Reading Books

My worst habit as an English major is that I refuse to read books. More specifically: novels. It's not that I dislike novels, or don't appreciate novels. It's just... I guess my creative writing niche has transformed my scope for literature. My attention span has really narrowed. Generally, I can't stay interested in literature if it lasts for more then 30 pages. Truthfully, the last novel I can say I read from cover to cover was The Great Gatsby and that was only because that was assigned to me as a freshman in college.

A lot of times I'll read a novel synopsis, I'll immediately look at the page count. Then I'll sit there and ask myself, "Couldn't you have told the story in half the time? Or less? Maybe 10 pages?" What upsets me is that most popular authors refuse to write economically. Tons of useless information about characters and settings. Pointless bull shit. And the best part is: relevant information is left unattended.

Don't get me wrong, I read. I read a lot. Tons of useless shit, especially when it comes to sports and music history. That type of knowledge seems tangible to me. Discussing pedagogy or theory... or even your general opinion about a book with somebody is beyond trivial. Most people never forget that "opinion" is just that: it's opinion. Not fact. So you end up getting into a ridiculous shouting match or pissing contest about the most inane garbage.

That's why I just stopped reading novels. Give me a nice collection of short fiction or poetry. Or a 32-page chapbook (kinda' like the one I wrote!). The reading is much brisker. The actual procession of time seems more plausible. Plus, if you hate it, you don't have the undying obligation to finish reading 200 more pages: you'll be done in like...5 more.

Don't get me wrong, I actually had planned on buying a few novels are giving them the old college try. But then I remembered how much I hate struggling through crap. Although, Hemmingway has never disappointed me before.


***Side note: mad props to the NFL for honoring Sean Taylor posthumously on the NFC Pro Bowl roster. He was having a monster season, and whole heartedly deserved this recognition.