Hi, I’m Haley. I have my PhD in transatlantic modernist literature (think: Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hilda Doolittle). I also have an ever-expanding collection of vintage crewneck sweatshirts, two cats, and lately I’m reallyyyyyy into paint-by-numbers kits. I’m glad you’re here.
There’s a fantastic Magritte painting called “The Art of Conversation” that I’ve always loved.
It features two figures floating in a cloudy sky, Magritte’s signature bowler hats sitting firmly on their heads. (You may know Magritte’s most famous painting, starring a vibrantly green apple.)
In this painting, two suited figures stand side-by-side, their stance ever-so-slightly turned toward the other. One figure has a hand raised, as if he’s making a salient argument. The other holds a cane, somehow sturdying him in the floating sky, listening. We don’t know what they’re talking about, but that’s beside the point. The point is conversation itself.
A good conversation suspends you in time and space — leaves you floating in the “air of ideas,” as Edith Wharton once called it. “It’s the only air worth breathing,” a character in her novel The Age of Innocence says.
I agree. There’s nothing like a good conversation.
The best writing, like an artful conversation, should wrap you up in that suspended, floating feeling and, by doing so, help you connect with your own ideas, beliefs, and desires. I hope you find both here.
Why Closely Reading?
Someone recently asked me why I titled my Substack “closely” reading instead of “close” reading, and I was happy to explain.
I’ve read many “close readings” in which the author feels far, far away from their analysis. As an academic, I was actually trained to read and write this way — to establish a critical distance from the work, from the text, that would allow me to become as objective as possible in my observations and analysis of it.
But since leaving academia and exploring my own personal voice, I’ve wondered about the dangers of that supposed objectivity. It’s a tricky line to navigate: what a book “means” is never easy, obvious ground to walk on. Like the art of conversation, writing a close reading requires a little bit of floating and imagination — the ground so often crumbles beneath our feet.
So, really, closely reading is more accurate to how I feel when I read. It’s not the what I’m doing but the how I’m engaging. It’s about proximity. It’s about owning the fact of my subjectivity and reckoning with the ways I get in my own way, when I read. It’s about getting close enough to a story that it not only suspends my disbelief, but starts to suspend me, to make me strange to myself.
It’s all about that moment, when you’re so engrossed in a story, that you look down in shock to find yourself still in that same, comfortable corner of the couch. Because, for a few minutes, you were floating — because you were closely reading.
What to expect
On weekends, I send out essays about what I’m reading and how I’m closely reading it. On Wednesdays, I send out essays to our Closely Reading book club!
I offer a paid tier for readers who’d like to show their support of the work I’m doing here with money, which helps me fund fun little projects (like the custom Closely Reading postcards I recently sent out!).
Upgrade to paid for any of the following fantastic reasons:
You want to show your support for academic-ish writing in non-academic spaces
You’d like to buy my next matcha latte
You want to get an extra essay in your inbox every month
You’d like access to the full archive of Closely Reading newsletters and reading guides
Featured in
Closely Reading has been featured in a few amazing places around Substack, including:
Petya featured by reading tips alongside advice from many other fantastic Substack writers & thinkers: “Curious about others' experiences, I invited some of my favorite Substack readers and writers to share their strategies for returning to reading and any words of encouragement they might have for someone who is longing to read more. Their responses remind me that this journey is both deeply personal and universally shared.” Read the full piece.
The Booktender — BookStack Directory: Part 6
Closely Reading with haley larsen, phd is your permission slip to write in your books. Artful conversation about books read slowly, from classics like Nella Larsen’s Passing (current selection for her book club starting September 9) to recommendations of steamy or spooky reads worth talking about, she’ll inspire you to read whatever you choose with extra attention.
footnotes and tangents — Substack Book Group Directory
The Novel Tea Newsletter — Being Borne
For this edition of Speculating on Fiction, we are so excited to introduce guest writer haley larsen, phd. Haley is a professional writer and independent scholar who earned her PhD in literary studies in 2021, and now writes on Substack at Closely Reading, where she hosts read-alongs featuring beloved classic authors like Edith Wharton, and shares weekly essays on literary-ish topics.
More to explore
You can shop my book recommendations over in my bookshop.org shop, where I receive a small percentage of every book you purchase via these links:
Edith Wharton and her world: for books by Wharton and others in her literary moment, like Henry James and Nella Larsen.
Books recommended by Close Readers: I did a series of interviews with some of my favorite readers and compiled all their recommendations here!
Closely Reading: this is simply a collection of some of my favorite books. Everything here is especially apt for close-reading exercises and annotations.
