TOW #20: IRB (How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read)

*Citations are difficult; this is being read on Kindle Cloud, which doesn't even technically give page numbers.


Even the most avid readers occasionally find themselves attempting to discuss books they haven't thoroughly read. Fear not, readers, for Frenchmen Pierre Bayard is here to destigmatize skimming, forgetting, and lying in his book, How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read. The book is broken into three parts: types of "not reading," types of social situations, and types of behavior. Though writing on an unconventional and slightly ironic topic, Bayard uses plenty of examples to provide a guide to discussing a book you're not completely familiar with.

From Oscar Wilde to the movie Groundhog Day, Bayard draws examples from a variety of sources to convey his message that you can, in fact, talk about books you haven't read. He labels them based on his own scale of familiarity: SB for a book he's skimmed, HB for a book he's heard of, and FB for a book he's forgotten. He then rates and critiques them, since, as he points out, "there is, after all, no reason for me to refrain from passing judgment on whatever works I come across, even if I have never heard of them before." Bayard's practical use of his own principles gives the reader a clearer understanding of the book's message and demonstrates how his tactics appear to other people when used properly. The variety in Bayard's sources allows him to prove the universality of his claims.

Bayard also gives examples of real-life situations in which this information may become useful. As a literature professor, he often finds himself needing to talk about a book he hasn't read. He then employs his own book-talking strategy because, as he says, "There is a risk that at any moment my class will be disrupted and I will be humiliated." Showing the reader how he uses the book in his own life grounds the information in reality and gives it more credibility. He also uses non-personal examples, such as a hypothetical man going to a large convention and meeting the author of books he has yet to read. The more examples Bayard gives, the more useful the book.

Through several types of examples from several different media, Bayard demonstrates his theory that understanding the "essence" of a book is more important than knowing the content, and is therefore enough to get by in a conversation.