I recently finished How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster which I read as an introduction into the world of reading literature at a deeper level. The book was written in such a way that was informative and instructive without making the reader feel like a complete idiot (for which I am extremely appreciative). His book introduced me to looking for themes, recognizing symbols (and what they stand for), and the importance of realizing where the origins of a particular story lie and, as a result, what the author is trying to accomplish. This isn't the first time I've read something like this, as I've skimmed through other books on this subject before, but it is the first time I've really paid attention and have gotten the message that if I want to know and understand literature, I have to be willing to start at the beginning and employ a way of reading that is (as of right now) foreign to me. In other words, I am about to embark on a journey of my own.
Foster gave numerous examples from novels, plays, poetry, and movies to reinforce the points he was making. Fortunately for me, there was a handy reading list at the end of the book with explanations as to why the author felt they should be included. I dutifully wrote down titles and authors of literature a) I had never heard of before or b) I avoided like the plague. With this list in hand, I made a trip yesterday to Half Price Books and went to the Classical/Poetry/Drama section. I stood there, along with some high school students and their parents, looking for Sophocles, Homer, Shakespeare, and the like. I was surprised at how many of the titles I was able to find, and - a bigger surprise - I wasn't cringing! Snippets of what Foster said about them kept flitting about in my mind, and I was actually excited to be taking them home. In addition to Sophocles (The Oedipus Cycle), Homer (The Iliad) and Shakespeare (sonnets), I found a copy of Bulfinch's Mythology, Samuel Beckett's play, Waiting for Godot, some poetry by Robert Frost and William Butler Yeats, and Beowulf as translated by Seamus Heaney.
A side trip: While I was looking for Beowulf, I found another volume translated by Heaney that caught my eye entitled, Sweeney Astray: A Version from the Irish, a translation of the medieval Irish work Buile Suibhne. Remembering that Foster said you can't go wrong reading anything written or translated by Heaney, I pulled it off the shelf to take a look. Folded inside was a flyer from the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, announcing Seamus Heaney as being in residence for two dates at Columbia, Maryland. (How on earth it got to Cincinnati, Ohio from Columbia, Maryland is anyone's guess.) This made me especially curious, and to my surprise and utter delight, I found that the volume was inscribed by the Nobel laureate himself! It just goes to show that you never know what you will find in a used bookstore.
Back to my journey. I am happy with the books I purchased yesterday and although I know I have not begun to scratch the surface and will be continuing to add books to this pile, I feel a little better armed and ready to move on to the next baby step. Foster has another book of a similar nature, How to Read Novels Like a Professor, that I want to read before tackling - and following - Susan Wise Bauer's The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education that You Never Had. I read through this book four or five years ago and found it interesting, but couldn't be bothered to follow her direction and methods in order to change the way I read and apply it to interpreting literature. (Another instance of avoiding the plague.) This time, I'm actually looking forward to it. I also want to revisit Jane Smiley's Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel and, of course, there are those MIT online courses I can use to supplement all of this. I feel my brain exploding already!
I have finally realized that in order to get somewhere, you have to begin at the beginning, and that is where I am. It is my hope that this journey will be as enjoyable as it will be educational.