Madam, – In response to Mary O’Donnell’s article about book clubs (Weekend Review, September 12th), I feel obliged to defend book clubs and, indeed, readers in general.
Ms O’Donnell’s article was a piece of shameless intellectual elitism and displayed precisely the sort of attitude that is driving people away from reading. Reading is for everyone, not just those who will appreciate a book the “right” way. Reading should always be motivated by enjoyment, rather than some misplaced sense of intellectual duty.
Furthermore, Ms O’Donnell has some rather heavyweight competition in her bid to impose a “right” and “wrong” way to read a book. Roland Barthes, when he proclaimed The Death of the Author in 1967, freed a text from authorial control and gave the power to the reader to interpret it however they wished.
Some readers enjoy having their perceptions challenged, their boundaries pushed and their intellects tested. Conversely, others enjoy curling up with something formulaic and predictable. As long as they enjoy it, why not?
In an age where television, YouTube and computer games are constantly encroaching on reading, surely reading of any sort should be a matter for praise rather than derision? So, don’t let Ms O’Donnell scare you off: join a book club, pick up a book – be it Dickens or Dan Brown; Joyce or Jilly Cooper – read it and think whatever you like about it. – Is mise,
OWEN Mc NESTRY,
Myrtle Park,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.