Through the miracle of a random generator, I was mated with The Reading Ape for BBAW 2010's Blogger Interview Grand Swap-a-roo. This lovely gent is a professor of literature and writing in his professional biography and blogs about literary fiction in his free time. Who doesn't need to take a blog written by a primate that is passionate and an educationally-gauged expert?
On a personal note, it was wonderful to be mated with another teacher/blogger - we rock!
You're a professor of composition and literature - should we call you as Professor Ape? Somewhat bizarrely, I've come to be known in my little area of bloggishness as only "The Ape." Blogging really is a way for me to escape academia, so the fewer reminders of it, the better.Why the Arthur Helps inspired blog name?A kitschy or sentimental choice? Can I choose c) ironic? The thing almost that reference is that I think it, but it can't possibly be true. I recall reading and language comprises more of what we see "human" means than we wish to admit, but I also am uneasy about this claim. A "reading ape" is a being presumably wanting to be something more, something other, than it already is. So I wish the aspirational quality of the phrase. Also, people tend to think it.What inspired your determination to record the blogosphere? Pretty simple really: I wanted to save about books in a way that my professional doesn't allow: personally, passionately, subjectively, and informally. It's really quite surprising how much "pleasure" is sucked out of literature in academic settings. We do many things good in the ivory tower, but having fun with books ain't one of them.We each give a different direction for our blogs and vastly different reviewing styles - what do you think makes a honest review, regardless of book genre? No idea. I find reviewing extremely difficult. I have been trying recently to hold my reviews enjoyable on their own terms-that is, you needn't have take or yet be concerned in the book I'm reviewing to get something out of the review. One other matter I value in reviews is a sensation of what the see of version a special word is like. This goes beyond plot summary and description of manner and gives us a window of how it feels to live this book.Read any good young adult titles of late? I read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials this summer and definitely enjoyed it (though I'm a little stock of sci-fi/fantasy YA titles leaning on "fate"). He's so imaginative and fearless; after all, the triology provides an alternative account of Judeo-Christian mythology.
If you could make any three literary characters and sit them at a dinner table with yourself - who would they be? I believe the Falstaff of Henry IV, Lord Henry from The Scene of Dorian Gray, and Zaphod Beeblebrox from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker Trilogy. I would then laugh until my face fell off.Many book bloggers write on the side.You are a professor of writing.What is the most essential part of advice you can make them? Omit needless words. Use active verbs. Ask yourself "why should my reader care about this?" x Have both a dictionary and thesaurus at the ready. Give yourself time to revise. Take comfort in the fact that composition is difficult for everyone, but don't use it as an excuse. A picture comes out that is an adjustment of a novel.You wish the voice of the film.Do you- read the script first, just see the film or study the word after seeing the film? My general formula is first with any medium you encountered first. If you just heard of something because it's now a movie, start with the movie. If a word you've been concerned in is being made into a movie, start with the book. I incline not to see/read both sides of a movie/book only because there's so often out there I feel bad doubling up on one story.In ten words exactly describe The Reading Ape for those unfamiliar with it. A blog primarily about contemporary American literary fiction. That's only eight, but is that OK? A big thank you to the Ape for existence a fantastically fast interview subject (and for asking me some great questions too. Also a big cheers to the folks behind the blog pairing for this BBAW event :)
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