Dirda On Books Michael Dirda Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, April 7, 1999

Michael Dirda The Washington Post

Michael Dirda's name appears weekly in The Post's Book World section: – If he's not reviewing a fat literary biography or an ambitious new novel, he's likely to be writing a light-hearted essay about the joys and burdens of living in a house filled with way too many books. Though holding a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Cornell, Dirda is still smart enough to be an unabashed fan of "The Simpsons," noting that "the show's genius derives from its details." He also loves P.G. Wodehouse, intellectual history, children's books and locked room mysteries--Just the sort of range you'd expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner for distinguished criticism.

These days, Dirda says he spends inordinate amounts of time mourning his lost youth and daydreaming ("my only real pastime"). Otherwise he just reads books and writes about them, with occasional visits to second-hand bookstores in search of treasures. He claims that the happiest hours of his week are spent sitting in front of a computer working on his reviews and Readings columns. Never afraid of self-criticism and in fact pretty good at it, Dirda once noted: "Do not imagine that I regard my taste for literary artifacts as anything but shameless and vulgar. I have sunk so low as to covet Edward Gorey coffee mugs. I yearn for a bust of Dante to place on a bookcase."

Michael Dirda: Welcome to Dirda on Books. As usual, you're welcome to ask me any questions about publishing, reviewing, collecting; about my own reviews and essays; or about any other aspect of the book industry. So here we go!

Fairfax, VA: Hi Mr. Dirda: What ballyhooed, publicity-hyped book did you read that you found most disappointing when you finished it?
--Marilyn--

Michael Dirda: One of the advantages to being an editor at Book World is that I'm able to sample the books I review--as a result, I nearly always pick books I'm pretty sure to like. Now and again, I do find a dud: Years ago I reviewed one of Judith Krantz's novels and found it amazingly bad--and I like popular fiction. I remember ending the piece with a sentence something like "People sometimes lament that good trees were used to produce a certain book. In the case of Judith Krantz's Dazzle I even feel bad for the ink and glue."

Tiajuana, B.C.: Can you recommend a book on the technique and craft of writing fiction?

Michael Dirda: For me the most inspiring books on writing (fiction mainly) were the first two or three collections of the Paris Review Writers at Work interviews--as a boy I almost memorized Faulkner's comments, and remember Simenon saying how Colette told him to write as sparely as possible. As for practical books: John Gardner has one (have forgotten the title), with lots of exercises; there's a classic by Dorthea Brande called Writing a Novel; and R.V. Cassill did a little one called Writing Fiction. My advice--and this is from a failed fiction writer (at least for now)--is to pay close attention to the books you read--try to figure out how they work as artifacts.

Michael Dirda: People have been asking about archived reviews. If you want to see what the Post has online, try http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/books/features/recent.htm for current books, or try the archive search, which will cost you some modest sum, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/archives/front.htm. Simples and best solution of all: Subscribe to Book World!

Dallas TX: Have you ever read Absalom! Absalom!? It is by far his best work, and reading it might change your admiration of Faulkner "from afar" to an active and more involved appreciation. Don't let his later books, the hype and the endless Faulkner-stylists stop you from reading his best work.

Michael Dirda: I've read Sound and the Fury, The Unvanquished, and lots of stories, but somehow missed Absalom, which my friend Dr. Dawn Trouard--a Faulkner expert--also assures me is his best book. I plan to go on a Faulkner and American literature binge this fall. So I'll report back later in the year.

Washington, D.C.: What is the current definitive translation into English of Proust? Is there still controversy regarding the translation of the French title into "Rembrances of Things Past?"

Michael Dirda: The current standard translation is Scott Moncrieff's, revised by Terence Kilmartin, then further corrected by D.J. Enright. There are two new translations in the works: one by Richard Howard (long awaited), and another undertaken by a team of six or so different translators (including John Sturrock, I believe). The new translations now call the novel In Search of Lost Time.

Washington, D.C.: I think that much of Saul Bellow's work seems dated now. I was wondering if you had an opinion.

Michael Dirda: Don't really know about this: Writers often start to seem dated late in their careers--usually just before they astonish us with something new and unexpected. But I haven't reread Bellow's early books in many years. Still, that zingy style is a marvel; he's certainly the main influence on Martin Amis, who is certainly among the hipper modern novels d'un certain age.

Alexandria, VA: I have several old books. Is there a source one may use to find the value of these books?
Thank you.

