Much of this blog is (hopefully) going to be about how you can use books to change your life. I'm focusing on the self-help-ish genre but any book can change your attitude or mood. As I said in my last post my current job is a tad boring and mindless (I mean meditation worthy). But one the the advantages of a boring mindless job is that I can listen to to books while working using the text-to-speech function on my kindle. I haven't got this much reading done in years! This at work reading (even though I am listening I'll use the term reading because, well I feel like it) is done in binges. I spent 1 week listening to Infinite Jest for 8 hours a day, then spent a couple weeks listening to one 19th century English novel after another. I've just kicked off a 1970's dug addled phase starting with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I've noticed some interesting things on these book binges:
1. You can get tired of anything. I generally like 19th century English novels, but I've read so many that I can't handle any more novels about parsons and country houses for a long while. I am damn tired of the class system as described by the lower upper class.
2. It's hard to read about jerks. If the main character is a jerk it's really hard for me to care about about him/her (usually it's a him) for me to finish a book . For example, I got through more than 2/3 of Sons and Lovers but then the main character just turned into a jerk and it seemed that all the novel was about was how the dude was an ass to the chick who was into him. I got disgruntled and looked up the book on Wikipedia, which gave away the whole plot, so I said F this and didn't continue reading.
3.That bring's me to a 3rd point. NEVER LOOK UP THE BOOK YOU ARE READING ON WIKIPEDIA, unless you love spoilers. For me, if I look up a depressing book on Wikipedia and it tells me that I have nothing but more depression to look forward to, then it becomes MUCH harder to get through it. If I hadn't wiki'ed maybe those depressing bits would have been sweet sorrow or profound, but once you know it's coming it much more like drudgery, at least for me. If you want to discription of the book without spoilers look on amazon.
4. You are what you read. If you immerse yourself in a depressing book you are likely to feel a little down, if you read a comedy of manners you may feel wittier, if you read a psychedelic drug novel you kinda feel high and twisted. I'm not saying to only read books that leave you happy. Often books that leave you happy are also shallow. Many of the best books leave you a little distributed after you read them. That's why they are great and why they stay with you long after you read them, because they trigger strong emotions and make you think. It's important to think and work your reading muscles. Try to read some books that will stretch and challange you just as you read books that you know you will enjoy. Balance is key since, going back to point 1, you can get tired of everything.
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