This is me talking for 7+ minutes about books and reading and stuff. Here are the Cliff Notes if you don’t have the time or interest to watch the whole thing.
- I didn’t get into reading when I was really young, but when I got the bug in middle school, it hit hard. I devoured anything I could find. I later majored in literature in college, thinking I would like to teach English.
- I don’t have the appropriate appreciation for classic literature. I am a shame to my fellow lit majors. Reading, to me, is about enjoyment, and I haven’t always enjoyed classic literature.
- The more you read, the less you’ve read.
- They say that writers should read a lot. They are right. When you stop reading, the instinct you have for writing, for how dialogue sounds, and how words flow starts to fade.
- As I’ve admitted before, I don’t read nearly as much as I used to. I barely read fiction at all.
- Nothing has affected the way I read fiction more than writing my own. It’s made me much more critical of other writers and much more forgiving as well.
- I say that Catch 22 is funny, I talk up Stephenie Meyer, and I hate on My Sister’s Keeper.
- Add in some goofy faces and a few too many “um”s, and you get the idea.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
sometimes, my mind boggles when I think about all of the books that are out there, that were ever published, and are still being published. I’m sure working in a library gives you a glimpse of that!
Oh “classic literature,” aka the canon- it is a very, very difficult thing. I definitely have some issues with it and I do agree that sometimes those books aren’t as “enjoyable.” Most of the writers I’m really into (Kerouac and Hemingway in particular) are very “fun” (in some ways) and also (though maybe related) have issues with the canon. I’m definitely a literature person, but I’m with you in that a lot of the more revered stuff isn’t my kind of thing.
PS I am SO trying to figure out what is on your shelf by squinting at the background.
PPS the list of things I “need to read” is from here to the moon. You’re right, it’s just part of the deal.
I’m reading My Sister’s Keeper right now (after seeing the movie last weekend). I have a bad habit of skipping to the end of books, and I can already say, I’m really disappointed by the ending. The movie-ending was COMPLETELY different and more natural.
I need to read more. I used to read several books a month, but lately, I’ve only been reading a few a year. Most of the time, I re-read books, so that doesn’t help much.
I loved My Sister’s Keeper, as well as the Twilight series. I haven’t read much in the way of classic literature except for what I was forced to read in high school, I used to read sci-fi/fantasy novels, and sci-fi/fantasy only. I was really picky about what I picked out. Now I love mainstream fiction, romance novels, young adult books, historical fiction, and I don’t really read fantasy anymore. That’s sorta been my progress with reading. I went from reading The Hobbit and Star Wars books, to reading Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and it changed how I looked at books forever.
Atlas Shrugged is my all time favorite book, I think. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I really loved it from the very first page.
I love to read, always have. Also love to write, I think they go hand in hand. The more I’m reading (and getting inspired) the less I write and vice versa!
right on!
i was an english major as well and i hated 95% of the books i read for class. i know that those books are “good for me,” and the classics i read in my free time always impress me, but it’s always a struggle. i do prefer the books that take me away, and those are the kinds i aspire to write, so i feel no shame in aiming my reading choices in that direction.
and you should read more :-P but don’t worry – i’ve met plenty a creative writing major and novelist who don’t read AT ALL! THAT is shameful
A lot of classic literature to me isnt enjoyable. I absolutely loathed my early american lit and romantic period lit classes.
Can’t currently watch (at work), but I’m a fan of classical literature much more than I am of modern day writings. Sure, there’s some great stuff out there, but give me Wuthering Heights or Shakespeare any day.