Dissecting Literature Series Intro

[originaly published at Halcja's place, January 19, 2017]

Hello there, friends! Today I'll tell you about what I have in mind for this blog when it comes to book-themed posts and reviews. What I've noticed from my previous blogging experience it's common practice to review books, be it ARCs or something you've picked out from your home library, giving the potential reader a general idea of what to expect from the plot and characters. Personally, I was never able to do that sort of book reviews.

When it comes to books it's always personal for me. Books trigger something in me, provoking thoughts and bringing out feelings from deep within. Every book has something that goes beyond the story. It has a piece of the author's heart and soul. The more I read the more I see how many books are written from the personal experience of the author, which they often admit themselves. Books are a reflection of the author's personal surroundings. And you can notice it in every book once you start paying attention. Whether it's a romance story, a dystopia or a memoir. Okay, it's probably obvious with that last part, but still, it's a fact not easy to discard that each author leaves a piece of himself in every book he writes. After all, they say that you should write what you know.

I started thinking about it. And I thought a lot about how books should not be taken out of the context of the time when they were written. Every time I read a book I would simultaneously read up on the author's biography, what was going on in his life at the time he was writing and how it had affected it. This helped me look at these stories from an entirely different perspective.

Another thought that came to my mind was that many books I am reading are truly timeless. Their morals and problematics can be applied to my everyday life even though these books were written fifty years ago. Is this what they mean when they say that times change but people stay the same?

Whenever I read a book and review it I want to focus on specific topics that struck me as particularly important or problematic. They may have little to do with the main plot and characters. Sometimes it's just a short dialog in a subplot or even a very well-said quote.

A book is so much more than what can be said in its synopsis.

That's how I came up with "dissecting" literature. What I'm going to do here is basically pick out a thought or a quote that lead me to thinking about something beyond the story and write about that. Apply the wisdom of the books to everyday life's struggles.

I'm really fond of this idea because it means that I can come back to one book as many times as I like, discovering more and more layers of the story. That's what I think reading a really good book should be about. What do you think?