Why Literature? by Mario Vargas Llosa
Out of the three, this is actually my favorite essay. Mainly cause it’s the one that made the most sense and had the most profound ideas. But don’t worry, I’ll keep this short to spare you and your brain cells.
TO THE BULLET FORM WE GO!
- the purpose of the essay is to prove that literature is an ESSENTIAL NEED
- unfortunately, we’re being populated by shitheads and reading’s become just another common recreational activity
- wHICH IS WRONG
- and mario vargas was so mad about it because the number of literature-appreciators in the world is continuously decreasing
- IN SPAIN, NEARLY HALF THE POPULATION HAS NEVER READ A BOOK
- bad spain
- also most readers are women
- which is so fucking sexist tangina
- anyway according to llosa, whenever people prioritize their activities, reading usually ends up at the bottom of the list
- OBVIOUSLY this must end
- which is why, after the introduction, he went on ranting about the numerous reasons why reading is important okay
- NUMBER ONE
- literature helps maintain peace among people
- NUMBER TWO
- it enhances our ability to express ourselves and
- NUMBER THREE
- reading is a vital component for the critical mind
- like literally we’d get really stupid without literature
- we’d be satisfied with injustice and accept false things as truths
- NEXT he imagined a world without literature
- he thinks it’s really fucking scary
- i mean first of all, the people will be divided
- he talks about specializations and shit
- basically proves that reading is a unifying factor and helps us all remember that we come of common origin and have the same goals and shit
- as he said, “Literature has been, and will continue to be, as long as it exists, one of the common denominators of the human experience.”
- although what DOES make literature such a unifying factor?
- again he gives us several reasons
- FIRST
- the topics for literature isn’t limited
- SECOND
- we learn shit about different lives and different cultures and different generations
- THIRD
- ANYONE and EVERYONE can relate (most of the time)
- also unlike science, literature doesn’t really aim to satisfy specific needs, it mostly aims to make our lives better in any way it can
- after this, mario vargas moves to what would happen to life without literature
- FIRST
- he points out that without literature, our vocabulary would be pretty shitty
- i mean literature doesn’t only give us more words to use, it also EXPANDS our minds
- so without it, we’d be pretty stupid too
- SECOND
- we’d lack intellect and imagination
- we won’t get to EXPRESS OURSELVES
- then he gets to this sidetrack about Bill Gates cause he gave a speech in spain about how his greatest goal is to put an end to paper books
- lol pakyu po
- PAPERBACK BOOKS ARE IMPORTANT
- in fact, Llosa said that if he was there during the conference, he would’ve screamed “BOOOOO”
- well, putangina nga naman ni Gates
- Llosa points out that there’s no future for literature without paper books
- THIRD
- reading is essential to critical thinking
- this is similar to the first statement
- but he expounds more by saying that literature helps MOVE us
- literature PROVOKES CHANGE
- it has the power to OPEN OUR MINDS to the shittiness of life and we’re moved to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
- Llosa also discusses how literature is for malcontents
- that means it’s intended for dissatisfied people
- he states, “Literature is the food of the rebellious spirit…the refuge for those who have too much or too little in life.”
- again, literature pushes us to change
- FOURTH
- we would resemble a community of deaf-mutes
- aphasics (as in speechless)
- because our means of communication would be poor
- we’d suck at expressing ourselves (as aforementioned)
- FIFTH
- our civilization would waste away
- we’d have few words
- a lot of our adjectives right now won’t exist
- words like quixotic, Kafkaesque, Rabelaisian, Orwellian, sadistic, masochistic
- we won’t even get to identify the things that are acceptable and unacceptable in the society
- like without literature i could enjoy punching people in the face but no one would think it was wrong
- all of our ideals right now wouldn’t be as they are
- and our minds wouldn’t be open to certain aspects of our conditions in life
- we’d basically be blind to the terrible things in life
- “Uncivilized, barbarian, devoid of sensitivity and crude of speech, ignorant and instinctual, inept at passion and crude at love” that’s his main summary of a life without literature
- aaaaand at the end, he mentions that it’s highly improbable that life WOULD be devoid of literature
- but you know, just in case, we should really act on it
- “more precisely, we must read”
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