The Nature of Reading.

A man ought to read just as inclination leads him,
for what he reads as a task will do him little good.
~ Samuel Johnson ~

Books like friends, should be few and well-chosen.
~ Joineriana ~


These are some quotes that sum up some of the various feelings regarding reading. I was having a long conversation with one of my close friends last night and we had a little argument on the nature of reading.

My friend's view of reading seems to line up with the quote of Joineriana. That one should only read something that pushes the mind forward. For him, this means "classic" texts that have been deemed classic by magazine publications, the modern library, or are mandatory in college or high school. Classic novels coupled with philosophical or theological texts that push your brain should be a reader's main focus.

While I understand and respect that point of view, I tend to agree more with the Johnson quote above. I believe that reading the "classics" and other respected texts are very important. I also believe that you should read whatever makes you happy. While you should still be objective towards everything you set before your eyes, don't overlook a book just because it is new or by someone that you have never heard of. Classic writers are amazing, I understand now how people have fallen in love with the works of Orwell, Dostoyevsky, Plath, and Vonnegut, because I have fallen in love with them too. Yet, contemporary writers such as Marquez, Eugenides, McCarthy, Walls have also made me fall in love with them too. They have a voice too and while they haven't been along to be seen as classic, I still think you should just read what makes you happy.

If it becomes a task in order to become "enlightened" with every page, it will become akin to homework. Reading should be special, private, and above all else, a joy.

The Nature of Reading.

First Couple Chapters & Side Rant

While I am only two chapters into She's Come Undone, I really enjoy it. It reads like a memoir and reminds me a lot of Jeanette Walls' The Glass Castle. One thing that has caught my attention so far is just how "human" Dolores is. In the first couple of chapters she is around the age of 10 when her father leaves her and her mother to go live with another woman. Her mother, crippled by these events and a miscarriage that preceded, spirals out of control. When looking to her daughter Dolores for comfort, Dolores doesn't give her "ma" the slightest bit of solace.
Maybe other readers may see Dolores as just flat out being a mean girl. It just seems to me a very human reaction. Dolores is confused. She doesn't know why her father just up and left. He didn't really give any reason as to why he was leaving. One day he was just gone. Dolores and her father seemed to get along very well so I don't feel as though she would would put the blame on herself. So who is the only other person that could have been responsible?
For me, I like that the author doesn't have to spell that out for us. That he doesn't say, "Dolores felt this" and "Ma felt this." He just gives us a snapshot into these peoples lives and lets us deal with the rest.

Anyone agree? or am I totally off the mark?

Side Rant: Have you ever been on a public bus? I ride them several times a week to go to school and I have noticed that most people on there have a severe staring problem. I honestly cannot figure out what they are staring at sometimes. I know for a fact that none of these people (mostly men) are secret agents that are planted on public transit systems in an attempt to thwart terrorism because they are in no way discreet. If there is something slightly out of the norm on the bus, for example a low cut shirt, he will stare it up and down until everyone around around him has become reasonably uncomfortable. I could understand if it was an old man who only had a couple of days left on this earth and feels like he has nothing left to lose, but there seems to be no fixed demographic for these starers. Something about the bus just makes them resist the urge to blink and gives them the desire to let everyone know that their eyes are fixed on something peculiar.

Literary Conquests

I cannot seem to put my finger on it, but I'm starting to believe that I have literary A.D.D. While I may be in school currently and already have way too much to read, I always have to add something else to that list. It also can never seem to be fun books that you can just give a quick glance at night and don't feel like your missing out if you set it down on the night-stand.
I have realized that reading is no longer a fun thing to do or a enjoyable hobby. It is cathartic. It has to be something that emotionally purges me. Makes me question everything that I am doing in my life while I am simultaneously praising and despising life.
I believe that I have always been drawn to Russian literature. At the risk of sounding like a snob by merely mentioning the author's name, I do have to say that I truly love Dostoevsky. Grand in scope, his books contain exhaustive detail that actually makes me feel as though I am truly living the character's life. While this is a wonderful thing to experience at times, his characters are positively human. They are selfish, beautiful, and at times awful to be with.
I don't know what draws me to these people, but I love wallowing in their misery. As the reader goes through every stage of these character's lives, it is hard to part with them when you reach the final page of the book that is absent of ink.

More on Russian lit later, I am merely writing this piece because I have not written in a while. At first, I intended this blog to be a place of vanity that would allow me to show off my offhanded wit. However, this well has run dry. Or it has been poisoned. Either way, there is nothing to drink.

As I thought about my literary endeavors and the merciless need to purge my soul with books, I wanted to know if any of you out there share the same desire.

While meager amounts of vanity remain, I want to open this blog up to readers and writers alike. I will be writing about what I am reading at the moment and encourage people to comment on whether they themselves had read the book and what they got from it. Whether it be philosophical rants or summaries of your favorite parts, I want to share the love of books. I will also give enough advance to those who might want to join in reading the book with me.

I have read many different books. While the previous sentence may be interpreted as an attempt to show how amazing I am, it was merely meant to say that on this blog we will be reading a wide variety of books. If you have any recommendations, please please please speak up.

So here it goes...the first book!

Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone

I have heard nothing but amazing things about Wally Lamb and so I just decided to go to Santa Cruz book store and pick up the first one that caught my eye.

If anyone wants to join in, I am just starting this now. Like Lamb says in the first chapter of this book, television is sharp and clear but unreliable.

Today is the Day

Today is the first day of school.

The sad thing is that I am 23 years of age.

This is like....the fifth time I have started school at a new school. This may be the last time. Yet, if I decide to get my PHD then I will be much older and probably won't get the jitters. I'll probably be too busy disciplining my kids and wondering how the heck I got so old rather than dealing with the "butterflies in my tummy."

I don't really know why I am so scared. There seems to be an idea in my head that whenever I get to a new school, there is some serious hazing to be done. I am sitting in the middle of a dark room, wearing only socks, my violent tears soaking through my polyester blindfold, while every one of the faculty verbally tears me apart. Apparently someone has given them a list of every one of my perceived weaknesses cause they nail every bullet-point. They start with my hair and work their way down, spending significant time on my brain and all of the little nuances locked inside of it. Eventually, the clean up the shop by ridiculing my overly wide feet.

This never happens, but I get worked up anyway.

It will probably actually happen today. That is why I am worked up.

Cheers

I just have to say that I don't like it when people say "Cheers" when they mean "thank you."

If your at a bar with a couple of people from England and Manchester United just scores, then look at your friends, hit your overflowing pints of Michelob Ultra together and exclaim "CHEERS!"

But if your at a coffee shop, let's say my coffee shop, and I give you a drink. Don't say cheers. The first reason being that when you say "thank you," it is usually followed up by a customary "your welcome." When you utter the words "cheers" there is no follow up, unless you count the dead silence as a response. Which I wouldn't cause that is such an agonizing four seconds. I am not going to say, "Cheers to you too." I am also not going bring myself down to your level by responding with the same idiotic nonsense.

I get it. Don't think I don't. Your striving to be original. It's cute. You are rebelling against social norms and you think a coffee shop is going to be the best place to exercise your new found freedom...but don't. There are already to many maladies in the realm of human interaction. We don't need this filth.

If the Tv show Cheers was about Rita Pearlman going around trying to make herself seem hip then maybe you would have an excuse, but it wasn't, and you don't

DSM

This rant is sponsored by Melody Petersen's book, Our Daily Meds.

When I first learned about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), I was very impressed. I thought to myself that it was pretty impressive that a group of people got together and compiled a list of mental disorders. It seemed that only good could come of this since in order to treat a disease, you must first diagnose it. However, I am starting to believe that a book like the DSM could be the downfall of our society.

Before you say, "Reid...You're being dramatic."
I would like to say to you, "Don't worry, I am being dramatic."

First of all, I am a grandiose person. If I had a good day and somebody were to ask how my day was, I would most likely respond that it was one of the best days I have ever had. Conversely, if someone were to ask how my day was and it had not been a very good day, the moment would turn sour really fast. Religious or not, the person would probably ask to pray for me due to their concern that death was imminent for me.

For the layman, when I am up I am UP, when I am down I am DOWN.

No I do not think the DSM will actually be the downfall of our society. Jonas Brothers fanaticism is more likely to be a harbinger of Armageddon, but that is so depressing that I don't even want to attempt to write about it.

I do think that its scary that in 1952 there was only 106 mental illnesses listed in the DSM. By 1994, the list had grown to 357 mental disorders. (Petersen,99)

While I do believe that the growth in the list of illnesses is due to our advances in medical knowledge, but some of these have to be put in there just to scare people, or because people are bored, or because people want to find a disease that wins a spot in the coveted DSM. I would do it....I still might.

Not all of you are going to like this news because you want to believe that if something is in a medical book, then it is probably in there for a good reason. However, mental illnesses are not like diseases that infect the blood or other things in the body that can be detected. They are a set of character traits, or flaws to some people. Some doctors actually have boasted that they can tell if a person is depressed by only asking them two questions. They see this as a positive thing that enables the physician to prescribe their patients anti-depressants right away. What are these two questions? I wish I could figure it out.

I imagine they are: Are you depressed? and Did you know you look horribly depressed?

There is no way you can decide if someone needs a chemical aid with a mere two questions.

If you can surmise that someone is depressed based on two questions then you can probably guess that someone has other mental illnesses based on this meager criteria.

Don't believe me? A while ago a company tried to tell people that a large portion of the community suffered from a mental illness called "compulsive shopping disorder." While I do believe that a lot of us are compulsive shoppers, it isn't something that you can treat with pills. They tried though. The pill was called Celexa. It didn't get popular because of the backlash it created when it was featured on shows like Good Morning American. While it is good that this drug's future was quelled after its first television appearance, I wonder how many drugs have flown under the radar for illnesses that were created just so we could buy more pills.

Maybe it is just my machismo that doesn't let me succumb to snacking on Zoloft, but I hard time buying into that people need pills for every little personality quirk they might have. I am starting to believe Chris Rock when he said that some people are just "crazy." Plain and simply crazy.

I am sorry for those who read this and who are currently "suffering" from one of these disorders. Unless it is Restless Leg Syndrome, then I am not sorry. That is just called having too much espresso before bed time.