I used to be the kind of person who read fiction almost exclusively. I would writhe and squirm whenever forced to read nonfiction for schoolwork, and even when I secretly enjoyed the book in question, I continued to protest loudly.
So it came as rather a shock the other day when I looked over my "currently reading" bookshelf and this is what I found:
A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa Howard French
Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda Gen. Romeo Dallaire
Generation Me: Why Today's Young American's Are More Assertive, Confident, Entitled--and more Miserable Than Ever Before Jean M. Twenge
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women Geraldine Brooks
The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy T.R. Reid
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream Barack Obama
Democracy in America Alexis de Tocqueville
All great books--all nonfiction. Perhaps even more alarming than the actual contents of my book shelf is the fact that I enjoy reading every single one of these books. So I learn, and I enjoy it. That shouldn't be a problem.
The problem (for me) arises in the fact that I have not finished any of these books, although I have been reading some of them for months, and I do not realistically expect to. I never used to have a problem finishing books--but then again, I used to always read suspenseful fantasy novels, and finishing them was a given.
With non-fiction, where there is never a plot, and seldom a story curve of any kind, finishing seems beside the point. It's like setting a finishing line for a leisurely stroll in the park. Reading any measure of these books broadens my mind and informs my intellect, so I shouldn't be so fussed about not devouring the whole thing, should I?
Perhaps not. But I still am. My reading habits have changed so drastically that I now read multiple books at a time, as you may have construed from the lengthy list above. It is a good system: I hop around from book to book to keep my mind open and stop my brain from going into overload (or worse, textbook-mode) on any given topic. Trouble is, this makes for slow going, and since I get most of my books from the library, I can't keep them for the time needed to complete every single one.
Another issue is my attention span. I am interested in so many topics that I will quickly move on to a new one before I have completed sated my thirst for the last. And who can read and finish more than ten books on more than ten different subjects in the unmercifully short timespan allowed by library lending times? Perhaps someone else, but certainly not me.
The part about "setting a finish line for a leisurely stroll around the park" - best thing I've ever read. That's genius, and I completely agree. I'm in the exact same situation as you - all of a sudden I realized that all I was reading was non-fiction, and I read about 10-15 books at a time. And since I find pretty much EVERYTHING interesting, I keep starting new things without finishing other things. But it's okay! There are no rules of reading - we can do whatever we want, and whatever we enjoy!! :)
ReplyDelete