Stories connect us to one another, to different vantage points that enable insight into our shared human condition, and to ourselves.
And sometimes what the mind and “soul” require is a bit of “fluff”, or any other oft-derided form of reading, rather than a deep academic experience — just look at the pair reading together on the cover of “Frog and Toad Are Friends” 😻
brilliant agree totally, I guess lots of ppl just feel validated when they can sit in judgement on someone else's life. I relax my brain with thrillers, whodunnits, the odd kooklit and feel great afterwards. And mass generalisation coming up, loved austen etc victorian literature grew up on it, but always felt book club 20th century worthy tomes were a) boring b) depressing c) often about ppl who were either horrible and/or seemed to be struggling with existential disconnectedness in a flat grey world. Yuck. If anyone wants to crit this suggest gently they may have missed the point. Tee hee
Thank you for this lesson in the history of reading! I had no idea the "improving" thing was a thing. I used to have that attitude about books. Why read if I'm not going to learn? My therapist convinced me that reading light fiction was healthier than doom scrolling Reddit and I couldn't argue with that so I started reading random YA novels I pulled off the shelves in the kids section of our library. I read some amazing stories and it inspired me to start writing my own novel. It'll be a long long project because I'm not experienced at this but I think it's coming along well!
I want to say, though, that I had no idea the woke literature work you did between 2017-2022 caused you to have such a severe breakdown. I remember being in Karlyn Borisenko's "fan club" (before she went completely nuts) and James Lindsay showed up for a Q&A about Cynical Theories and Karlyn asked him how he reads that stuff without going insane. I think he said something like he was doing it as a duty rather than for enjoyment. I do remember a coworker when I was in academia showed me one of the papers that inspired White Fragility and reading it definitely made me feel extremely anxious. I could only imagine that reading that stuff and arguing about it online for 5 years non-stop would cause a stroke! I would be surprised if it DIDN'T. Holy smokes. I am glad you decided to return to write and share your unique and valuable voice with us. The internet is such a terrible place and we definitely don't deserve you, haha...take care of yourself please. I've started and abandoned many substacks and attempts to be a voice in this chaos but was too weak to pursue it due to my fears that something like what happened to you would happen to me. A mind is precious, don't feed it to the trolls!
Absolutely! Yes! I have a degree in English literature from an Ivy League school and would be considered well-read by most standards. I read a LOT, and I love to mix it up (fiction, nonfiction, classics, cozy Cotswolds mysteries, vampires - even the sparkly kind, fairies, and more).
I knew when I saw the title that I would like this essay and it does not disappoint. I was interested to see that you are getting into the Old Norse stuff because, when I think of all the longer fiction works I have enjoyed the most, Njal’s Saga is definitely on my list. It sounds like something impressive to someone who is unfamiliar with it, but reading it is a lot like reading Valley of the Dolls: a page-turner with a badass woman stirring up conflict, and a level of drama most of us are unwilling to tolerate IRL but find fascinating and cathartic on the page.
Re: the reaction to this young woman’s tweet: I can’t read the responses because I deleted my account not long after Musk carried the sink into Twitter headquarters. But I can see what you’ve reprinted here, and I remember the reaction to Ally Louks when she published a picture of herself with her dissertation on Twitter at the end of 2024. It seems pretty clear that there is a sizable army of misogynists on that platform who can’t resist flying into a rage when they encounter a woman who seems young, attractive, and unashamed of her accomplishments. (I don’t mean to imply that they are any nicer to middle aged or old women, but my memory is that the young ones do seem to especially catch their eye.) If the pile of books had been Penguin classics, the bile would had a different color and viscosity, but it would have flowed just as surely. For a number of not-all men, an attractive young woman who’s doing her own thing triggers insecurities, biases, resentments, anxieties, fears, etc., and something makes them feel like they need to pause and heap scorn and verbal abuse rather than scroll on. In their view, this post IS for them, and like dogs who’ve sniffed something familiar, they feel compelled to lift their leg and let loose. Oh well, Matthew 7:6, as I like to say — and would tell that woman, if I knew her.
Thank you for this essay Helen! First, your husband is a hero!
A distant second is the sense I had of feeling affirmed by this essay as I coast along regularly reading Sci-Fi, History, Fantasy, Crime, and bits of Philosophy, Judaics, and Poetry.
Finally, I confess that your exchange with some of your readers over spinach went right over my head.
Yeah, attitudes like hers have always existed. The world is always going to the dogs and everything becoming disgustingly degenerate. It’s tiresome but an aspect of human nature. We will always have those among us who think this way and cherry pick to make their case. I stopped watching when she picked easy erotica by women of today to compare to Austen and the Brontes.
Mind, I shared the video not because I thought you’d actually agree with the points being made in it (and it seems my suspicion was right). I just shared it in the hopes that it will help clarify why there is such contempt for such books.
