Sharon at Bibliobibuli recently posted a quote by the author Nick Hornby on reading entirely for pleasure, even if it’s completely low brow or “low lit”. Quoting Sharon, quoting Nick Hornby:
One of the problems, it seems to me, is that we’ve got it into our heads that books should be hard work, and that unless they’re hard work, they’re not doing us any good.
Nick goes on to argue that reading should be pleasurable and enjoyable, not something that’s “killing you” to get through:
I simply mean that turning pages should not be like walking through thick mud. the whole purpose of books is that we read them, and if you find you can’t, it might not be your inadequacy that’s to blame. ‘Good’ books can be pretty awful sometimes.
I couldn’t agree more. I read for pleasure, first and foremost. This doesn’t stop me from picking up ‘good’ books, but if I can’t read say the first fifty pages of a book without wishing I was doing something else, I put it down and pick up something else. (This goes for all books.)
Sharon goes on to list the books she’s bought and the books she’s finished recently, and because I don’t think I’ve seen many memes lately, here’s my list:
Books most recently bought:
Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda
The Web by Jonathan Kellerman
Wir Lernen Deutsch (We Learn German) by Leo Kober
The Little Drummer Girl by John Le Carre
Books recently read:
Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda
The Web by Jonathan Kellerman
An Unkindness of Ravens by Ruth Rendell
Currently reading:
Remembering Aboriginal Heroes by John Ramsland and Christopher Mooney*
The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfeld
Uses of Blogs by Axel Bruns and Joanne Jacobs
The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw (gift from JadedLotus)
*Give a girl a scanner! I couldn’t find any information about Remembering Aboriginal Heroes online, beyond library and bookshop catalogue records. I might just have to review it when I’m done.
7 Comments
I’m one of those weirdoes that actually enjoys reading James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Samuel Beckett and what-have-you. I’m always suspicious when somebody recommends a book as an easy read, as “easily read” too often translates as “badly written”. Straightforward prose with real substance is a tough trick to pull off. Kurt Vonnegut springs to mind, as do Evelyn Waugh, Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell…
I struggle sometimes with high-lit books. If a book doesn’t grab me in the first few chapters it’s hard for me to persevere. I guess I tend to read books for the story rather than the deep and meaningful social statements. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate them when they are there, but if the story isn’t any good, it just gets too hard. A good book to me is one where I emerge blinking into the real world like a cat waking up from a snooze in the sun.
I have to confess a liking for romantic suspense, some thrillers and “feel good” lit with happy endings. A bit of tasteful, raunchy, rumpy-pumpy is also good! LOL!
Okay – I’ll go and hide my librarian head in shame now.
Hi Tom, I have to disagree, “easily read” does not always translate to “badly written”. It can, but not always. “Straightforward prose”, as you put it, can also be “easily read”, no? Waugh and Orwell to me are easy to read and straughtforward (which is why my 14-year-old self read and enjoyed Animal Farm and Scoop) but of course they are well-crafted and full of nuances. As a child I appreciated them as mere stories; on re-reading later I understood the deeper meanings and the devices used, etc. By the way, have you read (and enjoyed) Ulysses?
Penny, me too. I will perservere if other people have recommended something highly (or all the reviews have been really positive) but if it feels like “wading through mud” the whole way, well…
And.. “raunchy rumpy pumpy”, huh?? š Which authors? I don’t remember the last bit of raunchy rumpy pumpy I’ve read, obviously I’ve been hanging out in the wrong aisles!
it’s very nice to read your list! i am always so nosey about what other people are reading. the aprt of me that should have been a librarian (before i switched to teaching) seems to be coming to the fore …
i’m with hornby too – although i do enjoy the struggle with a more difficult book if i can sense the reward is there. and some of the books i breeze through, others find daunting e.g de lillo’s “underworld”. i’ve only managed “ulysses” in snatches though and am grateful for the recent film
a book that springs to mind which was an easy fun read but raised many issues (about immigration, old age, sibling rivalry) was “a short history of tractors in ukrainian” by by monica lewycka. and enjoyable read doesn’t have to be badly written at all.
there’s a lot of bookguilt around. no-one ever feels filmguilt or musicguilt, do they??
Hey Con,
What a coincidence – I am reading The Harmony Silk Factory as well. It’s taking me a while as I am trying out a “reading more than one book at a time” technique.
CW… books need to reach inside you and touch you sometimes. I enjoy many topics in life, but if a dry author butchers it for me – I simply won’t continue to read it.
I like to feel that the author hold the same passion for his topic of choice, yarn, lifes adventure – as I might have for it.
Perhaps that says something about what I expect of an author… I loved Orwell too – then as a kid – and a little later as a younger man. I really enjoyed Gerald Durrell as a young teenager… enjoyed (and still enjoy) that era of Britsh writers – as the books to me – were really well written.
He opened a whole world up for me that I never knew existed… I escaped into his books like you’d never believe… I never read Ulysses – but I’d love too. Don’t know what it’ll do for me – but I’ll have a crack at it. I suppose it’s as much about the ‘why’ you read as well as the ‘what’ – depending on what your mood calls out for.
I’m just lucky I got to enjoy reading at a really early age… coming from my background – not a lot of young Aborignal fellas read then – and sadly I believe – even less now!
Cheers mate… š
Hi Sharon, thanks for your comment! The responses to this post have really got me thinking and I can feel another post to set out some of my thoughts… Yes- why don’t we feel guilty about enjoying the films or music we enjoy??
Anna!!! How are you! I need to write to you (you’re the person I was referring to in the last meme post, by the way – the person I wrote a card to. Maybe it’s time to write a letter…) How are you finding Tash Aw? I’m quite enjoying it – about halfway through at the moment.
Belongum I agree. Books that touch you and change the way you look at things are some of the best experiences I’ve had. I can’t imagine life without reading! It’s such a pity that so many people never ever experience this pleasure.