Michael Dirda: Look in the yellow pages under Books Used and Rare; then pick a second hand book dealer and give him or her a call. There are also price guides, but these tend to be for more desirable (ie. expensive)items. For modern firsts you could try Collected Books, edited by Allen and Pat Ahearn.

Arlington, VA: This may be too wild a question but you do like Lolita which has that sort of reputation, so, can you recommend any good literary pornography?

Michael Dirda: Lolita is pretty low-key pornography. But Ok, for literary porn, try: The Story of O, by Pauline Reage; the novels of Georges Bataille (Story of the Eye) and Pierre Klossowski (Roberte, Ce Soir); Kraft Ebbing's Venus in Furs; John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Fanny Hill), Aubrey Beardsley's Under the Hill, Anais Nin, Delta of Venus. All these books have philosophical or literary rationales to their exploration of sexuality. Which means that some are hardly erotic at all. There is, of course, a great flowering of erotic writing these days, much of it by women. Michele Slung, for example, has edited anthologies which mingle sex and horror, ie I Shudder at Your Touch (great title).

Washington, DC: I am especialy fond of Madeleine L'Engle's books. Are you familiar with her work? Why do you think there are not more writers in the same vein? Too generic Christian-Episcopalian perhaps?

Michael Dirda: I like A Wrinkle in Time. You might try Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife--both great fantasies, using Christian mythology but in a far more critical, not to say disturbing way.

Madison WI: Can you give some advice about weeding books out of one's' library? How do you choose which to discard? How often? What do you do with them? Etc.

Michael Dirda: You weed differently at different ages. Some people save books they want to reread; others books they want to read. I've recently culled a lot of my books--getting rid of secondary criticism (except for biographies), giving up some big sets (the complete Hazlitt), which I realized I'd never read and some scholar might need, tossing out paperbacks of easily available fiction. Keep the books you can't bear to part with--that's really the only rule. You can sell your books to a dealer or donate them to your local library or charitable book sale.

Washington, DC: I'm interested in Brazilian literature -especially short stories-. What authors would you recommend? And which translations are the best?

Michael Dirda: Obviously you should read Machado de Assis--Epitaph for a Small Winner; Dom Casmurro; PHilosopher or Dog. He's witty, ironic, sexy--somewhat like Italy's Italo Svevo. There are new translations of some of machado's books (not particularly better than the earlier ones, in my view). There are also anthologies of Brazilian short stories--can't remember the titles--but you could starty with theselection in A Hammock Under the Mangoes, which covers Latin American short fiction in general.

Washington, DC: Can you recommend any good fantasy-science fiction books?

Michael Dirda: There are hundreds of wonderful fantasy and science fiction novels. A few favorites--Fantasy:The Once and Future King, by T.H. White; The Dying Earth, by Jack Vance; the Jorkens stories of Lord Dunsany. Science fiction: the novels of H.G. Wells, Philip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard; the stories of Theodore Sturgeon and Avram DAvidson (also fantasy). If you can read only one sf novel, try Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination. If you can only read one fantasy novel, try John Crowley's Little, Big.

Garnet Gulch, MO: Do you percieve a difference in the quality of literary criticism between critics who are best known as creative writers -e.g. John Updike, T.S. Eliot- and those whose primary job is to write criticism?
Have you ever written or published literarture in any other form -i.e. novels, short stories, plays, poetry-?

Michael Dirda: All the greatest critics have also been great creative artists--Coleridge, Eliot, Johnson etc. (Great scholars are great in different ways). A novelist or poet tends to make his criticism an aspect of his own creative life, which makes it personal,as well as important. I've written half a novel, 20 or so short stories, a play, lots of poetry--none of it particularly good and almost none of it published. But then I don't think of myself as a critic particularly--I view myself more as an essayist and appreciator.

Washington, D.C.: Have you read Salman Rushdie's new work? and if so please give us a preview of your review or at least a nibble of how it ranks versus his other works. Thanks.

Michael Dirda: Haven't read the new Rushdie. I thought The Moor's Last Sigh, his previous novel, quite wonderful.

Washington, D.C.: I just read In Plato's Cave, the memoir of Alvin Kernan. Could you recommend any additional academic memoirs?

Michael Dirda: Your best bet is to check out festschrifts devoted to favorite scholars or introductions to collections of posthumous essays. Harry Levin, for instance, writes engaging memoirs of both Erich Auerbach and Leo Spitzer; there's a good piece on Ernst Curtius in a book devoted to Jewish intellectuals who came to this country from Germany. I'm sure my mind is blanking on some good titles here--but you might try the wonderful comic novels about academe: DAvid Lodge's Small World, Randall Jarrell's Pictures from an Institutino; Malcolm Bradbury's The History Man.

