Float
Dublin Core
Title
Float
Subject
The Reading Process
Description
Float by Anne Carson is a fascinating collection that gives readers a heap of questions. The books are bought in a hard plastic sleeve, holding 25 small books called chap books. The denoted definition or goal of the set given by Carson is for readers to read all 25 installments, then decide if the books are in the perfect order. Readers are challenged to challenge the order of the books, deciding where things go. Anne Carson wrote on the back of the cover "A collection of twenty-two chapbooks whose order is unfixed and whose topics are various. Reading can be freefall."
How does this challenge the reader? While reading these short books, quickly the reader realizes that the books have very different subjects. One may be a short story without punctuation, the next being a sermon. This challenges readers to really question if all of the short stories need to be next to each other or if the books should be in a more random order, which really challenges the idea that reading should be "freefall." How does it impact their view of books in the future? Maybe readers will question if the flow of a novel is always necessary, which only furthers a richer interpretation. Is it too common today for us to accept art/literature as we see it? Maybe we should be seeing art/literature as a challenge or a question to ponder and the peruse.
Even before the consumer takes out the chapbooks, you realize that the cover is almost inverted. The case opens to the left, where traditionally you would remove items from the right. It seems that even before the consumer takes out the books, they are first challenged on which side is the "right" side. This also means the consumer must decide whether the spines of the chapbooks deserve to be on the outside of the case or the inside. Each item has meaning.
The question continues: How else is the reader challenged? All of these observations may seem confusing at first, but eventually become a fascinating question as to how the average consumer opens a book and consumes or digest its contents.
How does this challenge the reader? While reading these short books, quickly the reader realizes that the books have very different subjects. One may be a short story without punctuation, the next being a sermon. This challenges readers to really question if all of the short stories need to be next to each other or if the books should be in a more random order, which really challenges the idea that reading should be "freefall." How does it impact their view of books in the future? Maybe readers will question if the flow of a novel is always necessary, which only furthers a richer interpretation. Is it too common today for us to accept art/literature as we see it? Maybe we should be seeing art/literature as a challenge or a question to ponder and the peruse.
Even before the consumer takes out the chapbooks, you realize that the cover is almost inverted. The case opens to the left, where traditionally you would remove items from the right. It seems that even before the consumer takes out the books, they are first challenged on which side is the "right" side. This also means the consumer must decide whether the spines of the chapbooks deserve to be on the outside of the case or the inside. Each item has meaning.
The question continues: How else is the reader challenged? All of these observations may seem confusing at first, but eventually become a fascinating question as to how the average consumer opens a book and consumes or digest its contents.
Creator
Anne Carson
Source
Images from iPhone, description content ideas made with the help of Dr. Lauren Holt
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Contributor
Cassandra J. Pappas for Cover Design
Rights
I own my copy of the book used, but I bought the Book from "Antiques on the Square" in Marietta GA
Format
25 Quarto Books
Language
English
Type
Songs, Stories, Lectures.
Files
Citation
Anne Carson, “Float,” Manhattan College Omeka , accessed September 20, 2024, https://omeka-pilot.manhattan.edu/items/show/46.