Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf

        Maryanne Wolf’s Proust and the Squid, if you ask me, doesn’t have enough Proust or enough squid, but remains a reasonably insightful book about language and reading. With the surging interest in the science of reading, it’s a worthwhile text; Wolf discusses the brain science for language reception and how that translates into our capacity for reading.

The structure of the book is pretty interesting in that it starts with a largely historical perspective. Wolf discusses the first records of written language, the objections Socrates and Plato had to the written word, the ongoing development of the written word in different places in the world, and so on. One of the most interesting part of the book to me was the discussion of cultural and linguistic differences and how those impact what we are able to communicate. For instance, Wolf explores how writing systems impact development for different areas of the brain and offers some theories for how people might think differently using different language conventions.

Following the historical background, the book then delves into the brain science of language. Wolf discusses the different areas of the brain that go into reading, what happens when they are impaired, and the connection between brain development and reading disabilities. I have to admit, the scientific language was a little lost on me—especially listening with the audiobook rather than seeing the words visually. The balance skews scientific, which pushed my boundaries a bit more than a more classic arts-based defence of reading.

An area I was hoping to see more of is how science plays a role in our reception and interpretation for texts. For instance, I felt it could have been more thorough in explaining why certain texts resonate or how different writing conventions create particular effects in us—that is, coming back to Proust a little more thoroughly.

Unfortunately, my notes on the text are pretty limited and it’s been a few weeks since I’ve read it, so I have very little to say. It was a good primer on some science of reading content, but I think its lasting impact on me is limited—perhaps it spoke too much to my brain and not enough to my heart.

Nonetheless, any book that valorizes reading is OK in my books. Happy reading!