Paper with words on it
I buy books. Not a lot. Not very many at all really. Anyway ... I don't read them.
I don't think I've ever bought a book that I didn't honestly think I was going to read from cover to cover but I can't remember the last book where I did that. Actually, I think it may have been Terry Practchett's "Going Postal" which I read in Vegas. Oh, and I never really thought I'd get all the way through the Spanish version of "American Psycho". Anyway ...
Most of the stuff I have bought lately has been just flicked through. Even when I recently took a plane to Perth and back - 14 hours on the plane plus associated waiting-at-the-airport time - the 2 books I took with me only get a couple of chapters of attention. I'd bet that I've spent more time reading manuals than novels this year.
It wasn't always so.As a kid I was a voracious reader, often reading until I could no longer keep my eyes open. Up until I went to university, I owned a copy of every Stephen King book and these were often revisited. I guess a turning point came when I started reading more compilations of short stories than novels. Reading sessions would become shorter and shorter; Four stories at once would become three, then two and finally one story at a time was enough. Just like a junkie kicking their habit, I'd weaned myself from the hold words on paper had over me.
So why keep buying books then?
As I said, I do always intend to read them, I just don't get round to it. What may have looked like a good thing on the shelf or at Amazon, quickly looses it's appeal.
I play a fair bit off chess these days, both with friends and at Red Hot Pawn. I'm no good but that's not the point. I bought a few books recently with the intention of making myself a better player and if not actually win more games, at least put up a better fight. I made a good start on "Winning Chess Tactics" but then other things came up and it went back on the shelf. Chess books can be very dull but what I have read of Yasser Seirawan's "Winning Chess" series, I've enjoyed. A bit of background and personal commentary goes a long way to make a dry subject a tad more moist.
I'm sure that at some point I will be revisiting the chess books and take another look at them. I can't say the same for:
I don't think I've ever bought a book that I didn't honestly think I was going to read from cover to cover but I can't remember the last book where I did that. Actually, I think it may have been Terry Practchett's "Going Postal" which I read in Vegas. Oh, and I never really thought I'd get all the way through the Spanish version of "American Psycho". Anyway ...
Most of the stuff I have bought lately has been just flicked through. Even when I recently took a plane to Perth and back - 14 hours on the plane plus associated waiting-at-the-airport time - the 2 books I took with me only get a couple of chapters of attention. I'd bet that I've spent more time reading manuals than novels this year.
It wasn't always so.As a kid I was a voracious reader, often reading until I could no longer keep my eyes open. Up until I went to university, I owned a copy of every Stephen King book and these were often revisited. I guess a turning point came when I started reading more compilations of short stories than novels. Reading sessions would become shorter and shorter; Four stories at once would become three, then two and finally one story at a time was enough. Just like a junkie kicking their habit, I'd weaned myself from the hold words on paper had over me.
So why keep buying books then?
As I said, I do always intend to read them, I just don't get round to it. What may have looked like a good thing on the shelf or at Amazon, quickly looses it's appeal.
I play a fair bit off chess these days, both with friends and at Red Hot Pawn. I'm no good but that's not the point. I bought a few books recently with the intention of making myself a better player and if not actually win more games, at least put up a better fight. I made a good start on "Winning Chess Tactics" but then other things came up and it went back on the shelf. Chess books can be very dull but what I have read of Yasser Seirawan's "Winning Chess" series, I've enjoyed. A bit of background and personal commentary goes a long way to make a dry subject a tad more moist.
I'm sure that at some point I will be revisiting the chess books and take another look at them. I can't say the same for:
- Pamela Anderson - Star (Amazon)
- David Gerold - When Harlie Was One (Amazon)
- Cory Doctrow - Down and OUT in the Magic Kingdom (Amazon)
- Cameron White - Mr Nasty (Auckland Airport)
- Stephen Coonts and Jim Defelice - Deep Black: Biowar (Whitcoulls)
- Stewart Lee Allen - The Devils Cup (Whitcoulls)
- Gerald Peary - Quentin Tarantino Interviews (Amazon)
posted by Nick at 11:48 AM
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