand-alone work is a stand-alone work, thus books like Dune should always be considered stand alones.  The same is true for the first four books of the Chronicles of Barsetshire; they are stand alones. However, when a book is connected to others in a series, the entire series should also be considered one work, even if the series contains individual stand-alone novels. No matter their artistic merit, books looks likeThe Small House at Allington and The Last Chronicle of Barset do not work as independent novels. 

No system of classifying books and book series is perfect. There are also countless variations on the examples that I have mentioned that raise their own questions. Nor is it critical that books are looked at in such a systematic way. I think that this is an interesting thought exercise though. Despite the thoughts that I outlined above, some of the questions that I raised here really do not have answers. 

Sequels to human stories are almost as old as stories themselves. Only one thing is for sure, and that is that people will continue to create sequels and series, regardless of how they are classified.  We cannot get enough of great stories and great characters. We keep wanting more.

Five Year Blogiversary

Today Babbling Books is 5 years old. The first thing that comes to my mind about this fact is what a wonderful experience that blogging has been. 

In past years I have thanked and praised the book blogging community and all of the wonderful folks who comment on this blog and who I interact with. Once again, you all deserve accolades.

The comments section of this blog has been phenomenal. Folks have consistently left insightful and thoughtful viewpoints on virtually all my posts. A few folks have disagreed and challenged my views. I not only welcome this, but I am delighted that people have done so. The road to wisdom includes the paving stones known as criticism and alternate viewpoints. Though I do not want to be so presumptuous to say that my blog promotes wisdom, I want it to represent a few of the bricks in the road that leads to wisdom. 

Several weeks ago, I expressed some question over what form this blog would take going forward. I believe that there is a good chance that the United States, and perhaps the world at large, is moving into a tumultuous time of the type that the world has not seen in very long time. I am not all doom and gloom, yet I think that we must be prepared for unprecedented developments. As I have always attempted to relate my ruminations on books to the world at large, if this turns out to be true, I will continue to tie my some of my posts to real world developments. If events are as consequential as I expect them to be, I will likely reference them frequently. With that, I am mostly here to talk about books. Thus, the majority of my writing will be confined to the words between two covers. 

Another year begins. Hopefully our shared reading adventures will continue to be both intellectually fruitful and fun. Thanks again to everyone who has shared this experience with me. Happy reading everybody!

My Love of Book Lists

I love book lists. I enjoy looking through them so much that I sometimes go looking for them online. I have also been known to spend several hours poring through entire books dedicated to such lists. When I see that a new major list is available, say from a source such as Amazon or The Guardian, I cannot but help getting excited at the prospect of digging through it.

If any of my readers are not familiar with the phenomena that I am talking about, I am referring to the catalogues of books that are now all over the Internet. However, these lists are not new to our digital age; some of my favorites go back decades, and such lists have been produced for centuries. These catalogues of book titles sometimes purport to be lifetime reading suggestions, lists of the greatest novels ever written, lists of the greatest nonfiction books ever written, etc. There are also specialty lists, such as the best history books ever written, the best books on the American Revolution, the most influential philosophy books and the most essential New England Books, to name just a few.

These lists are not without controversy. Folks often criticize them. The compilers of these lists are often questioned for books that they include, as well as for those that they do not. Often, the creators of the lifetime reading lists are accused of constructing restrictive guides that dictate what people should be reading. Harold Bloom’s famous Western Cannon has come under particular scorn for this reason. His enormous compilation of suggested books has also been criticized for not being inclusive enough in terms of race and gender. It seems that some of Bloom’s critics may not have read his Cannon, as it is surprisingly inclusive and includes a surprising number of women and ethnically diverse authors such as Chinua Achebe, Zora Neale Hurston, Najib Mahfuz and Mario Vargas Llosa, Aimé Césaire, as well as many others.

My take on these lists is that if one does not take them too seriously, they can be great fun for the bookish person. If one is going to think about how we would have constructed them differently, it is best to ponder this issue good-naturedly. Such lighthearted critique can also be part of the fun. These compilations can also provide very useful information pertaining to what books are out there waiting to be read.

I love to peruse such lists and count how many of the tomes that I have read so far. Though such lists do give me ideas as to what I should read in the future, as someone whose TBR cannot be concluded in a lifetime, I am not sure if this last fact is a good thing. Lists like Bloom’s Western Cannon and Clifton Fadiman’s reading plan are treasure troves of interesting books that make my mouth water.

Ultimately, these catalogues of books are just the opinions of others. As a bookish person, however, reading these opinions and thinking about how my views are similar or different regarding these books is something that I very much like to do.

