I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love books about books. The author is giving insights about famous literary works and how she gave in depth analysis of literary works.

Published by University of Virginia Press., June 2019. My copy was provided by Net Galley in exchange for a fair review.

Jane Tompkins was a literature professor but when she succumbed to myalgic encephalomyelitis (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome), reading was about the only activity she could manage.

Her relationship with books and the experience of reading changed substantially. She began to examine whether instead of reading for pleasure, a close examination of a book could provide profound insights into her life.

Her path of introspection begins with Sir Vidia’s Shadow by Paul Theroux, a memoir of his friendship and falling out with the Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul.

The book contains a detailed discussion of this book and Tompkins reactions to different episodes.

I happen to have read – and thoroughly enjoyed – Theroux’s book so I could relate to some of Tompkins’ comments. But she went overboard with page after page of commentary and analysis. I had been expecting to learn about the power of reading to sustain people through difficult times. But this felt more like an academic paper tracing patterns of feelings and behaviours.

I kept thinking surely she would move on to other books or authors. But not a bit of it. Tompkins became so enthused by learning about Theroux that she then progressed to another of his books (The Old Patagonian Express) . And so we were treated to yet another detailed analysis.

At which point (about 25% of the way into the book) I decided enough was enough.

Despite I was interested in this book, the author didnt catch my attention because of her style, and I was constantly putting it down. However, it may be good for readers that enjoy highly descriptive books.

DNF 50%

2.5*

I knew what I was getting into when I requested this book so this is not the reason I couldn't finish it. As I am affected with a neurological illness myself, I was very interested in reading Tompkins's experience with reading and how it has affected and effected her since she has a chronic illness as well. I wanted to see if I would relate to her in that way but I wasn't able to at all.

Not only is she writing about books and authors I have never heard of before and have no interet in reading but she spends a lot of time explaining in lots of details the events of those other books and how she could see glimpses of the authors' lives through each of the books they have written. Tompkins' book feels more like a review, with lots of spoilers, of her own readings and almost a thesis on those authors than her actual love of reading and her experiences and reactions and impressions.

I totally understand wanting to discuss her reading in details, explaining how she felt compelled to look further into the authors lives and everything but what has reading books given you in your more negative points of your illness? This is what I was looking forward to with this book. The escape reading is giving you.

I wanted to feel included, to relate like I have mentioned earlier. I was really excited when I saw this book would be available because it's not every day you read an author with an illness talking about what a certain hobby is doing for you but instead I felt excluded and I could not relate to her at all. granted, a book or certain books haven't affected me as much as those have impacted her but books leave an impression on you no matter what. I would have loved to finish it and give it a better rating but, alas, it's not happening.

I loved Reading through the Night, at least in regards to what it was advocating. However, the execution was a little off. I wasn’t enthralled by the words or the experiences very much. The main point that Tompkins is trying to get across is the importance of reading in our daily lives and how it can help us get through anything. I know this is true for myself because reading has helped me keep sane. But I felt I had gotten everything I needed from this book within the first third. This is also specific to me. For many others this may be the first time they’ve considered how powerful reading can be for them or they would like a little nudge in that direction. For those of us who already know the power of reading this book could still be useful, but it is less likely.

Tompkins states early on that books aren’t written to be analyzed and taken apart. Yet that is exactly what she does throughout the book and it is literally part of her profession. She’s a professor and literary scholar. I agree with her on both counts actually. I think some books are meant to be analyzed and annotated and some are not, at least not the same kind of analyzation. She spends the entirety of the book analyzing other books, which is odd given her earlier statement, but also what I expected.

I would have enjoyed it more if I had read any of the books she was discussing. The book read like a literary lecture and I hadn’t done the homework. For that reason when Tompkins describes specific books I find myself drifting. Perhaps if you have read Sir Vidia’s Shadow this book will appeal a bit more to you as a tool for deeper thought.

The highlight of the book, for lack of a better word, was that she was facing down Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Her battle to remain relevant in a constantly moving world when she couldn’t get out of bed was touching and inspiring. I chose to read this book because when I was in the depths of my depression I could only read and I spent a ton of time in bed. I was drawn in by how much this person had also received through the written word while in a similarly difficult position. I wish I had learned a bit more about Tompkins as a person because those parts were my favorite. There’s a section where she writes about how reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance caused her to want to drive a motorcycle. And she did! The reader gets the impression that she didn’t keep it for long, but still she was inspired by a book to actually do something.

