Tuesday, June 16, 2009


'Beach read' takes on new meaning
Julia Keller CULTURAL CRITIC , Chicago Tribune
June 14, 2009

Neil Gaiman and Elmore Leonard would seem to have little in common -- the former is a fantasy writer who wears only black, the latter is a crime writer who doesn't care about what he wears -- yet during separate appearances at last weekend's Printers Row Lit Fest, they made the same point: Beach vacations can be boring.That insight may help to explain how the phrase "a good beach read" -- commonly employed to describe a brashly captivating and unashamedly shallow novel -- got started. People who don't enjoy splashing in the ocean or sitting in the sun, but who still want to indulge in a family vacation with those who do, require a diversion.I've always been slightly disappointed, though, at the so-so books allowed to cluster beneath the "beach read" rubric. Why not raise the bar a bit for beach reading?

If you're on vacation, presumably you're enjoying a brief respite from the cares of work and thus can focus on something other than meeting deadlines and pleasing bosses. Your mind is free to explore sea-themed novels that challenge and provoke.
Beach reading needn't mean sinking down into the plummy embrace of Mary Higgins Clark; it can also mean a dip into the bracing waters of something new and different, or old and different.

The best beach read of all time is "To the Lighthouse," Virginia Woolf's luminous 1927 novel that is about -- aptly -- a seaside vacation, although admittedly that's a bit like saying " Moby Dick" is about a fishing trip. This is the most accessible of Woolf's works, yet many people still shy away from it for casual reading, perhaps because the novel is so closely identified with term papers and stuffy lectures and dreary assignments to find and list all the symbols.
Read the full piece here.

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