Someone recently mentioned to me that they are feeling less confident about their writing and they figure it’s because of what they have come to read. This thought was shared by an incredibly successful entrepreneur who has a number of degrees and interacts with corporations and governments as part of his work. Now in his 60s, he mentioned his reading choices have moved through the decades from complex books that challenged him to mostly online posts when he has time.
I’m pretty sure the switch came partly because of how busy life gets when you’re establishing a career and raising a family, and, of course, the internet arrived and changed everything. But it did get me thinking about my reading habits through the years. I still always have a book on the go – at least one. Mostly they are books that are popular at the moment and that others are talking about. The nature and tenor of the books that are popular among my group, though, has definitely changed and the reality is I believe many people around me are reading simpler books that they once did.
When I was in my early 20s, someone gave me an Anthony Burgess book called Man of Nazareth and after I read it, I lent it to my dad. He was a religious man and I knew the dramatization would challenge him, but he loved it. In fact, it came to be the only book he referred to from then on in. Sadly, he passed away just a few years later, but with that book still on his bedside table. So, of course, I brought it back and it has been sitting at my bedside ever since.
Oddly, I never re-read it or even opened its covers in the intervening years – it was just important to have it nearby. But after the possibility that I’m reading simpler books entered my mind, I reached for it and took a gander. And I was startled by how dense it is. That’s the only way I can describe it. The choice of words is fine, but the complex diction made me think I would now struggle to call this reading for pleasure.
I looked into a few other favourite books from that time in my life and they all have a similar feel. I can’t believe I felt so engaged with these challenging stories when I was so young. But I have always brought the same relationship to the books I read, in that I take great pleasure when I crack the cover with the anticipation that I will be carried into yet another great story. The books may have changed, but the love of reading them is unwavering.
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