Thomas C. FosterRecensioni

This is a pretty straightforward review of how allusion and symbolism work. I will freely admit that I am an extremely literal reader and tend to miss out on a lot of symbolism, so this wasn’t an unwelcome refresher, but it’s also not especially compelling.

It's chock full of great ideas and concepts, and importantly is very accessible and encouraging. The author's voice is a little grating in it's quest to toss the reader zinger after zinger. That said, I appreciate how straightforward the book feels. The author wants writers to overcome technical and emotional hurdles, while busting myths about the process.

I had loved How to Read Literature like a Professor and I very much enjoyed this one. Beyond plot and character development, Foster talks about how a novel engages, how they have evolved and how reads can form special relationships with them. It is a fun lesson in literature with Foster's signature sense of humour to lighten what could be a dull read.
A great way to remind ourselves, as readers, why we love novels!

I read this book to prepare myself to lead a book group discussion on some poems we elected to read. It was very readable, informative, and humorous in all the right places. If you are venturing into reading poetry and don't know beans about it, this is the book for you.

Not an entirely unenjoyable trip through literary criticism. I think I actually learned a thing or two, but if I hadn't been reading this book for a class I probably wouldn't have finished it.

Most of the book was just talking about themes that come up often. This is fair enough, but so many chapters which are "X CAN BE METAPHORICAL TOO" or "Y IS REFERENCED OFTEN" with maybe a paragraph of what the associations are, why this'd be done, etc, feels very rudimentary. The best part of the book is the ending, which takes an excellent short story and provides some analysis of it, but again this analysis is fairly rudimentary - Foster focuses on one theme which isn't as obvious as he tries to treat it as and quotes an essay which is interesting but just points out examples of an image used in the text without really linking it to any other points.

It might not be 1 star bad, but I felt bored and skim read entire chapters. I constantly felt that I could do way better just by reading more books, which appeared to be his point anyway.

I haven't read a better book on reading literature and literary analysis. Must read!

Read it. Mark it. Reread it. Keep it by your bedside table. This is an easily digestible and entertaining dissection on reading lit. I enjoyed it so much I hope he writes a follow-up. I would encourage anyone who wants to read literature with a solid foundation of understanding to spend some time pouring over this book.

Great introduction on reading literature at the symbolic level.

Looks like a great resource for the writing student, but it was more than I needed. I was curious how he approached the subject, and I learned quite a bit about poetry structure that I hadn't known.

I’m particular about the nonfiction books I read. While serving as a high school librarian years ago, I read Thomas Foster’s Twenty-five Books That Shaped America. I enjoyed that one, so I bought this one to see what he had to say about nonfiction.

After an introduction on “Why Critical Reading Matters,” he begins by describing the parts of nonfiction books and the types of nonfiction, then provides a more in-depth look at the kinds of nonfiction book available and evaluate them. Knowing how to appraise them is important because, as Foster points out, no one has time to read a bad book. Nonfiction offers many wonderful things we should explore. But we also need to understand, as he says, “It’s just that…
we can’t always trust what nonfiction offers.”

He ends the book by discussing the internet, social media, and the false information peddled since writing was invented. He provides solid advice for ferreting the inaccuracies, whether due to laziness, mischief-making, or deliberate misrepresentation. Use your critical thinking skills, he urges readers, and actively engage with what you are reading. While his advice isn’t new, it’s solid and has stood the test of time. We all need reminding to be vigilant now and again, especially during our current information overload.

Foster was a long-time English professor, and he developed a way of communicating designed to hold the attention of college students, some of whom were forced to take his classes. His communication-style works; at least, it did for me. He’s funny and picks his examples carefully to hold the interest of today’s readers. For instance, he uses books about Donald Trump to illustrate political writing that is good, mediocre, and poor.

If I could, I’d make this required reading for everyone over sixteen in America. I believe it would aid our public discourse. And heaven knows, we could use that right now. I’ve even seen scholars on YouTube who could improve their rhetoric by reading this book. We all need occasional reminders that our words matter.

