Full disclosure: I'm one of those whiny broads who complain when someone whips out their handheld to answer, text, or find information to confirm or deny a passing snippet of conversation. I will needle the gadget freaks and their partners. What, we in the flesh aren't good enough to hold your attention? Don't contain enough sparkle or zing or flavor?
And yet, and yet...
I'm the same one who packs three or four books to filter out the noise of the mundane, or to shield myself from unwelcome feelings (boredom, irritation, etc.) If anything, a book is even more anti-social, because it creates a worm hole in an alternate universe where the company is either witty, knowledgeable and urbane, or thrilling and entertaining, or emotionally engaging. How can real life compete with that?
I dunno, but I'm working on it!
Recommended reads: Breakfast with Socrates and Hamlet's Blackberry (which has gotten a lot of attention this past month). I may even unplug my laptop, close my book, leave my phone behind, and talk to someone, face to face. I'm just having a little problem getting started.
4 months ago
I thought it was spelled, "winey"?
ReplyDeleteRestless Dez, I'm sure sumone will take u bye d hand, and show you that flesh 2 flesh, face 2 face, communication is nothing to be feared. New, unique, but never 2 bee feared. You may even bcome less restless after de xperience.
Oh, those sound fun. I just finished reading about Herodotus so Socrates should come next, I suppose. But, being me, I am actually reading a book by Alexandra Horowitz called What's Inside a Dog, which is about, not surprisingly, dogs.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I'm ordering one of your book recs on goodreads. Do you keep six or seven books open and ready at any given time? Please tell me someone does this besides me.
ReplyDeleteTwo or three, Hiker, plus a magazine or two. Six or seven books would be, for me, the equivalent of too many websites open at one time. It would shut me down.
ReplyDeleteI read your links, Des, and found myself not interested. Wondered why, because I believe in your impeccable taste. Aha! I know. I read for story. I read nonfiction, but it's almost always history or biography. I could expand a bit. Maybe.
I heard an interview with author of HB on NPR, and I found the concept fascinating. For example, I believe it was Socrates who never learned the alphabet because he believed it would be a distraction from his thoughts and work.
ReplyDeleteI'll try, CP, I'll try--
ReplyDeleteM: Inside a dog, as in it's too dark to read?
Which one, AH? reading have its:
If the book grabs me, I can't pay attention to anything else--usually thriller, mystery, etc like Rock Paper Tiger. Non fiction I can dip into simultaneously, with literary fiction. I read Socrates and Hamlet pretty much side by side, and it was interesting how many of their references overlapped. And I was working on a Ross Thomas novel which I finally returned--dated, or just not in the mood. The Socrates book also tells me a bit more about Cratylus that I had not known!
I'm not quite sure this was all impeccable, P, more like tmi!
Oh, these both sound fantastic! I love the history of ideas, usually more than I love the ideas themselves.
ReplyDeleteAnd I typically have 10-12 books going at any one time--right now, about 8 poetry collections, a parenting manual, a memoir, and "The Wolf in the Parlor"--about dogs. Heh.
Ah, parenting manuals. I remember those, I read them all with anticipation and excitement and felt fully encouraged afterwards. As opposed to defeated.
ReplyDeleteI see your reading is following the food theme with "breakfast" and "blackberry."
ReplyDeleteooh, Susan, thanks for pointing out the connection!
ReplyDeleteThis is the worst idea ever.
ReplyDelete