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A review by fications_clari
How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
3.5
I may change the rating on future rereads? I think I'm still processing.
Something you need to know right away is that, despite its somewhat universal-sounding title, this book is mainly targeted towards as Americans (which, as a Filipino reader reading in the Philippines, I found a little disappointing). Secondly, if you were hoping for a book that instructs you to look for particular patterns in text (like a more updated How To Read Literature Like a Professor) you will also be disappointed. How to Read Now is a collection of essays that orbit mainly around American and European literature and media (with a few examples from Asian countries) interpreted to the lens of a very well-read Filipinx-American. Honestly, a more accurate title for this book is How Elaine Castillo Reads Now.
It is still worthwhile.
I didn't particularly like dragging through literary examples that I never plan on reading and the writer herself didn't like (this is why the second essay was such a slog), but how Elaine Castillo reads, the questions she asks in a biting and brazen voice, is something worth having in my head as I wade through a very globalized (read: American-centered) literary scene. Castillo takes fierce pride in her history and heritage. She refuses to let this be a book wherein the writer is at the background (to both my annoyance and awe) and instead situates herself loudly as the speaker of this narrative and way of seeing we are being exposed to.
Does she sound a little arrogant and mean and show-offy? Yep. Even she acknowledges that. But look, I've put up with worse from white authors. What Castillo offers, in exchange for putting up with her sometimes-grating voice, is a slew of significant and important ideas (and a way of situation *yourself* in the world, especially if you're a woman of color, especially if you are Filipino or Filipinx) that, if you take in good faith, will stick in your brain and give you a different lens for reading the world.
I genuinely recommend this book for anyone who wants to be challenged.
Something you need to know right away is that, despite its somewhat universal-sounding title, this book is mainly targeted towards as Americans (which, as a Filipino reader reading in the Philippines, I found a little disappointing). Secondly, if you were hoping for a book that instructs you to look for particular patterns in text (like a more updated How To Read Literature Like a Professor) you will also be disappointed. How to Read Now is a collection of essays that orbit mainly around American and European literature and media (with a few examples from Asian countries) interpreted to the lens of a very well-read Filipinx-American. Honestly, a more accurate title for this book is How Elaine Castillo Reads Now.
It is still worthwhile.
I didn't particularly like dragging through literary examples that I never plan on reading and the writer herself didn't like (this is why the second essay was such a slog), but how Elaine Castillo reads, the questions she asks in a biting and brazen voice, is something worth having in my head as I wade through a very globalized (read: American-centered) literary scene. Castillo takes fierce pride in her history and heritage. She refuses to let this be a book wherein the writer is at the background (to both my annoyance and awe) and instead situates herself loudly as the speaker of this narrative and way of seeing we are being exposed to.
Does she sound a little arrogant and mean and show-offy? Yep. Even she acknowledges that. But look, I've put up with worse from white authors. What Castillo offers, in exchange for putting up with her sometimes-grating voice, is a slew of significant and important ideas (and a way of situation *yourself* in the world, especially if you're a woman of color, especially if you are Filipino or Filipinx) that, if you take in good faith, will stick in your brain and give you a different lens for reading the world.
I genuinely recommend this book for anyone who wants to be challenged.
Content Warnings
Minor: Hate crime, Sexual assault, and Death of parent