Sana Krasikov on reading for pleasure -- American style
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Sana Krasikov has been named one of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35. Her first book is the short story collection ‘One More Year.’ Born in the Ukraine, Krasikov has lived in Russia, the U.S. and Georgia (not the American one). In an essay on Beatrice, she takes on the idea of reading for pleasure:
‘I’m often surprised when I hear readers talk about whether they are ‘enjoying’ a book. The pleasure of reading takes many forms, but the conversations I’m referring to rarely move beyond the likability of the characters (are they sympathetic?) or the narrative’s emotional tone (does the story offer hope or is it depressing?). Or we read anthropologically — to learn about an exotic culture or to ‘get a glimpse’ into a closed world. In other words, what’s interesting about the story is the information we take away from it. But such an approach to reading feels so much like one rooted in consumer culture. After all, why read something if it doesn’t have utility for the reader, if it doesn’t make you feel either better or smarter?’
The idea of what makes a book pleasurable also came up in Krasikov’s conversation with Luke Ford this spring:
‘Happy is such a funny term because there are so many different ways to be happy. Americans often equate happiness with pleasure. Even as a writer, I’m not happy in a day-to-day way. It’s grueling. On a deeper level, you’re tapping into a deeper dimension than you would if you were doing something else. They may be moving toward a goal or trying to untangle things in their lives. Life is tough but it doesn’t mean that they are totally miserable. ‘Happy characters? I’ll have to get back to you on that one. ‘Happiness is like, Americans always fetishize happiness and harp a lot about it. I don’t always understand what is meant by that. Russians never ask you, ‘Are you happy?’ Happiness isn’t a category as important for people with a Russian mentality. The pursuit of happiness is a uniquely American way of thinking. ... ‘We always read things from the cultural lens we come from. I don’t see someone who’s struggling as being necessarily unhappy.’
I’m guessing that Krasikov’s stories are a wee bit depressing, something which she makes sound pretty good. Krasikov appears on a panel on the first day of the New Yorker Festival, which runs Oct. 3-5 in New York City.
-- Carolyn Kellogg
