In a previous post, I mentioned that a new edition of John Forester's Effective Cycling has been published.
Not long after learning that, I stumbled over an essay he wrote but which, to my knowledge, isn't in the book. It's about a topic that I have never heard discussed in any English or Literature department--or, for that matter, in any educational institution.
In his essay, Forester asks why cycling has played only an incidental role in literature, and why there are so few works of literature about bicycling or cyclists.
This is not to say, of course, that there is little writing about pedaling two wheels. As Forester points out, there are any number of "travelogues" about bike tours and races, most of which center on the locales rather than the rides. There are also any number of books, magazines and blogs, some of which include some very good writing. However, as he points out, they are not literature because very few, if any, non-cyclists could find anything of interest in them. That is because none of them connect cycling to the overall human condition and quotidian life as most of us know it. Plus, most such works "get it wrong" about the way cyclists actually ride. Even the "major" authors, some of whom make cycling a part of some of their stories.
Not long after learning that, I stumbled over an essay he wrote but which, to my knowledge, isn't in the book. It's about a topic that I have never heard discussed in any English or Literature department--or, for that matter, in any educational institution.
In his essay, Forester asks why cycling has played only an incidental role in literature, and why there are so few works of literature about bicycling or cyclists.
This is not to say, of course, that there is little writing about pedaling two wheels. As Forester points out, there are any number of "travelogues" about bike tours and races, most of which center on the locales rather than the rides. There are also any number of books, magazines and blogs, some of which include some very good writing. However, as he points out, they are not literature because very few, if any, non-cyclists could find anything of interest in them. That is because none of them connect cycling to the overall human condition and quotidian life as most of us know it. Plus, most such works "get it wrong" about the way cyclists actually ride. Even the "major" authors, some of whom make cycling a part of some of their stories.
