In his article “Book Breaking and Book Mending” Douglas Hunter outlines what he has been taught to be the best way to unpack an academic text and the inherent flaws to this model within academia. Rather fascinating is his discussion of the process of obtaining a doctorate: the intense, if not absurd, amount of reading, the panels and boards one must go through, and the creation of a doctoral thesis that, at least in the way that Hunter describes, is never really meant to be read. It’s concerning to know that academic writings aren’t created to be accessible. Instead, they’re written with the sole purpose of getting a degree. Hunter argues, with the goal in mind of closing the gap between the world’s academics and everyone else, that the focus of writing needs to shift to that of a more accessible nature.
The concept discussed in the article, the idea of breaking down a book or paper into its most essential elements so that one can glean the main ideas quickly and without hassle, has created an unfortunate cycle of elevated and generally unreadable writing, written not to be read but to make “book breaking” easier. Yet this concept shouldn’t exist in the first place. Books are meant to be enjoyed, not solely as entertainment pieces of course, but as objects of intellectual interest and fascination, stimulating our minds and whetting our appetite for intellectual adventure. If a book is “broken” those ideas that are meant to exist at the heart of good literature are broken too. The beauty of a book is found between the introduction and conclusion. It’s even found between the lines in most cases. Each word may have a meaning and give the reader something to discuss for the purpose of a paper, but the sentences, the story, and the meaning that underlies it all is what paints an incredible and unique picture for readers. Even in academic writing, where story is lacking, beauty still exists in the language and the connection of ideas into a coherent whole. Hunter’s desire to train intellectuals as trade writers to bring more readers into the fold of academic writing is a noble one. It is an idea that should be nurtured in order to close the gap between those with a PhD and those with a high school diploma. Books frame our society, and without them millions are robbed of the richness and complexity they offer our lives.