In Praise of Short Books
I was reading David Gelernter's brilliant Judaism: A Way of Being, when suddenly I had a (non-religious) revelation: I love short books. Gelernter's clocks in at under 250 pages, but its brevity makes it all the more powerful. When I look at my shelves, I realize that some of my other recent favorites -- Paul Berman's Flight of the Intellectuals, Robert Cooper's Breaking of Nations, Robert Kagan's Return of History and the End of Dreams, Shelby Steele's A Bound Man, Benjamin Kunkel's Indecision -- are all quick reads as well.
Maybe I like short books because they give me the feeling of satisfaction which comes with finishing a book that much sooner. Or maybe I like them because editorial constraints force the writer to be pithy.
What do you think? And more important, which short books do you recommend?
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Jun '10
Re: In Praise of Short Books
Two of my favorite books are Daniel Pipe's Communism and Kenneth Minogue's Politics, A Very Short Introduction--both are brilliant and to the point.
Jun '10
Re: In Praise of Short Books
Re my last comment, that should be Richard, not Daniel, Pipe's Communism.
Re: In Praise of Short Books
Ack! Indecision. I'm sorry to say I groaned my way through that book, Matt. Rather than unloading on the poor thing -- which, I understand, resulted in movie rights that went for a million dollars -- I'll ask what you liked about it so much.
Re: In Praise of Short Books
And oh, to be positive, I'll say I'm still a big, big fan of the underrated and quietly devastating Rum Diary by a pre-gonzo Hunter Thompson.
Re: In Praise of Short Books
James, despite its flaws, Indecision had one great upside: humor. Contemporary fiction is far, far too dreary and dull. I like contemporary writers who make me laugh, like Gary Shteyngart and Joshua Ferris. (Though I'm looking forward to Ferris's latest, The Unnamed, with some trepidation -- it seems like he wanted to be "serious" with this one.) I'd also add that Indecision's protagonist, Dwight Wilderding, reminds me of many young people I know.
May '10
Re: In Praise of Short Books
Even Weekly Standard articles are too long for me.
Re: In Praise of Short Books
100% cosign on those two points, Matt. For more on Dwight, I'll recommend my essay on the disrupted '00s forthcoming in a volume edited by one Jonah Goldberg. Sadly, the humor couldn't transcend the cultural moment -- at least for me -- and Indecision contributed ultimately to my determination that I ought to abandon novel-writing (in the midst of outlining the second of two) because I don't want to say what has to be said to capture this moment. Maybe that'll change. A million bucks for movie rights beckons.
May '10
Re: In Praise of Short Books
I think it depends on the topic and the situation. I am usually reading 3 or 4 books at a time, and switch back and forth depending on my mood.
If I want to know the full dope on a significant event, I don't care how long the book is- James Gleick's Genius (Feynman bio), Chambers' Witness, Weinstein's Perjury, David McCullough's Truman, etc. are substantive and all of the pages are needed. I loved the late Robert B. Parker, and most of his mystery novels were way too short. If I'm traveling overseas, I want the longest books I can find- Follett's Pillars and World Without End- so I don't have to carry so many of them (yeah, I know, this trip I am borrowing my wife's Kindle).
But anything on philosophy and sociology, Cliff's Notes.....
Re: In Praise of Short Books
I love short books. I also love short Ricochet posts. Thanks, Matt.
But a couple of weeks ago, I was in a strange city (in more ways than one) with a free evening, and so I went to a cool local bookstore and bought a long, long novel that (to my shame) I never really read all the way through, despite claiming to have read it in at least two advanced English seminars in college -- and I perched myself at the bar in a swank restaurant, ate a delicious meal, and read, quietly, Tristram Shandy.
But for a really short book, right now this one is my favorite.
Re: In Praise of Short Books
Wm F. Buckley's The Fall of the Berlin Wall is a perfect introduction to the Cold War. Brief, tangible and illustrative of the bigger picture while focused on something digestible. I recently passed it on to my teenagers, who found it helpful in grasping the essence of Soviet communism.
May '10
Re: In Praise of Short Books
To understand today's leftist politics, everyone go find a copy of WFB's The Unmaking of a Mayor. 45 years ago and prescient.
Re: In Praise of Short Books
Duane, Unmaking of a Mayor is a personal favorite. I haven't read Fall of the Berlin Wall, but Buckley's Up From Liberalism and Cruising Speed are two short, funny, punchy books every conservative should read.(Cruising Speed is probably my favorite Buckley book, if you don't count his collected speeches, Let Us Talk of Many Things.) Another argument for short books: They provide curious people with quick access to the world of ideas. Here I'm thinking Hitchens's Letters to a Young Contrarian, Rand's Anthem, and (unfortunately) the Communist Manifesto.
Re: In Praise of Short Books
Hitchens is always great for a short book. As an antidote to the Manifesto, Benjamin Constant's Adolphe, sometimes bundled with the very short Red Notebook, is all alternately hilarious and depressing look at romantic idiocy. And Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 is just as paranoid as any Marxist tract, only not utterly humorless. A number of Joseph Conrad's novels are also pretty short, and pretty much required reading.
Re: In Praise of Short Books
Meanwhile, Tyler Cowen suggests that the internet helps us lose interest in long novels.
May '10
Re: In Praise of Short Books
I still like long novels on trips, as long as they are interesting. Most are not.
Jun '10
Re: In Praise of Short Books
James Poulos's recommendation of Joseph Conrad's short work is a good one. Conrad's novellas The Secret Sharer and The Shadowline are superb. Once you read those, turn to his long novel, Nostromo, one of the real classics of the early twentieth century. It's beautifully written, with great characters and a compelling story of political intrigue, love, betrayal, and much more.
May '10
Re: In Praise of Short Books
The Old Man and the Sea. Not one wasted word. Enough said.
Re: In Praise of Short Books
Ted: totally and utterly agree with you about Conrad -- both The Secret Sharer and all of the short works.