“Great novels, certainly, and maybe all novels, change us, but not merely by giving us something special. They also change us because of what we give to them. That’s a winner all the way around.” (Zitat Seite 302)

Inhalt
Eine unbeschwerte Erkundung der weltweit meistgeliebten literarischen Form, so nennt Thomas C. Foster, Professor für englische Literatur und Schriftsteller, dieses Buch. Besser kann der Inhalt nicht beschrieben werden. Er führt uns durch die Welt der Romane, beginnend bei den ersten Werken des 18. Jahrhunderts, über die für das 19. Jahrhundert typischen Romane, bis zu den vielen unterschiedlichen modernen Formen des 20. und frühen 21. Jahrhunderts. Nach einer Einleitung werden in zweiundzwanzig Kapiteln zweiundzwanzig unterschiedlichen Themen, Aspekte und Fragestellungen der literarischen Gattung Roman vertiefend behandelt und mit Beispielen und Zitaten anschaulich erklärt. Das Buch schließt mit einem Fazit und einer Liste mit literaturkritischer Fachliteratur zum Thema Roman, beginnend mit Henry James, The Art of Fiction, aus dem Jahr 1884. Wie Thomas C. Foster selbst erklärt, verzichtet er bewusst auf eine zusätzliche Leseliste der Romane, da das gesamte Buch eine umfassende Lektüreliste ist.

Umsetzung
Ein Thema ist zum Beispiel die Wichtigkeit der ersten Seite eines Romans, wo der Lesende im besten Fall achtzehn unterschiedliche Informationen finden kann, denn die erste Seite muss uns verführen, das Buch lesen zu wollen. Der Blick auf die erste Seite ist in den meisten Fällen die Kaufentscheidung. „Page one is where we have our first meeting of the minds. And where we find out if there will be a page two. (Zitat Seite 34). Gleichzeitig zeigt uns schon die erste Seite, wie der Roman gelesen werden möchte, denn hier finden wir die Erzählfigur, Position, Perspektive, Zeit, Motiv, Form der Sprache. Thomas C. Foster gibt uns eine umfassende Aufstellung der vielen unterschiedlichen Arten, eine Geschichte zu erzählen. Um einen Roman zu verstehen, erklärt er, müssen wir herausfinden, was die Figuren wirklich wollen, was sie antreibt. Natürlich sind auch die verschiedenen Möglichkeiten, eine Geschichte zu beenden, klar und geordnet, oder offen, es dem Lesenden überlassend, eine persönliche Variante zu finden, ein Thema. „Openings tell us where we’re going. Endings tell us where we went.“ (Zitat Seite 277)

Fazit
Auch dieses Buch von Thomas C. Foster ist nur im englischen Original erhältlich, doch es ist keine komplizierte literaturwissenschaftliche Abhandlung. Informativ, interessant und sehr unterhaltsam wurde es bewusst für alle Lesenden geschrieben. Kann man beim Lesen eines Sachbuchs laut lachen? Ja!

“What I’ve learned from all these modern and postmodern works has led me to conclude that it is true of others as well: every work teaches us how to read it as we go along.” (Originalzitat Seite 248)

Thema und Inhalt
Thomas C Foster ist Professor für englische Literatur. Dieses Buch ist eine Art Wegweiser durch die Welt der Literatur und des Lesens. Auf unterhaltsame Art führt er die vielen unterschiedlichen Geschichten, die jemals geschrieben wurden, auf eine ursprüngliche Geschichte zurück, zitiert alte griechische Klassiker, Geschichten aus Religionen und Mythen. Es gibt nur eine einzige Geschichte, erklärt er, die Unterschiede entstehen durch die Art der Schriftsteller und Schriftstellerinnen, sie zu erzählen, und durch uns Lesende, mit welchen Erfahrungswerten wir die Geschichte lesen und für uns selbst auslegen. Diese Ausgabe aus dem Jahr 2014 ist eine überarbeitete Version des 2003 erschienenen Textes, mit neu hinzugefügten Kapiteln und Themen, die sich für Professor Foster aus seinem laufenden Unterricht und den dort gestellten Fragen ergeben haben, sowie zusätzlichen Beispielen aus der aktuellen Gegenwartsliteratur.