I think that is what so many of us forget. Books are not just thought experiments to be opened and closed without action. Books are meant to inspire us to action even if it is just within our own lives. Reading is very passive, but that doesn’t mean readers have to be. Every book can and is a call to arms.

It is for this reason that I didn’t finish Reading through the Night: this book was calling me to read and learn more and to allow that reading to affect my life. I already do those things and will continue to do them always. Once I have found the essential kernel in a book it isn’t necessary to read the rest of the book. If the book is still enjoyable I will naturally finish it, but otherwise it is finished off at a chapter break.

I would recommend this book for the serious readers and those who need a reminder of how enlightening our reactions to reading can be about our own lives and emotions.

What an interesting read! Tompkins makes the case for reading, not just for pleasure, but as a serious practice for adults. I learned so much reading this book! It did at times get tedious, but overall a very impressive book.

Reading Through the Night is more of a literary criticism of V.S. Naipaul and Paul Theroux and less a memoir of illness. Tompkins includes chapters on Henning Mankell's creation of Kurt Wallender and Ann Patchett, both of them favorites. Her chapter on her illness was also interesting although I would have liked to see more self reflection in the first part of the book as when she parallels her marriage with that of Naipaul's.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley

I enjoy reading books about books and their impact. This book seemed to be one i might enjoy.
The author who suffers from a chronic illness that prohibits her from doing much, finds in reading a sort of solace. The book starts really well, pointing out how we identify with stories, the way some books makes us discover unknown parts of ourselves.
BUT,
the book turned, at least from my point of view, into something like a very long review or series of reviews with spoilers of the books the author read during her illness and which made impact on her. This talk about the selected book was mixed with parallels from her life, why and how she came to associate with these books in particular and so on. Theoretically, this should have attracted me more to the book, engaging me more. But it was quite the opposite for me, i felt excluded from the whole thing. I couldn't relate to her, i have never heard of the books and authors she was talking about and she kind of took the choice from me to discover them, had i wanted to. She was talking about them from beginning to end which kind of spoils the story as there was nothing left to discover, and she included long passages from the books, sometimes the same one were repeated.

I wanted to like this book, i really did. But it didn't touch me at all, and honestly halfway through it, i started to skim through the pages. I just wanted to see what kind of end it will have which was the reason i didn't abandon it, although i was tempted to do many times.
Let's just say that this book was unfortunately not for me and maybe it would have been more interesting if i shared some of her experiences or knew some of the books she talked about.

A selection from iphelia.com's Editor's Bookshelf review: Reading Through the Night is so much more than the biography or memoir of a highly-educated woman reading her way through a debilitating illness. It is medicine for intellectual bypass, or what Erick French refers to as intellectualization in Iphelia: Awakening the Gift of Feeling.

Tompkins invites readers to accompany her on perhaps the most intimate journey: the one where she sees herself not just in spite of, but because of reading, an activity she’s relied on for many different reasons.

Reading Through the Night will not appeal to a general audience, but it will delight and create space for those who’ve dedicated their lives to educating themselves, only to be left looking for something beyond what the ivory tower can provide. If you relished comparative lit classes, but understand the characters’ feelings better than your own, this book is for you.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, Netgalley.com and University of Virgina Press. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Part memoir, part reading list, Ms. Tompkins takes the reader along on her journey of survival. Struggling with the effects and symptoms of a chronic illness, she finds that she can still read and still enjoy reading. A inspirational story of the beauty of books.

5 out of 5 stars. Excellent book.

Jane Tompkins gives readers so very much to think about through her memoir Reading Through The Night. I am so in awe of her strength and honesty revealed as she takes us through her journey. I have never lived with a chronic illness, and found her insights and discoveries quite fascinating. I had not thought of drawing parallels between my real life and my reading choices. I do know that sometimes the right book simply appears at the right time for me, or that I get different things out of books when I read at different ages. At times a difficult read but always a thought provoking one, I think Reading Through The Night would be a great book discussion selection.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

This was a thoughtful, well-written book about a woman suffering from debilitating illness. She spends her hours reading books of all kinds and makes a strong case about the importance of reading and stepping outside our comfort zones when it comes to choosing what to read.

