Several days ago I posted a rant/request by my friend, Marta, encouraging people to read more, and specifically to read a novel by someone unheard of, someone who doesn’t have the marketing machine promoting the book. Ever the cooperative friend, I wandered into Waldenbooks with Siona today and searched. It was a challenge to find a book; in small corporate bookstores, most of the fiction on the shelves are bestsellers or serials. There were many authors whose work I haven’t (and probably won’t) ever read, but of whom I’ve heard, so I passed them over. It took awhile, but I managed to find The Rice Mother, a first novel by Rani Manicka. I look forward to diving in. Of course, I’m reading two other fiction books, as well as a nonfiction book or two. And if I spent less time on the Internet, I might get more read! So off I go.
A Mindful Life / Kathryn Harper
express : discover : renew : create
I try to make at least every other book I read something that no one I know has read…
This usually means old books, and it means intensely private pleasures.
I’m sometimes in the library actually *feeling sorry* for all those unread books in there, like it’s my fault or something. 🙂
I also spend too much time online, especially reading blogs. Sometimes when I read a great entry on a blog, I feel like I’ve wandered into a fascinating conversation, and I have the desire to go back to the beginning of the conversation, read all archived entries, explore all the referenced links, and get to know the writer better, before I add them to my favorites. I could probably make the argument that posting online is as worthy and difficult an endeavor as being published by a major book company.
But that being said, I love a good book. There is something about having the weight and dimensions of something in your hands, as you absorb the content of it. And with a book, you can “bookmark,” underline, highlight, or circle favorite passages. You can pick a book off the shelf, read two or three pages, and get the essense or flavor of what you learned of the writer or the message the first time you read it. People memorize what they’ve read in a book; I’ve never encountered someone who has memorized something they’ve read online.
People are inundated with emails of links to funny, shocking, informative or interesting websites, and that is all good; but tomorrow there will be more to absorb, so the value of each link gets lost in the shuffle. But a good book can be handed off to another, and the benefit of presenting, and receiving, a finished work is where the difference lies – the web is never finished. And I think people need endings.
So read on Kathryn. Share with us what you recommend. I’m sure there are a lot of us who agonize over what it means to “read” every night. But one thing is sure – I’ll be back here reading what you have to say about it.