Umsetzung
In sechsundzwanzig Kapiteln geht Thomas C. Foster auf die wichtigsten Komponenten einer Geschichte ein, Kapitel siebenundzwanzig ist ein Text, die Kurzgeschichte „The Garden Party“ von Katherine Mansfield, um das nun erworbene Wissen am eigenen Leseverhalten zu testen. Das Buch schließt mit einer Leseliste und einem ausührlichen Index.
In jedem Kapitel geht es um ein bestimmtes Thema, zum Beispiel die Anordnung der einzelnen Figuren, wobei wir hier erkennen, dass es meistens nicht gut ist, direkt neben der Hauptfigur, dem Helden der Geschichte, zu stehen. So lernen wir, zwischen den Zeilen zu lesen, über die Bedeutung nicht nur der einzelnen Figuren nachzudenken und ihren Platz in der Handlung, über die Konflikte und Themen, sondern auch über die Landschaften, das Umfeld, das Wetter, die Jahreszeiten, alle möglichen Formen von Fortbewegung und Reisen und hier sogar auf die jeweilige Richtung zu achten. Dazu kann es sich lohnen, auch Zeichen und Metapher zu hinterfragen. Ungeschulte Hobby-Lesende wie ich denken, zu wenig Erfahrung mit Literatur zu haben, doch Forster bestärkt uns in diesem Buch darin, uns auf all das zu besinnen, was wir aus vergangenen Lektüren wissen, und nicht darauf, was wir nicht wissen. Wichtig ist es, jedes Buch, bildlich gesprochen, zu besitzen, es zu Unserem zu machen, denn jede einzelne Figur, die der Schriftsteller erfindet, wird von uns Lesenden neu erfunden, da wir unsere eigenen Erinnerungen, Erfahrungen und Beobachtungen mit einbringen. „Characters are products of writers‘ imaginations – and readers imaginations.“ (Originalzitat Seite 81)

Fazit
„There comes a point in anyone’s reading where watching for pattern and symbol becomes almost second nature, where words and images start calling out for attention.“ (Originalzitat Seite 304). Dieses vielseitige, interessante, erhellende und unterhaltsame Buch gibt es nur in der englischen Originalsprache, doch es ist sehr angenehm zu lesen und es lohnt sich.

With a few exceptions that I hated, like [The Great Gatsby] (no patience with endless stories
about entitled, boring rich folks), Hemingway with his bullfighters, and boring Augie and Lot 49,
I agreed with about half of the rest of his selections.

Among his Best Reviews are Moby-dick and The Cat in the Hat!

Thomas Foster's presentations are a lot of highly intelligent fun...
...until, toward the end, he compares
[Beloved] with [Moby-dick].

Well geez, sure, yeah, The White Whale would really have been enhanced
with Ishmael deciding to take all HOPE away from Queequeg by killing him. Call me Horrified.

Foster sounds like a fun professor. I learned some new stuff, and I wish I'd thought to read something like this a long time ago. It wasn't quite as detailed as I'd have liked, and it felt difficult deciphering Foster's point at times when he'd gone too far into some of his many examples. I'd say more times than not, though, that his stories and examples were entertaining and served their purpose. The end of his book includes a suggested reading list, for which I'm very appreciative.

I do think it's time that we at least acknowledge the existence of the other hemisphere though. The title of this book *should* have been "How to Read Literature Like a Western Professor". The bible, the Greek mythology, Shakespeare, and familiar folktales are all well and good for defining the myths and lore in the western hemisphere, but it should at the very least be acknowledged that we share the planet with a second hemisphere, whose mythology consists of things altogether different. How are Chinese works interpreted? This question never occurred to me until reading this book, and it's disturbing that Foster doesn't think to even mention literature written by Asian authors.½

This is what I was looking for when I read Roy Thomas' "How to Read a Poem". This breaks it down right down to basics. I'm now feeling like I can confidently jump into reading some poetry.

Winter 2021 (December);

Tested out using this through the year in our classes as a new version instead of the main brick volume (which remains my favorite), and it worked FABULOUSLY. I am going to be integrating this into the classroom every year from here on out.

Not so great, spoils the hell out of some books I haven't read yet.

This book is a non-fiction guide by a professor at the University of Michigan-Flint on how to approach literary reading with a goal of better understanding. It is primarily focused on literature (loosely defined as works related to the human condition or what it means to be human) from the mid-twentieth century and prior. Foster provides insight to help the reader recognize memory, symbol, and pattern, citing examples from notable works. He provides “a broad introduction to the codes and patterns that inform our readings.”

The author desires to help readers decipher hidden meanings. He also admits that we can never know for sure what the author intended. Examples of topics include common themes, archetypes, metaphors, allegory, irony and more. A few specific content areas are examined in depth with supporting cases to show how to delve into the deeper meaning being conveyed, such as violence, sex, seasonality, weather, geography, markings, journeys, meals, and diseases. The author covers the widespread influences of Shakespeare, The Bible, fables, and Greek mythology. With a few exceptions, examples are derived primarily from British and American literature. Spoilers for these works are included to make his points.

One area I found particularly enjoyable was the discussion of how the works in the literary canon are inter-connected, and that authors are influenced by what they have read, known as “intertextuality.” I also appreciated the idea of a reader’s imagination engaging the imagination of the author, who may have lived many years ago, thus giving the reader an idea of his or her world and a sense of historical perspective. Near the end, a short story written by Karen Mansfield is included, and the reader is invited to practice interpretation of the text using the principles previously provided.

