Mark’s Reviews > How to Read Literature > Status Update

The chapter on interpretation was the best by far and the most illuminating on how to actually analyze literature and write about it. Having a chapter on the value of literature, i.e. whether it is good or bad, is a smart idea and I’m excited to see what the chapter has to say

I’ve found his chapter on interpretation to be the best chapter in the book so far

I enjoy Eagleton’s discussion of literature and reality. Literature is not real is a literal sense. It doesn’t make any proposition—it is neither true nor false. Therefore, we are wrong to judge a book based on how “realistic” it is

Finished “Openings”. At the end of the chapter, Eagleton clarified that the purpose of the chapter was to give some examples to illustrate the process of literary analysis. He says the chapter focused on the “micro” aspects of reading and that the next few will focus on the “macro”. Eagleton seems a bit pretentious so far. His off-key color comments are also strange and add nothing to the text

The first chapter is called “openings”, not because it’s the opening chapter but rather because it discusses opening sentences in literature. So far, I haven’t enjoyed this book. Eagleton will give an example of an opening and give his thoughts on it, then move on to the next example with little to nothing connecting them. It seems more like the ramblings of a professor than a fleshed out, organized book

This book has maybe the most concise introduction I have ever read. I do appreciate that it’s straight to the point and clear about what the author intends to do