"Padding for the mental life, so to speak."
— Parker, James
Author
Date
June 2, 2015
Metaphor
"Padding for the mental life, so to speak."
Metaphor in Context
Size matters, indeed it does. Size in books is like volume in heavy metal: It speaks of power. Would we love "The Lord of the Rings" as much if it weren't so awesomely misty-mountain massive -- if it were little and hobbity like "The Hobbit"? I don't think so. On the spectrum of sizability, "The Lord of the Rings" sits at the exact midpoint between pulp size -- the sci-fi/fantasy whopper, monument to imaginative inflation -- and literary size (George Eliot-style grandeur). But be they solid pulp or high art, the truth is that big fat books just contain more book-carbs. We can munch on them for days, weeks, comfort feeders, ruminant readers at peace. Padding for the mental life, so to speak. I once dropped a copy of "Martin Chuzzlewit" in the sea; when it dried out it was even larger and puffier, and I cherished it even more. You don't get that kind of pleasure with a Kindle. Smallness matters too: the short, sharp shocker, the Filet-O-Fish. Muriel Spark's "The Driver's Seat," at twice the length, would have half the impact. Its nastiness is narrow; it is mean with detail, spitefully pared down. Amplitude and range would not suit it. Or Nicholson Baker's "The Mezzanine": 142 pages is probably about as much as we can take of that particular strain of brilliance. I suppose I should mention Twitter, since we're talking about length, compression, and so on. I hate Twitter. There, I mentioned it.
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
James Parker, "Does the Size of a Book Suggest Significance?" New York Times Book Review (June 2, 2015). <Link to NYTimes.com>
Date of Entry
06/11/2015