I will continue to peruse new and old booklists. In our digital age, they are not difficult to find. Neither is there any lack of new lists being produced. In the end, if one does not take such lists too seriously, they can provide many hours of stimulating and intellectual amusement.

Some of my favorite book lists are:

Bloom's Western Cannon

Clifton Fadiman’s Lifetime Reading Plan  

The Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read

EBooks and Traditional Books

The controversy around traditional books verses eBooks is one that raises emotions akin to differences surrounding such hot button issues as religion and politics. Having jumped into the world of digital books approximately three years ago, I have formed definite opinions on the issue. As it involves new technology bumping into an ancient human activity, namely reading, the topic is tied to the profound changes that the digital age is having on humanity.

I think that in regards to this subject, a few points relevant to the history of books are important to keep in mind. When the printing press first became popular in the fifteenth century, folks, mostly scholars, protested that the new machines produced books of much lower quality than handwritten tomes.

In the twentieth century, when paperbacks first became popular, there was protest over their low quality as opposed to hardcovers. First, of course, this history illustrates that changes in the way that we read books are commonly resisted as folks defend the old ways. I am not completely dismissing the above arguments. After all, I think that it could be argued that aesthetically, handwritten tomes were far superior to printed books or, more importantly, that mass-produced paperbacks lack many of the merits of hardcovers.

I would contend that we place too much value on cheap paperbacks and lower quality hardcovers. I do not see all that much tactile or aesthetic appeal to these lower grade books.

Much has been said and written about sensory satisfaction gained with physical books. People often comment upon the perceptible sensations associated with them. Some even remark about their aroma. But when it comes to paperbacks, I question the value of the experience imparted. I am so much more appreciative of the positive sensations garnered with higher quality, more substantive books.

If one wants to fight for traditional books, I say make it about quality books that are worth it. Of course, for a personal collector, the issue of cost comes into play. I fantasize about a library of high quality hardcovers. A perusal of such books online indicates that price escalates with quality.

For someone such as myself who likes to delve deeply into books, the benefits of eBooks are immense. I can, and do, take numerous notes and make comments, as well as highlight passages. This would destroy a conventional book. I recently did read an old-fashioned book, and I filled it with post-it notes in lieu of the electronic notes that I am now used to.

Likewise, the copy and paste function is invaluable for bloggers and others who need to use quotations from a book.  As I do look up unfamiliar words, the dictionary function is very convenient and useful. I even use the word search, which is better than an index. Of course, particularly with history books, my ability to search the web for additional information, maps, charts, etc., greatly enhances my reading experience.

I have also shifted to a system of just in time buying of books. Instead of hoarding tomes, some of which I will likely never get to in my entire lifetime, I now download the instance at which I am ready to begin a new read.

With all of that, I do not discount the value of traditional books. I have made several references to quality hardcovers. I believe that these may represent the future of conventional books much like vinyl records have made a comeback among folks who enjoy collecting music.  I think that it is a good bet that eBooks will eventually replace soft covers. I am aware that sales of old-fashioned books have stabilized, but as digital book technology continues to get better and more economical, I would surmise the erosion in paperback sales will commence again.

I do have a vision of my fantasy library. It would be filled with the high quality hard cover tomes. Though I already own a very few of them, cost has sadly prevented me from embarking upon any real collecting. I wonder, however, if I did possess such an impressive library, if the great books would still sit on a shelf while I read digital versions of them. There are just too many advantages to eBooks!

I recently read a traditional book. I have become so dependent on note taking this was the shocking result.

If one considers the history of positive human progress, such progress is often aided by advances in communication. EBooks are part of the larger digital evolution that allows folks to instantly communicate with one another and to access vast reservoirs of human knowledge. Digital books give us access to millions of books, relatively cheaply, at the press of a few points on a keyboard or screen. They add to our ability to cross reference information and utilize words much more easily than ever before. These advantages cannot be overstated.  In my opinion, this will only enhance the spread of knowledge and ideas, which has traditionally led to great benefits for humanity.

I do know that many of my readers will disagree with many of my points here. Folks are understandably attached to old-fashioned books. For me, the real virtue of a tome is its contents, not its package. However, I do place great value in the kind of traditional book that I think deserves to be valued. Nevertheless, I would argue that anything that makes the contents of books more accessible, understandable and interactive is a really good thing.

