| Product: |
London Review of Books |
| Date: |
09/12/02 (79 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Quality writing, You always learn something new
Disadvantages: Heavy going at times, Costly over a year
Essays for most of us simply mean the things we had to write in School. We certainly wouldn't want to read them for pleasure. However there is long tradition of essay writing in English and of people reading them for fun. Fortunately the writers in the London Review of Books (hereafter LRB) are skilful enough to make reading their work a pleasure at least for me, who likes that sort of thing. If reading a long article in the Sunday supplement of the Times or the Guardian is too much like hard work this particular magazine is probably not for you
CONTENT:
Essays (normally about a dozen) Poems (2 or3) and the occasional piece of literary fiction. This magazine is not going to be for everyone. But then I find the Sun as boring as watching a dead fly not do anything. Each to their own.
Most (but not all) of the essays are (as you can guess from the name of the magazine) reviews of books. They are not reviews in the English class story report/potted plot kind of way. Rather the writers use the books as a jumping off point to discuss and enlighten. The best of them return to the book itself telling you of its merits and its faults.
Some of the most interesting essays are those where the writers disagree with the work in question or find at least parts of it unconvincing. A well-argued debate often ensues on the letters page. Again the best of the writers are able to comprehend a position even if they find they disagree with it but of course this is not always so.
The poems tend to be in a contemporary literary style and according to my unscientific observations seem to throw certain names up fairly often. I would not buy the magazine for the poetry but it provides a nice break from the pages of prose and a necessary outlet (and payment) for poets who are (as a group) underrecognised and underrewarded.
In addition there are the shorter columns usually written by different contributors each issue. They include a section
of amusing literary news in Short Cuts, and In ___ or At the ___, a column from some event or locality in the world and the endpiece the Diary -- a first person account of an interesting time and/or place.
STYLE:
The style is literary and fairly 'highbrow'. There are plenty of long sentences and words to look up in a dictionary. It is not dry and academic at all. The essays are aimed at the intelligent general reader and the style reflects this. These are read to be enjoyed and are as much examples of literary craftsmanship themselves as the many of the objects reviewed. In this the magazine follows in the tradition of the Essay (with a capital E) handed down by Bacon, Johnson and Fielding via Orwell, Huxley and Woolf.
SIZE AND SHAPE:
Stapled tabloid format (ie twice the size of an average magazine albeit thinner, or half the size of a broadsheet newspaper). This can make it harder to manage when reading but it is light (newsprint rather than glossy) and if you can read the Guardian in the train you can cope with this.
There are usually about 40 pages in an issue. Most of the essays are 1-2 pages long but many are longer. At the back you will find advertising for bookshops and talks and university courses and suchlike.
POLITICS?:
As is common with many highbrow publications the LRB has a definite political slant. I don't think it is a bad or destructive thing but it worth knowing about. Nothing in this world is completely neutral. As is also common with many more intellectual outlets the LRB has strong Marxist tendencies. Don't let this put you off, the quality of the writing remains, but you are likely to find more attacks on Neoliberal economics than support from it and a highly sceptical line towards Western governments and motives. This is (in my Christian, Democratic Socialist opinion) is a useful exercise. I sometimes wish some contributors would be equally critical of other countries faul
ts wh
en they do deserve it. But it is better for reflection and criticism to begin at home; else we shall end up in that famous situation of pulling a speck out of our neighbour?s eye while having log firmly planted in our own.
Perhaps one danger with political causes is that it always easier to believe in the innocence and righteousness of those whose morality was never put to the test in the throes of victory. We see Trotsky as an idealist, Stalin as a murderer; Che Guevara as a Martyr, Castro as a politician; the Mujahedin as freedom fighters, Al Qaeda as terrorists.
CONCLUSION:
I enjoy reading the LRB very much even though it can be pretty heavy. My family tend to pick out interesting articles and concentrate on topics they prefer. I tend to read the whole thing (unless an essay is very long and boring -- after all this is not a chore!). I freely admit I never read them 'on time' I have a backlog of 6-8 issues stacked up. But this gives me something to do in the holidays.
The only other downside to the LRB is the price. Despite the Arts Council subsidy it still costs £2.95 for a single issue or over £70 for a years subscription (24 issues). This isn't terribly expensive (considering what it is) but adds up when you are a poor student like me. But if you like the English Essay and can't beg, borrow or steal one I would recommend the LRB very highly. But (like any more specialised magazine, eg Beekeeping World or Jam Making Gazette) it is certainly not a general interest publication. It is not going to be for everyone.
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