I've been thinking alot about writing lately. And relatedly, what people want to read. (An extension being, what types of people read certain books.) Extremely self-conscious about my position wrt text and preoccupied with thoughts about writing I have realized that all this thinking is my attempt to reconcile how to first represent my own style.
As an aside: I have forced myself to begin a book. It's called "to the friend who did not save my life" and was written by a French author and journalist, Herve Guibert (forgive the lack of accents, I haven't learned the strokes for it yet). You can find a blurb about it on most glbt websites.
Anyways, tired of staring at my books and not interested in testing this mood out on a less experimental book, I started it a couple of days ago and have managed 3 pages and 4 chapters.
Returning to style: Kara's posts and past conversations with Kim and Eileen - the few friends I have who continue to read outside of school - as well as my mental state of late and reading guibert's book has led me ask the question that has always preoccupied me: WHY DOES ONE READ?
I get the sense that kara is most comfortable reading work that she can relate to whether it be 'real' or via fantasy. I think she posted as much. Others read to gain new knowledge (a problem...). Some read for entertainment, some read for sexual thrill. And so on, to various degrees.
For me, there are no limits. I have themes that I'm interested in, genres, periods etc. yes but the element that does more than attracts, and draws me in, is style. Particularly poetic style. There is something about this demystifying language that has come to define the best literary work for me.
Guibert's style is disconcerning and I hate it. So far there is no poetry. But this I'll leave for another entry.
The point that started all these tangents, is my question to you. WHY DO YOU READ? Please write.
2 comments:
I think I read for two reasons - validation and escapism.
The validation part is that I think I'm looking for characters with whom I can relate there experience to my experience, and feel better and possibly better understand my experience.
And the escapism part, I'm looking for a good story to wrap me up in.
i changed my post and edited. writing in the wee hours of the morning always lends itself to rambling.
i used to read for escapism but it stopped being satisfying for me. i couldn't find books that were able to keep my attention. They became repetitive and predictable. boring.
So the language and the marks of an author's manipulations has come to have my full attention. It's powerful to be able to see the meat and bones of a story.
Validation is another tough one. I think i do seek texts that validate my definition of 'good' texts. But then again, I love texts that challenge my definitions too... I'm not sure I look for characters I can relate to though. For example, Asian American lit - books I can relate to on several levels - are often problematic for me because I can't relate but it is obvious I am supposed to. OR I can relate and it's bald trueness makes me uncomfortable.
I guess this post has no purpose but to reiterate my own position. feels selfish but i'm posting it anyways.
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