I agree with a lot of these points, but it seems like you’re arguing for reading fiction, while the people you refer to are arguing for podcasts over non-fiction. It would be interesting to see someone fully articulate the case for reading a non-fiction book rather than a summary of the main points or a podcast where the author explains the whole thing in a far shorter time.
There are nonfiction books which lose a lot in summarisation. This is almost the definition of a great book. Take Wittgenstein’s Tractatus : its central rhetorical move, which is also one of its main points about metaphysics, will simply not happen unless you make an effort to read it.
The question assumes that books are just baggy vehicles for schematic bullet-point arguments. Julia Galef has a wonderful list of the many other ways books can update you.
Hello Alexander, Thank you so much for your comment. You are right, I don’t think I sufficiently made the case for reading non-fiction books specifically and that my post blurred between the two genres a bit too readily. However, I think a lot of the arguments for fiction are true for non-fiction as well, namely, quality of prose, deep focus, and close reading. I think reading a whole non-fiction work rather than a summary helps the content go from disparate facts to being situated within a web of context. In this respect, I think we better retain the major points. I don’t know if this is universal, but when I read a summary it isn’t nearly as impactful. This seems to suggest that impact comes from more than just a summation and instead from the other elements that an author is able to establish within a longer framework.
I agree with a lot of these points, but it seems like you’re arguing for reading fiction, while the people you refer to are arguing for podcasts over non-fiction. It would be interesting to see someone fully articulate the case for reading a non-fiction book rather than a summary of the main points or a podcast where the author explains the whole thing in a far shorter time.
There are nonfiction books which lose a lot in summarisation. This is almost the definition of a great book. Take Wittgenstein’s Tractatus : its central rhetorical move, which is also one of its main points about metaphysics, will simply not happen unless you make an effort to read it.
The question assumes that books are just baggy vehicles for schematic bullet-point arguments. Julia Galef has a wonderful list of the many other ways books can update you.
(So as not to be mystical, here’s something which sketches what the Tractarian move is. But trust me, it isn’t the same.)
Hello Alexander,
Thank you so much for your comment. You are right, I don’t think I sufficiently made the case for reading non-fiction books specifically and that my post blurred between the two genres a bit too readily. However, I think a lot of the arguments for fiction are true for non-fiction as well, namely, quality of prose, deep focus, and close reading. I think reading a whole non-fiction work rather than a summary helps the content go from disparate facts to being situated within a web of context. In this respect, I think we better retain the major points. I don’t know if this is universal, but when I read a summary it isn’t nearly as impactful. This seems to suggest that impact comes from more than just a summation and instead from the other elements that an author is able to establish within a longer framework.