The Shelf: Adventures in Extreme Reading by Rachel Scherzer

84 Book Review >>> Rachel Scherzer The Shelf: Adventures in Extreme Reading

Rose, Phyllis. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2014. 263 pp.

As a literary critic, college professor, and nonfiction writer, Phyllis Rose has spent her life immerged in the world of literature. In both her personal and professional reading, however, she has felt that her choices have been dictated by what is considered canonical or popular, choices that are almost always dictated by others, which has left out a variety of books and authors from her reading lists. Thus, Rose devises an experiment that will allow her “to sample, more democratically, the actual ground of literature” (1). She challenges herself to read through an entire randomly selected shelf in the New York Society Library. To ensure variety, Rose devised several rules that limited the number of books by each author, eventually leading her to the LEQ to LES fiction shelf. Rose’s chosen shelf allows a variety of books from different time periods, different genres of literature, and different geographic locations, allowing for a broad range of exploration through the pages of the novels. Phyllis Rose presents this reading adventure through the shelf by engaging with the books from both her personal background as a lover of literature and from her professional background as a college professor, literary critic, and writer. The examinations of each novel, allow the reader to journey alongside Rose as she goes through the process of reading, from the struggle or ease of reading, to the background research each book inspires and the unique stories that develop from her experience of reading the particular combination of novels present on the shelf. Reading A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov, for example, Rose approaches a Russian classic with high hopes of a transformative literary experience. Her reading becomes complicated over the issue of translations, especially when she chooses to start with the strongly opinioned and over researched translation by another Russian literary great, Vladimir Nabokov. Her journey continues by reading Gaston Leroux, which allows Rose to experience the breadth of his literary career, reading early detective novels and The Phantom of the Opera, examining how a relatively unremarkable novel spawned numerous works for stage and screen. In the work of Rhonda Lerman, Rose finds a new personal favorite author, as well as questions about what makes an author choose to stop writing or publishing. The work of Margaret Leroy and Lisa Lerner allow the examination of women in literature, especially in regards to literature about motherhood. Several authors bring forward the question of national literature versus universal literature, while the massive work Gil Blas by Alain Le Sage explores early picturesque literature that focused on adventure and creates a story with massive scope. Using the detective fiction by John Lescroart, Rose explores the most lucrative and popular form of literature and what about it appeals to it massive following of readers. Finally, Rose reads what she considers truly bad literature by William Le Queux, whose massive output of text never reached the level of great literature,

but significantly impact authors like Ian Fleming and even led the creating of the British security service MI5. Throughout The Shelf, Rose engages with questions about the divisions in literature. Why are genres more esteemed? What makes a person want to write a novel? Why do women continue to be underrepresented in the literature world, both in numbers of books published and general reputation? Is reading a classic a better use of time than reading a mystery novel? Rose reviews these questions and others with a level of curiosity and acceptance, allowing every type of reading and every type of reader to be appreciated on its own terms and values. Books are appreciated for their value in any form, even books that Rose personally finds extremely bad. At the same time, she grapples with the unanswerable question of what books deserve to be kept in a library, devoting an entire chapter to how a library determines what books remain on the shelves, while also including references to the possibilities e-Readers. Through her book, Rose advocates for a reading practice that motivated by personal taste, allowing each individual room to create their own criteria of literature. The Shelf is a book for anyone who loves the adventure of reading, whether one is a casual reader of detective novels or a serious literary critic. Phyllis Rose’s diplomatic approach to reading allows for the merit of all types of reading and all types of literature, advocating for an exploration of literature that frees itself from a strict set of rules about what kind of literature is worthy. By exploring a wide range of genres and literary issues, Rose is able to explore reading selections as one truly experiences them in a library. Rose advocates for the common experience of reading as something that is shapes by the individual, while still allowing the reviews and literary critics to have their place in the world of literature. The Shelf brings back the notion of falling in love with literature on your own terms, just like one might as a child exploring the library shelf with no prior agenda. Rose’s book is for anyone who wants to regain that child’s experience exploring in the library and truly go on a literary adventure of his or her own.