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Talking about Pierre Bayard

07.01.08 Anna Richardson

Most reviewed: Frenchman Pierre Bayard's How To Talk About Books you Haven't Read (Granta, £12), received plenty of coverage in the weekend press, even before its English translation became available in the UK, as Bayard's take on reading stirred much debate among the literati. It is therefore no surprise that it was the most reviewed last weekend in anticipation of its UK release, pipping Diana Athill's latest memoir, Somewhere Towards the End, in the coverage stakes.

The critics made much of Bayard's Gallic charm. Hilary Mantel, reviewing in the Guardian, found that much of the thinking that underlies Bayard's book is "little short of cliché", but added: "this hardly spoils the enjoyment, as his style is so lively, his persona so outrageous and his flattery of the reader so skilful." Mantel doubted "that he will persuade anyone that skimming a novel is equivalent to reading it . . . but he is so charming when he tries".

Toby Lichtig, in the Observer, said the author's tone was "relentlessly tongue in cheek" and that "there is something deliciously French about all this". Bayard had a "tendency to complicate the obvious and his urbanity is occasionally annoying", added Lichtig, but he deems How To "above all worth the read".

In the Financial Times, Julian Baggini praised Bayard's "witty study in the sociology of reading" and said that "this is a book for true lovers of the printed word."

Sam Leith in the Daily Telegraph was not impressed. He admited that "Bayard has some sensible things to say about an interesting topic," but found "the problem is that the writing and thinking in which these examples are embedded is far thinner and less interesting than the examples themselves." Leith concluded: "Bayard set himself up as a joker, but doesn't really understand that this is a joke. The joke's on him."


Most reviewed (5th/6th January)

How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read by Pierre Bayard
(Granta 9781862079861 £12)
"A book for true lovers of the printed word" Financial Times
"Self-consciously clever little book" Guardian
"Pure French smoke and mirrors" Daily Telegraph

Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill
(Granta 9781862079847 £12.99)
"Athill's remarkable intelligence always saves her from becoming tedious, as does the easy elegance of her prose" Daily Telegraph
"Brave, amusing and graceful" Sunday Telegraph
"Candid stuff" Sunday Times

Lottery by Patricia Wood
(Heinemann 9780434017867 £12.99)
"Poignant" Daily Mail
"A voice that will divide readers" Observer
"Ultimately manipulative and sentimental" Guardian

The Accordionist's Son by Bernardo Atxaga
(Harvill Secker 9781843432807 £18.99)
"Superb. A wholly convincing account of families and friendship" Sunday
Times

Media Anna Richardson Most Reviewed Pierre Bayard How To Talk About Books you Haven't Read

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