This book is written with humor, wit, and self-deprecation. The author does not claim to have all the answers and encourages readers to draw upon their own experiences. If a perspective is supportable in the work, it is valid. I appreciated the inclusion of a suggested reading list at the end. Recommended to people who enjoy analyzing what they read, students that need to read literature for classes, and life-long learners.

Memorable Quote:
“A reader’s imagination is the act of one creative intelligence engaging another.”

better read in highschool by college if you haven't figured it out its definitely hard to pass.
good freshman info book if AP freshman english had it as a summer read and actually read it they would do better.

This is the book I wanted and needed to read, though I did not know that when I found it on a best-of list and put a hold on it at our library.

I committed to reading poetry more than 2 years ago now but I had not had any type of formal poetry education since a one semester elective course in my junior year at university. Prior to that, there were a couple of weeks of learning to read and write poetry in 7th grade english where I famously wrote a haiku about love that my teacher thought was outstanding. Perhaps it was this that has led me all these years later to want to really learn and read more.

Professor Foster's book is entertaining and humorous but it was also serious and I learned topics over again that I had forgotten and I learned much that was new to me. Now that I have finished, I feel less intimidated by the poems I am reading and more aware of what a poem is and does.

The two chapters that stood out for me were Chapter 5, The Long (or short) Gray Line about line length and line breaks and Chapter 6, Our Word is Our Bond which is about word choice or poetic diction. I think more than any areas of this book, these two chapters gave me real insight into the construction of and how to read poetry.

I would have liked that he spend more time on modernist poetry (there is a chapter at the end but not enough, in my opinion) but there were still examples spread throughout the book that he used to illustrate the topics of each of his chapters.

There were also many examples of poems and poetry books by authors I have not read and have put on my TBR list for the future including William Carlos Williams' Sour Grapes, Danusha Lameris' The Moons of August, Marianne Moore's poetry, and Christina Rossetii's poetry.

This is just an excellent little book for a novice poetry reader like myself. A 5-star seal of approval from me.

I have been a fan of Thomas C. Foster's "Professor" books since “How to Read Literature Like a Professor,” but he may have reached the limits of his expertise with “How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor” (2020).

Partly it's a matter of nonfiction being such a broad topic, including everything from biography, history, politics and science to newspapers, magazines and blogs. It's not easy being an authority on everything. Another problem is that Foster's book, being itself nonfiction, doesn't always conform to the author's guidance on what constitutes good nonfiction.

For example, Foster writes, "I have long counseled students of fiction to start doubting the narrator's veracity if they see the word 'I' on the first page. ... The same is true of nonfiction." I am probably not the only reader to check back at the beginning of his own book. His introduction begins with the word "I." His first chapter begins with the word "I'm." (Note that this review also begins with the word "I.")

More serious is the professor's lecturing on objectivity or, more accurately, the lack of objectivity. He offers a lot of good instruction on how to detect an author's particular slant and judge the accuracy of statements. But then Foster himself sometimes often fails the objectivity and accuracy tests. For example, he slams Fox News repeatedly, including by saying the network "does virtually no actual news gathering, relying much more on opinion shows ..." A more objective and accurate writer might also point out that other news networks, including CNN, MSNBC and Newsmax, also depend mostly on opinion shows. And the "virtually no actual news gathering" comment is just blatantly wrong.

Foster criticizes the "fake news" label popularized by President Trump, yet he is all aboard with the misinformation and disinformation terms employed more by those on the left. Many readers may find it hard to tell the difference, other than by the political views of those telling the untruths. The author favors cracking down on misinformation and disinformation, especially in the cyber world. The problem is that most fact-checkers, being themselves biased, also need fact-checkers. And what starts out as fact-checking can easily transform into censorship.

Foster shines in many of the chapters in this book, even if he stumbles in others.

Most of the chapters are very helpful providing clear guidance and examples. Occasionally the advice becomes less clear.

Ok, I am persuaded. I will go back and try again to read those books I avoided in high school and college (except for Faulkner, and the ones I've already read.) Thomas C. Foster is my favorite lit fic professor. Here he presents those books that hung over our under educated heads through school as actual, enjoyable things to read. He opens them up and points at both the delightful and the problematic, a funny and approachable Virgil. My TBR list is longer now.

Very interesting look at novels. Highly recommended to both literature students and non-students.