I can’t say enough good things about this book, I really enjoyed it. I have been in a reading funk and didn’t hold out much hope of reading this all the way through. I started it at bed time and finally forced myself to put it down with 4 chapters left. I have purchased a copy for my Mom and Sister!

Memoirs are not usually my thing, but I picked this up because it was about books. Although I enjoyed the story and the authors struggles, I found it to be dry in some places, forcing me to become a little bored. That being said, this is a unique book, and if memoirs are you're genre, then I recommend it.

A thoughtful book about how reading can lead to self discovery.
Jane Tompkins, author, literature professor and avid reader begins to see the parallels between what she is reading and how she is feeling, when she finds that a debilitating illness leaves her unable to do anything more arduous than read. As she begins to meditate on her reading choices and the feelings they evoke she sees parallels in her failed marriages and even in her relationship with her mother.
A very personal book that will have me thinking more seriously about my own reading choices , I really appreciated its intimacy.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Reading Through the Night by Jane Tompkins is not what I expected. This is an reading journey taken by a literary professor who loves books, but who begins to explore her emotional reaction to what she’s reading. Due to a chronological illness, Ms. Tompkins is forced to retire. Being mostly homeboy d she reads a lot. When a friend gives her Sir Vidia’s Shadow by Paul Theroux, she begins to understand that books illicit emotional feelings from the reader, and allow us to understand ourselves. Through Sir Vidia’s Shadow, and other books and authors, she explores culture, community, communion, and fame. And that’s only in the first third of the book. This book did not grab my attention at all, and isn’t for me at the time. I won’t post any reviews on Goodreads or any social media platforms. I appreciate the opportunity to review this book.

Confession time! Even after a full night of sleep, I feel so meh about this book! I DO love what the author is trying to sell as she advocates the need for reading in our daily adult lives. Jane Tompkins talks about books I have never heard of and uses them to explore her own life journey and her connections to reading. Most specifically, Sir Vidia's Shadow about Paul Theroux's friendship with V.S. Naipaul is where she lays her musings about reading.

It's just... I felt that it was....boring! By the 40% mark, I was asking "Jane, is there not another book you would like to discuss?" Of course, this would be an honest reaction because Tompkins is talking about a book that moved her and she wants to discover why. I do believe it's hard to make a connection with another reader if you've never read the book they're talking about.


All in all, a great premise but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Goodreads review 28/05/19
Publication Date. 12 /06/19

Thanks to NetGalley and Darcie Rowan PR for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a great self reflection by the author on reading habits and chronic illness.

I enjoyed reading this very much, even though, there were many things that I simply were not able to relate to. i.e. chronic illness and Paul Thoreaux.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Darcie Rowan PR, University of Virgina Press for this advanced readers copy. Release date for this book is set for June 2019.

Reading Through the Night
by Jane Tompkins



Darcie Rowan PR

University of Virgina Press

Biographies & Memoirs , Nonfiction (Adult)

Pub Date 12 Jun 2019


I am reviewing a copy of Reading Through the Night through University of Virginia Press and Netgalley:



In Reading Through the Night, Tompkins shared with her readers how she underwent a very personal journey of transformation when she discovered a new way of reading. It is a journey that begins when she becomes unexpectedly captivated by an account of friendships between two writers who she had Paul Theroux's and V.S Naipaul. Theroux’s memoir shows us her path of introspection that goes as far back as her first weeks of life in a hospital in a Bronx, and then to her relationship with her Mother and finally the structure of her current marriage.


As she started to deal with a Chronic Illness her reading habits intensified by the feelings of powerlessness and loss of self that comes when one is facing a Chronic Illness. Her reading expands to such authors as Henning Mankiller, Ann Patchett, Alain de Botton, Elena Ferrante, and Anthony Trollope. Making her way through the books by these authors she begins to recognize herself in them. She reads of feeling and patterns that in many ways described her.



In this book we realize that reading is more than s form of information and entertainment that in fact a book can help unlock memories!


Reading Through the Night is one of those books that you are left thinking about long after you finish the final sentence. I find it worthy of five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Though I am only 40% done , I absolutely am enjoying reading this. I have always been a fan of reading about the books - most of which I would not get to read. But knowing the author's feelings and finding parallel to your own thoughts is a pleasure. This book though talks of reading in a phase of the author life when she was devoid of most outdoor activity but the reflections on her life coupled with her reads is wonderfully done.