Welcome, friends, to the Spooky Season, otherwise known as October. I’m surrounded by pumpkin spice everything and Halloween-targeted book lists. This always feels like something of a disconnect, living in Southern California; leaves don’t really change colors and the thermometer is still hovering in the high 80s most days. I grew up in Connecticut, where this time of year meant sweaters, chilly walks to school beneath a canopy of reds and golds, and those gallon jugs of apple cider in the fridge.
But if last month was a transitional time, this month I am fully in autumn mindset, never mind the summer weather. This run up to the end of the year tends to be my busiest time, with work and travel and holiday prep. The flip side of that is I find myself dreaming of time off to just read for pleasure, as this is also the time of year my brain—trained by all those years of academia—yearns for big, smart books that I can sink into, stories that make me think and consider and discover new things. I’m not a huge reader of horror, though I love a classic of the genre as much as the next bookworm, and my taste in witchy or ghost stories veers more toward the literary or romantic versions. But give me a book I can dissect and analyze this time of year and I am delighted.
*Title from La Figlia Che Piange by T.S. Eliot
Coming off of Banned Books Week, in this year of a ridiculous escalation in the banning of books, I’ve been thinking quite a lot about why books are challenged. We draw attention to the banning of books in this season because schools reopen, and that is when book bans feel most obvious. Now, when the focus is once again on learning and discovery, it feels doubly cruel for books to get pulled from library shelves.
Because the types of books being banned are the ones that do exactly what good books are supposed to do. They ask the reader to think, to consider, to view another person’s point of view or way of life. Good books aren’t demanding that a reader agree, just that they see another side of a situation. A book never changed a closed mind. But an open mind will come away with a little something new to think about, or else with the realization that they are not alone in an experience or situation that has been weighing on them.
Children, of course, tend to still have more open minds than adults. Which, of course, is why parents fear allowing them to make up those minds for themselves. It is a terrible thing to send a child to school to be taught how to think and analyze and consider, but refuse to allow them to put those skills to use. And even worse to use legislation to erase the experiences of other children entirely, in hopes of making them vanish as well.
Currently, I am reading BABEL by R.F. Kuang, which has been on my nightstand for a while, due mostly to time constraints, but also partly because I can’t quite bear to reach the end and have no more of it to read. I am hardly the first to sing its praises; it’s been well reviewed and discussed since it came out in late August. But this is a book that hits all my buttons. Set in the 1830s, primarily at Oxford University, it uses the structure of a classic Victorian coming-of-age novel with a touch of fantasy to shine a light on the darker side of translation, the British Empire, and colonialism, while also highlighting the lure of education and knowledge, the fascinating history of language development, and the ups and downs of friendship.
Kuang thoroughly immerses us in this world through the eyes of an outsider, Robin Swift, brought from Canton to London as a child with the expectation that he will continue to study languages and then join Babel, the translation institute at Oxford. Robin’s experiences trying to acclimate and excel allow the reader to truly appreciate the broader politics and social ramifications of everything being done to enable Britain to maintain its position of power, but they also illustrate all the conflicts Robin faces on a more personal basis. Kuang provides even more insight through footnotes, sometimes merely informative and other times snarky and delightful, as well.
Fantasy and science fiction historically address aspects of society, and shine a light on ways in which human beings need to consider their actions. In many of these stories, readers can choose to take the book at face value, engaging with the characters and their adventures in a superficial way for escapist purposes and not thinking too deeply about any greater meaning in the text. Kuang’s work weaves both story and meaning together so flawlessly that there is no avoiding the bigger picture, and to try would rob the reader of an enlightening, gut-punch of a book.
This past spring, Kuang delivered the Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature at Oxford, where she talked about the role of art in times of crisis. BABEL had not yet come out, so there are no spoilers in her lecture, but the work she did on the book clearly informs the direction of her talk. She discussed, among other things, elevating the purpose of writing and reading to more than mere escapism, something that feels imperative in this time when humanities are so often underfunded and undervalued; the lines drawn between meaningful and honest writing and propaganda; and why she hates the marketing term “diversity.” She’s an intelligent, articulate speaker, and I highly recommend both the lecture and the book for anyone who, like me, appreciates the opportunity to stretch their brain.
On the business side of things, I’m excited to be heading off to Surrey, B.C., Canada in a few weeks for the Surrey International Writers’ Conference, once again live and in-person, though with a virtual track as well. This is the 30th anniversary of the conference, which is one of the best events of its kind. I look forward to seeing any of you who might be attending. Be sure to come say hello! And if you are thinking about attending a writing conference in the next year, do keep this one in mind.
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A few more links to share:
How Do You Publish a Book in Translation? – A discussion about translation and its importance in the literary landscape.
Ask Yourself if You’re the Right Storyteller for This Story – A look at what it means to appropriate someone else’s story.
2022 National Book Awards Finalists Announced – The 25 finalists in advance of next month’s awards.
22 Novels You Need to Read This Fall – Lit Hub’s recommendations.
Words of Fire: Writing, Freedom, and the Future – An illustrious line up of writers speak for the PEN America’s centenary event at the New York Historical Society.
Bad Times Ahead: Even the Futurists Have Given Up on the Future – A somewhat depressing but nevertheless interesting look at the slope of progress.
Bookish Travel Essentials for the Upcoming Holidays – A little early maybe, but there are some fun items here for travel at any time of year, and they also make great gifts if you’re one of those folks who gets a jump on their shopping list.
Currently in my teacup:
Pumpkin Spice Rooibos from Trader Joe’s
Currently on my nightstand:
Babel by R.F. Kuang
That’s all for now. Thank you so much for reading. Please do comment if you’d like. I love hearing what you think, what you’re reading, and what you’re up to. Until next time.🥰
Also headed to Surrey (in just a couple weeks!) I'll wave. : ) I love all things Kelly Barnhill, so am now being provoked and delighted by WHEN WOMEN WERE DRAGONS.
Thanks for the recommendation. I intend to request Babel from the library. So many books. So little time to read. I think my favorite for 2022 was Hamnet. Maggie O'Farrell managed quite a feat at writing a historical novel, published in 2020, that continues to haunt the reader for months. She made some kind of magic with that book. I got a kick out of listening to her at The Thoughtful Bro podcast. Fascinating to learn about her research and her choice not to mention Shakespeare by name.