Customer Reviews

Better than Life

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In this short, simple book, Pennac describes the change that is wrought over children as they learn to read. First, there is the wonder, the closeness, the beauty of being read to by a loving parent. The child becomes a little tyrant, demanding "Another!" or "Again!", hungry for words, hungry for imagination, hungry for the closeness of someone they love. Then, another change - they begin to learn to read and write. They get caught up in the wonder, the magic of it. (Pennac's description - filtered through the wonderful translation - of a child learning to write "Mommy" is very touching). Then, there is a third change. The child is "forced" to read for school. Long books. Boring books (at least to the child). The child would rather watch TV, rather be anywhere than at his desk. Worried, the parents sit downstairs - in front of the TV, discussing worriedly why "kids don't read" (A telling bit of irony there). Pennac also provides a sort of "Bill of Rights" for readers- reminding us that we are free to skip chapters or put a book down if it's not for us.

As someone who went through a brief "non-reading" period in junior high (but thankfully came back to the written word), this book had me nodding in agreement and chuckling at places.

I dearly hope that the young folk who gripe about "how boring" reading is will come back to it at a later date and come to appreciate it again. Or else the printed word may become an endangered species.

I would highly recommend this book, especially to new parents who want to "raise a reader". The main message in that area is, get your posterior off the couch in the TV room and read to your child. And let your child see you read. Make books a treat. Even (heaven forbid) make reading an "illicit" activity.....

Thank goodness this book has been reprinted. My copy of the original, then entitled 'Reads Like a Novel', has been through so many pairs of hands that it's falling apart. But I suppose that would be a suitable state for a book that's all about the gift of reading. And re-reading. Which is fortunate, because this is very much a book to return to with relish.

I'm usually jaded enough not to use the word 'inspiring', but this book is inspiring in the most benign and down-to-earth way. Amazon should show its legendary business sense and give a copy of this book away with every order. 'Better Than Life' so ignites, or re-ignites, the thirst for the printed word that every copy read would account for ten more novels bought.

Not least of the book's strengths is its ability to speak to all audiences, to the experienced or to the child, and hold them spellbound with stories from the past, stories about stories, and stories about how we use and absorb stories. But it's a remarkably tolerant book, more about curiosoty than commentary, written with flair, simplicity and a contagious good spirit.

The original title was far more suitable because, aside from everything else, the book also does 'read like a novel'. It's funny too. I haven't gone into the specifics of the book because I wouldn't want to spoil the effects of its charm, but I can't recommended it enough; I've foisted this book on friends and now I'm trying to do the same to strangers.

There is certainly no shortage of books about reading. Perhaps it's inevitable in this self-referential era, that we end up reading about reading. Most of these works, however, fail to express the joy that their authors feel on reading great works.

Pennac's book succeeds where many fail because it is entirely devoid of sanctimony. His thoughts on reading are presented as an answer to the question "How do we get a child to love reading." His thoughts are clear, well-reasoned, and passionately held, in a way that makes the reader think, "Me, too!"

If you love reading and want to pass on the feeling, this is a great book for a starter.

This book is a must-read for school-kids, student, teachers, parents, social workers, politicians, all those who take care of the society and the future of the young. Once discovered, the simple, but powerful approaches from this book can become a perfect recipe to raise a healthier nation, where we will not have things like Littleton! Because, the kids who have school duties, who fulfil them, and who find pleasure in fulfilling them, will not have time to waste on stupid ideologies, worrying about how to get weapons, but will have time filled with activities that will make them better people. Not instantly, as most of them would want... But, none good investment gave good results immediately, right? And all the wounds have to be healed from the inside. Yes, we can require producers to decrease amount of violence in the movies, but what good does and forbidding bring? Feed the soul, the depths of human mind, with the healthy stuff, and you will have a healthy nation. Mr. Pennanc, thank you. I hope this book will not be a jewel thrown to the pigs.

To those who know Daniel Pennac, it's only fitting ! He's the best contemporary french novelist. And "better than life" is another great great book, highly funny and witty... and also highly moving. To those who love genius, cleverness and emotion... this book is for you !!!

As a trained high school English teacher, it's clear that American high school students don't like to read. In fact, for most American secondary students, reading is a chore to be avoided at all costs. I have gone through great measure to try to get my students to read on their own and to take some sort of enjoyment from reading. However, it has often been to no avail. Most secondary students just don't have any interest in reading and their literacy levels are terrible. In my teaching these older students, I've often felt that I'm fighting a battle in a war that is already lost. How can I get these students to understand and discover the joys of reading and the rewards that come from it when they are constantly bombarded by video games, television, text messages, and the Internet-things in and of themselves that shouldn't be an enemy to reading, but when unharnessed without any guidance upon these older developing minds they become a blockade in opposition to reading for pleasure?

I don't know if there is an answer to that question, but Daniel Pennac tries to explain how this anti-reading mentality came to be in his book BETTER THAN LIFE. The book illustrates how important reading is at all age levels. The book is a kind of a stream-of-conscious love letter to reading, connecting the author's personal experiences with those of others in the world. The book suggests that the younger a person loses an interest in reading, the more difficult it is to re-ignite that desire. Yet, there is hope because people of all ages love to read and to be read to. No concrete solutions to the problems discussed are really presented, though there is the "Reader's Bill of Rights" that provides a starting point for discussion and dialogue. Personally, one of the things I took away from the book was that though the job of an English teacher is incredibly difficult, it isn't futile and hopeless.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys reading, anyone who teaches reading or literature, or anyone who has a general interest in literacy.

In a society that is obsessed with thinking about thinking, talking about talking and reading about reading, among other "meta-" activities, we sometimes need to tone it down and get back to some basic truths so we don't confuse ourselves.

Every so often, a book like Pennac's Better Than Life comes along to remind us just how truly confused we have become.

In my world as a reading teacher, I've had theory launched at me harder and faster than anything I or my kids can adequately process. And while I've honored the Sustained Silent Reading time that my kids should have in school, I am ashamed to admit that I have lost sight of the importance of reading aloud. Pennac vibrantly illustrates (I've never seen a better example of the Show, Don't Tell school of writing!) why reading aloud is so crucial to readers of all ages and ability levels. He points to this and his more famous "Reader's Bill of Rights" as the two-fold approach to saving future generations from becoming non-readers. He is brilliantly lacking in theory; his experience justifies it and jumps off the pages.

This work is impossible to classify. His conversational, stream-of-consciousness voice disarms the reader into thinking that this work is not going to be as spiritual as it actually gets. Is it non-fiction? Not really. It seems too alive to be non-fiction (insert ironical comment here). Is it fiction? Certainly not. The truth of his having been through it all comes out too clearly. Is it fantasy? Possibly. It's somewhere between truth and the dangerously beautiful fantastical world that threatens to overtake us when we read something genius. Whatever it is, it's definitely an eye-opening experience that takes us into the heart of the love of reading--everything we've always known and somehow, in the day-to-dayness of existence, have forgotten.

This book is now on my Top Ten list. Every avid reader who is interested in introducing others to the love of reading would benefit from reading it and absorbing it. This will be one I reread on a very regular basis.

I can't recommend it highly enough. Now, stop reading me, and buy the book. :~)