I once saw this question being posed to the online community, and I honestly wasn’t quite sure how I’d respond to it then, and I’m not quite sure how I would respond to it now. I’d thought that as far as literary studies go, there were a number of specific styles of “reading,” but when I try to look them up I cannot seem to find anything concrete. There is “close-reading,” of course, which seems to be a blanket statement for the process of putting together a literary analysis, but anything below that is just a series of strategies and tips meant to help teachers direct their students through it.
But I know how I like to read, and I’m confident that for many other avid readers the procedure is so much more in depth than just attaching sounds to symbols on a page until they form words and sentences. Reading is, after all, the process of extracting meaning from the written word. But as far as literature goes, “meaning” can run quite deep.
I prefer to take a story in as naturally as I can. Whenever I pick up a book (at least, outside of a literature class), I don’t set out with the intention of reviewing or critiquing; my intention is to enjoy a well-crafted story. Enjoyment is first and foremost why I read, and denying myself the chance to just take a book in without having to concentrate right away on the bigger picture is denying myself the enjoyment of reading.
But as I delve further into a book, my own close-reading process begins to kick in almost automatically. I don’t exactly mark pages with highlights and scribbles, but once I begin noticing recurring themes and symbols, I make sure to take note of it. I once had a writing instructor teach me that behind every “lowercase ‘a’” story, there is a “capital ‘A’” story, meaning every story has an underlying message for its audience. When I take note of recurring themes and symbols, I am interpreting the story behind the story.
This is why I try to add a little close-reading within my book reviews; I believe that being able to spot the “capital A” behind every plot is equivalent to truly understanding the heart of the story. And this attention to detail is what helps me look at it with a more critical eye further down the line; whatever the plot or the characters, the real story is what is being hinted at beneath the surface.
Night Owls, how do you locate meaning in what you read? Do you prefer to just escape your world for an hour or two, or do you like finding stories that have a lot going on beneath the surface?