Just Talking About Books

I recently read and blogged about James Joyce’s Ulysses. My commentary on that book is here. The particular entry on Joyce’s work ended up just a little different from my typical posts. As my comprehension of that novel was so much below my usual level, I chose to devote four or five paragraphs of my post to my personal impressions of the reading experience itself. Though I have posted in similar ways on a few other occasions, this does not reflect my usual blogging style. I should note that I subsequently rounded out this particular entry with some commentary on various aspects of the novel, thus making the commentary a little less centered upon myself.

For a moment as I was formulating the post, I questioned myself, is this the way to write about a book? I am wary of analyzing books from too personal of a view. I often eschew doing so. I believe that too much personal bias gets in the way of understanding what an author is trying to say. Though I did not venture into the territory of “I liked this character” or “I related to that character,” I was writing mostly about my own reading comprehension and what I got out of the book in relation to my own limitations in understanding.

Then I asked myself, is this train of thought taking the idea of blogging too seriously? This thought in turn expanded to thinking about the entire nature of my blog and of what I want to accomplish with it.

I realize that I am not engaged in literary criticism, but what exactly am I doing? I cannot pretend to be conducting serious analysis. I am not qualified to do so, and one look at my commentary indicates that I am not formally doing this. In fact, when I look back at many of my posts, it turns out that to some degree, at least, I commonly incorporate my own experiences in my commentary. Yet, at the same time, albeit in an amateurish way, I do apply some aspects of criticism to my writing.

Of course, what I am doing, plain and simple, is talking about books. With that, part of the way that I like to talk about books is to include some unprofessional form of literary criticism. I liken this to participating in a local sports league. One does not need to be a professional or even a very good athlete to enjoy playing a sport.

So do I need to adhere to strict rules regarding criticism? Of course I do not. I do not want to restrict myself in any way like that. Nor would my unqualified efforts stand up to such a serious approach. As I allude to above, blogging about books, for me, is about sharing thoughts and ideas. Whatever thoughts and ideas seem interesting to me at the time of writing is what I write about. Why not occasionally think about and share my personal impressions of various works based upon my own biases, including likeability of characters?

Yet, sometimes I like to dabble into such slightly more formal territory. Ironically for me, it adds to the fun. One beautiful thing about having one’s own blog is that there are no rules. So I can write posts in so many different ways.

I can summarize a book and give my opinion on it. I can hone in on a book’s main point and agree, disagree or take a neutral stand on it. I can focus on a particular theme, passage or character and analyze that. I can just talk about how a book affected me, how I felt about it or what I learned from it. From time to time, I have found it worthwhile to employ all these approaches.

Since likability or relatability of characters or plot developments is not something that I usually find very interesting, I will very rarely incorporate such musings in a post. However, I reserve the right to do so, especially if I find a noteworthy angle to that chain of reasoning.

I love blogging about books. I love sharing my thoughts on reading and other issues. An eclectic approach, not just in my choice of books, but also to the way that I approach the discussion of a tome, seems to work very well for me. It has added to the joy and fun that writing and sharing ideas concerning books entails. There really are no rules. After all, I am just talking about books.

3 Years Old!

Today, Babbling Books turns three years old. What a three years it has been!

Though I have written about the following on previous anniversaries, the points are so important that they bear repeating. There is no better time than now for a recap on my thoughts about blogging.

I want to begin by mentioning the wonderful book blogging community. I cannot overemphasize the value that I place both in the friendships that I have established as well as the warm and intellectually enlightening interactions that I have engaged in with my fellow bloggers. In our exchange of comments, joint read-along and other events, as well as discussions that have at times spilled over into email, interacting with my blogging friends has been both fun and beneficial. So, once again, a huge THANK YOU to my friends!

Another theme of previous years has been my now fulfilled desire for self-expression. One of my primary motivations for starting the blog was a yearning to share my ideas with others. I wanted to express myself in a coherent, organized and permanent way. I wanted to create a record of my thoughts that anyone who was interested could access. As I envisioned my blog, I foresaw it centering on books, but also touching upon social, political and scientific issues. I have done what I set out to do. Even if what I have to say is not exactly profound, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to say it in this medium.

I have also previously written about the double-edged sword of blogging; ironically, it is time consuming and actually cuts into my reading time. Sometimes this has presented real difficulties. At one point, I seriously considered giving the blog up due to this challenge.  However, as I also mentioned before, though I read a little less as a result of blogging, the quality of the reading experience is enhanced.

I have reached a point where I cannot imagine NOT blogging about books. An essential component of reading for me now seems to be sharing and organizing my thoughts, as well as interacting with others about these books. Without these accompanying activities, reading now seems dull and incomplete.

Thus, this anniversary sees me once again championing the benefits of book blogging, and feeling appreciation to all of my online friends.

Thanks to everyone who reads and comments here.