Washington, DC: Did you see the Harper's Magazine series on Shakespeare's identity and what is your stance on the debate?

Michael Dirda: Saw it, but didn't read it. I'm an unreconstructed Shakespearean. I've always felt that those who maintain that the Earl of Oxford (the leading alternate candidate these days) wrote the plays are betraying an implicit elitism and favoritism. You don't need to have gone to university to be a genius. But these are roiled waters. I recommend that you read S. Schoenbaum's magisterial book, Shakespeare's LIves, which considers the various biographical myths about the Bard. A very witty and scholarly book--by a confirmed Shakespearean.

Washington, DC: This is the same person who asked by fantasy and science fiction. You recommended some excellent books, which I have already read. I wonder if you could recommend anything more recent? Thanks

Michael Dirda: Try William Gibson, Jonathan Lethem, Elizabeth Hand, Jonathan Carroll, Angela Carter, Paul di Filippo.

Arlington Va: Please name 2 or 3 of the best locked-room mysteries you would recommend as 'must reading' for fellow mystery fans.

Michael Dirda: The master is John Dickson Carr: The Three Coffins is his masterpiece, among many (others: The Judas Window, The Corpse in the Waxworks; The Arabian Nights Murder). Also try, Clayton Rawson Death from a Top Hat,Randall Garrett's Too Many Magicians and Hake Talbot's Rim of the Pit.

Washington, D.C.: Do you think that Milan Kundera's recent work compares favorably to his original works in Czech?

Michael Dirda: Don't know any Czech; I'm Russian-Slovak by ancestry, and the only languages I read other than English are French, German, and halting Italian and Latin.

Washington, D.C.: Do you know if David Markson has written anything recently?

Michael Dirda: His last book was Reader's Block--a delightful book, consisting of odd factoids about literature and literary figures that tells a story, sort of. I don't think he's written anything since, and I know he's been ill.

Chicago, Illinois: Hello Mr. Dirda,

I'm a student at the University of Chicago who has very recently become one of the literary critics on our newspaper -the Chicago Weekly News-. I am very interested in reading some breakthrough novels without having to search through other newspapers to find them. Is there a resource I can use to search out newly published books? Or, would you inform me as to how Post critics decide which books they wish to review? Thanks so much for your help, and good luck

~Ritija Gupta

Michael Dirda: You should look at Publishers Weekly, especially the January issue, which lists the main trade books being published during the next six months. You might also pay attention to little magazines, to get a sense of what writers are comers.

Washington, DC: You have a Ph.D. in comparative literature. Any reason why you're not in academia?
Note: I am a 22 years old and am seriously considering getting my Master's and-or Ph.D. in modern American literature. I'm curious.

Michael Dirda: Got sidetracked into journalism, mainly because my wife--she's an art conservator, specializing in works of art on paper--can only work at places like the Library of Congress. So I put aside my plans for an academic career and became a literary journalist instead. This fall I'll be a visiting professor at the University of Central Florida, so I'll get to see what I've missed out on. NOt to worry though (if you were even considering the idea): I'll still write my weekly pieces. I would only pursue a graduate degree if I loved scholarship as much as life.

Cambridge, MD: A great joy is reading good Shakespeare criticism. Just finished a Garry Wills book on "Macbeth"; it's like have a conversation about Shakespeare with someone much more erudite. Any recommendations in this vein?

Michael Dirda: I mentioned Schoenbaum's Shakespeare's Lives. I'm a longtime fan of A.C. Bradley's Shakespearean Tragedy. Also Mark Van Doren's Shakespeare is very graceful. I know harold bloom is an admirer of the somewhat neglected Harold Goddard, whose essays on S are or were available in Dover paperback.

Arlington,VA: Hi Michael-- I love to read your chats, because they give me great ideas on what to read! I have started a book club with a few female friends. We are looking for reccomendations on good feminist literature, fiction, to put into our mix. we started with more theory, and now are looking to liven things up. Any suggestions on great books, with good feminist themes are welcomed! Thanks.

Michael Dirda: You should try Ursula Le Guin's classic The Left Hand of Darkness (really about sexuality and gender identity) and Joanna Russ's The Female Man--a great feminist science fiction novel--as well as the works of Angela Carter--I'm fondest of her late novels, but her early books are more "feminist." Other writers? Jeanette Winterson, A.S. Byatt, Margaret Atwood. But there are many others.
Well, we're out of time for now. Until next week. Keep reading!