What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund

What We See When We Read

by Peter Mendelsund

A gorgeously unique, fully illustrated exploration into the phenomenology of reading—how we visualize images from reading works of literature, from one of our very best book jacket designers, himself a passionate reader.

“A playful, illustrated treatise on how words give rise to mental images.” —The New York Times

What do we see when we read? Did Tolstoy really describe Anna Karenina? Did Melville ever really tell us what, exactly, Ishmael looked like? The collection of fragmented images on a page—a graceful ear there, a stray curl, a hat positioned just so—and other clues and signifiers helps us to create an image of a character. But in fact our sense that we know a character intimately has little to do with our ability to concretely picture our beloved—or reviled—literary figures. In this remarkable work of nonfiction, Knopf's Associate Art Director Peter Mendelsund combines his profession, as an award-winning designer; his first career, as a classically trained pianist; and his first love, literature—he considers himself first and foremost as a reader—into what is sure to be one of the most provocative and unusual investigations into how we understand the act of reading.

Reviewed by Terri M. LeBlanc on

2 of 5 stars

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What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund is a uniquely crafted book and uniquely written book. With a large typeface and lots of pictures, 419 page book doesn’t take long to read.

Did I like the book? There are some interesting thoughts here and there scattered throughout the book, but mostly Mendelsund seems to repeat the same thing over and over again. In quick summary…

"We are what we read. Reading is as individual to the reader as it is to the writer. As a reader, we can never know the mind of the writer and we will never know the full scope of the novel in our hands."

But is it a good book? It’s repetitious and too easily skimmed. As an English major, an avid reader and having friends who are avid readers, I felt like I knew and/or agreed with most of his conclusions. As a result, I didn’t learn anything new which is the main reason I reach for non-fiction books. So for the individual voracious reader, I would give What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund a thumbs down.

However, this might make an excellent book for a book club discussion. Based on the points that Mendelsund presents, I imagine it could lead to a lively discussion between club members regarding how different people see different characters, places and things in a commonly read book. Did everyone that read The Hunger Games see a yellow-orange cat and then silently (or not so silently in my case) rage when they saw the first movie?

For the individual reader who is looking to examine how they read, or for the book club looking for a potentially lively philosophical discussion this book could be a thumbs up. For the practiced (and/or trained) reader, this book, in my opinion, doesn’t hold much value and gets a thumbs down.

This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 February, 2015: Finished reading
  • 2 February, 2015: Reviewed