The Benefits of Reading a 'Hard' Book

"Every year, I set myself a reading challenge. These are sometimes small-read more poetry; read older books-and sometimes quite large. More than a decade ago, I spent an entire year reading nothing but writing in translation, an experience that fundamentally reoriented my literary habits. Part of my annual resolution is to devote each summer to filling in a major blind spot. I finished Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, for example, over three years, cracking open one gray Vintage volume every June."

"First published in 2000, DeWitt's debut sold well but fell quickly out of print, stranding it in that curious creative purgatory reserved for the deeply loved but commercially overlooked. It became more legend than literature: People whispered about a mind-expanding book crammed with Greek letters, a coming-of-age tale that would teach its audience about philosophy and film history."

The narrator pursues annual reading challenges that range from small goals to ambitious, habit-changing projects. One year was devoted entirely to literature in translation, which reoriented reading habits. Summers are reserved for filling major blind spots, exemplified by a multi-year reading of Marcel Proust. A determined search for a once-popular but out-of-print novel revealed a book that accumulated myth: intimidating foreign alphabets, dense cultural references, and promises of intellectual expansion. Initial intimidation gave way to delight, annotation, and speed-reading. The novelist responsible for the work is portrayed as formidable, producing demanding fiction and confronting a risk-averse publishing industry.

Read at The Atlantic