You Are What You Read

John Sutherland offers a guide on how to survive and be happy amidst this deluge of bestsellers

In his tender nobel lecture this year, Turkish Orhan Pamuk says, 8220;I write not to tell a story but to compose a story.8221; In this small and wonderfully opinionated guide, John Sutherland goes through the paces with frequent readers 8212; for all the reference to 8220;user8217;s guide8221;, know it that this book is not for a moment intended for the occasional reader 8212; of fiction. In this hymn to the reading life, Sutherland misses not a bit of the physical and narrative composition of the novel.

Sutherland, a professor and committee chairman for the 2005 Man Booker Prize, is in unstated battle with the democratisation of the novel. His unstated question: is every novel equal? And if not, is that inequality to be known by the number of copies sold and read? Recall, he says, the events of July 16, 2005, when the sixth Harry Potter book was scheduled for release. 8220;As the witching hour 8212; midnight 8212; neared the crowds seethed. When the doors opened, it was a buying stampede. Readers were no more selecting Rowling8217;s book from the thousands available elsewhere in the store than a crowd, in a burning cinema, would pause to buy popcorn on their rush to the exit. Following the herd was the order of the night.8221;

How does one remain well-read when herds are on the rampage all around? Put more gently, the problem is this: 8220;To be 8216;well read8217; in Britain or America in 1906 was to have a good library, a good source of literary news, access to a good bookstore and friends in the know about what 8216;everyone8217; is reading. And, of course, lots of time. It was manageable. A person could be well read and still have a life8230; No longer. To be 8216;well read8217; in 2006 requires non-traditional strategies and ruthless short cuts.8221; Every week, Sutherland reminds us, more novels are published than Samuel Johnson had to deal with in a decade. That is: when you8217;re done win the 8220;canon8221;, how are you to keep up with the 8220;well read8221;.

Sutherland8217;s way is to keep consistent the appreciation of novels. And that sentiment lies at the heart of his guide into all that makes up a book: its title, its fonts, its reviews, its history, its heroines, everything. So how do you keep renewing your reading list? Browse, because books are the one thing that can be sampled on the shopfloor. Apply the McLuhan test. Marshall McLuhan once suggested that readers unsure of whether to invest time in a book turn to page 69. Glance at the bestseller lists, but pick up a book soon upon its entry rather that aim to be the three millionth reader of a title. Keep up with the reviews.

Talking of reviews, Sutherland keeps returning to the most famous review that some believe played a part in the 2005 Booker Prize that he was in charge of. John Banville, who eventually won it for The Sea, wrote a scathing review of a book that many believed would eventually win the honour, Ian McEwan8217;s Saturday. Sutherland himself was outraged, and wrote to The New York Review of Books, where Banville8217;s article had been published, saying that the review appeared to be based on a misreading of the novel. His engagement with Banville brought up more fundamental questions. How much of the world within which a novel is set must be known to appreciate a book well? Do errors of detail for example, a gentlemens8217; club in McEwan8217;s book is not open on Saturday mornings, as it is shown to be make a difference to a novel8217;s larger design?

In any case, if you did like Saturday, how did you as a reader react to news that The Sea 8212; overwritten, by most reviews 8212; finally won? Was it outrage? Good. Sutherland noted 8220;the most obvious use of the prize-winning process for the reader8221;: 8220;it enables you challenges you to test your own judgment against that of the panel. Disagreement can often sharpen your critical judgment. Even outrage.8221;

In a year when You are Time magazine8217;s person of the year, you may find that Sutherland8217;s entire effort is to place the reader at the heart of fiction. It8217;s empowering, but as his asides suggest, it8217;s hard work.