I guess it is sort of like eating good food. Too little nutrition or too much sugar is bad but pleasure is a value beyond just nutrition. I do think there is substance in a lot of light reading -- good writing, peaking at different worlds Also, I don't find a lot of modern American literature much better than a well written mystery.
Like always it is easier to nitpick what someone else did than trying to do it yourself.
Loved the take, I had been wondering for a while whether fiction can actually be dangerous but now I think its danger is comparable to that of drinking water. If you drink 4 litres in 2 hours then it will be fatal, but normally one wouldn't do that. And drinking water is necessary to function. Now I think it's the same case for fiction (or just slop!), a certain amount is necessary and even healthy but past a certain point it can absolutely rot your brain. But also, reading only important "high-value" esteemed books can also rot your brain.
Murder mysteries (especially if done well, like Agatha Christie’s) are definitely not crap or slop! It can truly be a mental exercise to try to solve the mystery before the detective does!
I think it might be Brenda. She is obsessive. But that’s likely a red herring and she is just socially awkward and lonely. It might be the son-in-law! Pretty sure it’s not the husband. https://amzn.eu/d/gEkW3y4
Indeed! I am reading a domestic thriller version, though, and these are typically derided. Wrongly, I think. Much suspense and I am on the last few chapters. I’m procrastinating finishing it!
Thanks for the rec! I'll add it to my current rotation (I'm reading The Idea of a University by John Henry Newman and rereading some of Ayn Rand's writings.)
While in HS and college, I read vast numbers of mysteries (esp Holmesiana) and science fiction. Thru the Holmes stories, I learned quite a lot about turn-of-the-century Britain and London. Thru science fiction, I expanded my mind. My vocabulary is never exceeded by others. It was a waste of time yes, but not in total. My SAT and ACT scores were extremely high.
Guilty pleasures elicit guilt for a reason - because we know we could be using that time to read/consume higher quality fiction, or more informative non-fiction. It is precisely this culture-wide embracing of consumption of trash literature, television, film, not to mention social media, that has led our culture to be increasingly vapid and anti-intellectual.
Many props to your husband for learning to read as an adult
So true, Helen.
Stories connect us to one another, to different vantage points that enable insight into our shared human condition, and to ourselves.
And sometimes what the mind and “soul” require is a bit of “fluff”, or any other oft-derided form of reading, rather than a deep academic experience — just look at the pair reading together on the cover of “Frog and Toad Are Friends” 😻
brilliant agree totally, I guess lots of ppl just feel validated when they can sit in judgement on someone else's life. I relax my brain with thrillers, whodunnits, the odd kooklit and feel great afterwards. And mass generalisation coming up, loved austen etc victorian literature grew up on it, but always felt book club 20th century worthy tomes were a) boring b) depressing c) often about ppl who were either horrible and/or seemed to be struggling with existential disconnectedness in a flat grey world. Yuck. If anyone wants to crit this suggest gently they may have missed the point. Tee hee
Thank you for this lesson in the history of reading! I had no idea the "improving" thing was a thing. I used to have that attitude about books. Why read if I'm not going to learn? My therapist convinced me that reading light fiction was healthier than doom scrolling Reddit and I couldn't argue with that so I started reading random YA novels I pulled off the shelves in the kids section of our library. I read some amazing stories and it inspired me to start writing my own novel. It'll be a long long project because I'm not experienced at this but I think it's coming along well!
I want to say, though, that I had no idea the woke literature work you did between 2017-2022 caused you to have such a severe breakdown. I remember being in Karlyn Borisenko's "fan club" (before she went completely nuts) and James Lindsay showed up for a Q&A about Cynical Theories and Karlyn asked him how he reads that stuff without going insane. I think he said something like he was doing it as a duty rather than for enjoyment. I do remember a coworker when I was in academia showed me one of the papers that inspired White Fragility and reading it definitely made me feel extremely anxious. I could only imagine that reading that stuff and arguing about it online for 5 years non-stop would cause a stroke! I would be surprised if it DIDN'T. Holy smokes. I am glad you decided to return to write and share your unique and valuable voice with us. The internet is such a terrible place and we definitely don't deserve you, haha...take care of yourself please. I've started and abandoned many substacks and attempts to be a voice in this chaos but was too weak to pursue it due to my fears that something like what happened to you would happen to me. A mind is precious, don't feed it to the trolls!
Be well, friend.
I am much better now!
Absolutely! Yes! I have a degree in English literature from an Ivy League school and would be considered well-read by most standards. I read a LOT, and I love to mix it up (fiction, nonfiction, classics, cozy Cotswolds mysteries, vampires - even the sparkly kind, fairies, and more).
Aargh beware the 'fragile self image'....definitely caught me there, timely reminder duly noted🤪 great article as ever, thanks
I knew when I saw the title that I would like this essay and it does not disappoint. I was interested to see that you are getting into the Old Norse stuff because, when I think of all the longer fiction works I have enjoyed the most, Njal’s Saga is definitely on my list. It sounds like something impressive to someone who is unfamiliar with it, but reading it is a lot like reading Valley of the Dolls: a page-turner with a badass woman stirring up conflict, and a level of drama most of us are unwilling to tolerate IRL but find fascinating and cathartic on the page.
Re: the reaction to this young woman’s tweet: I can’t read the responses because I deleted my account not long after Musk carried the sink into Twitter headquarters. But I can see what you’ve reprinted here, and I remember the reaction to Ally Louks when she published a picture of herself with her dissertation on Twitter at the end of 2024. It seems pretty clear that there is a sizable army of misogynists on that platform who can’t resist flying into a rage when they encounter a woman who seems young, attractive, and unashamed of her accomplishments. (I don’t mean to imply that they are any nicer to middle aged or old women, but my memory is that the young ones do seem to especially catch their eye.) If the pile of books had been Penguin classics, the bile would had a different color and viscosity, but it would have flowed just as surely. For a number of not-all men, an attractive young woman who’s doing her own thing triggers insecurities, biases, resentments, anxieties, fears, etc., and something makes them feel like they need to pause and heap scorn and verbal abuse rather than scroll on. In their view, this post IS for them, and like dogs who’ve sniffed something familiar, they feel compelled to lift their leg and let loose. Oh well, Matthew 7:6, as I like to say — and would tell that woman, if I knew her.
Thank you for this essay Helen! First, your husband is a hero!
A distant second is the sense I had of feeling affirmed by this essay as I coast along regularly reading Sci-Fi, History, Fantasy, Crime, and bits of Philosophy, Judaics, and Poetry.
Finally, I confess that your exchange with some of your readers over spinach went right over my head.
https://substack.com/@helenpluckrose/note/c-196383747?r=1nm3qt&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web
Exactly my feelings on the topic.
I forgive you for your spinach apologism.
Spinach is great. So are murder mysteries 💀🔪 Also, I enjoy opera AND hip-hop. People are complicated.
Tut at your first sentence there, madam.
;) Julia Child’s recipe in one of her later cookbooks is what finally won me over.
I say my favourite authors are Kafka, Dickens, Beckett and the Bröntes, but you’ll be more likely to find me reading Lee Childs or China Mieville
Wonderful post Helen!
I think this video by The Second Story best explains why there is so much contempt for reading such contemporary books: https://youtu.be/ffvRhsViyIQ?si=6QUXJPt1LkVFiM7Z
Yeah, attitudes like hers have always existed. The world is always going to the dogs and everything becoming disgustingly degenerate. It’s tiresome but an aspect of human nature. We will always have those among us who think this way and cherry pick to make their case. I stopped watching when she picked easy erotica by women of today to compare to Austen and the Brontes.
Mind, I shared the video not because I thought you’d actually agree with the points being made in it (and it seems my suspicion was right). I just shared it in the hopes that it will help clarify why there is such contempt for such books.
It does! It reminds me that human nature does not change too!
I guess it is sort of like eating good food. Too little nutrition or too much sugar is bad but pleasure is a value beyond just nutrition. I do think there is substance in a lot of light reading -- good writing, peaking at different worlds Also, I don't find a lot of modern American literature much better than a well written mystery.
Like always it is easier to nitpick what someone else did than trying to do it yourself.
Loved the take, I had been wondering for a while whether fiction can actually be dangerous but now I think its danger is comparable to that of drinking water. If you drink 4 litres in 2 hours then it will be fatal, but normally one wouldn't do that. And drinking water is necessary to function. Now I think it's the same case for fiction (or just slop!), a certain amount is necessary and even healthy but past a certain point it can absolutely rot your brain. But also, reading only important "high-value" esteemed books can also rot your brain.
I find it excellent to wind the brain down in the evening. I like a good satisfying murder mystery!
Murder mysteries (especially if done well, like Agatha Christie’s) are definitely not crap or slop! It can truly be a mental exercise to try to solve the mystery before the detective does!
I think it might be Brenda. She is obsessive. But that’s likely a red herring and she is just socially awkward and lonely. It might be the son-in-law! Pretty sure it’s not the husband. https://amzn.eu/d/gEkW3y4
Indeed! I am reading a domestic thriller version, though, and these are typically derided. Wrongly, I think. Much suspense and I am on the last few chapters. I’m procrastinating finishing it!
Thanks for the rec! I'll add it to my current rotation (I'm reading The Idea of a University by John Henry Newman and rereading some of Ayn Rand's writings.)
While in HS and college, I read vast numbers of mysteries (esp Holmesiana) and science fiction. Thru the Holmes stories, I learned quite a lot about turn-of-the-century Britain and London. Thru science fiction, I expanded my mind. My vocabulary is never exceeded by others. It was a waste of time yes, but not in total. My SAT and ACT scores were extremely high.
Guilty pleasures elicit guilt for a reason - because we know we could be using that time to read/consume higher quality fiction, or more informative non-fiction. It is precisely this culture-wide embracing of consumption of trash literature, television, film, not to mention social media, that has led our culture to be increasingly vapid and anti-intellectual.