An English Champion reader recently asked me a good question: "When I see your monthly lists of books, I don't see much fiction on them. If you teach literature, why do you read so much non-fiction?" The answer has three parts.
One: I am genuinely interested in a wide variety of topics. That's why my lists usually contain works from sports, history, politics, science, media, economics, and much more. I am a pretty curious person, and not only do I like figuring out how things in our culture work, but I truly enjoy learning new things. I might have thought that once I got older I would know what I needed to know, and I would be satisfied with my wisdom of the world. But the exact opposite has happened. The older I get, the more I want to know. And it's kind of addictive, in the nerdiest way imaginable. Even though I have fancy letters after my name that indicate I don't actually need to keep going, I want to learn more now than ever. If only I had been so motivated as a youngster. Such is the cruel irony, I guess. The desire to become smart only shows itself after one becomes smart.
Two: Since I teach literature and have had to study literature for many years of schooling, to be honest, when I'm not at school, I need a break from it. I spend most of my working days reading Shakespeare and Whitman, Hemingway and Milton, O'Connor and Cather. And I enjoy it thoroughly. But, when I'm at home or on vacation, I almost always read non-fiction. The change allows me to explore new topics and learn more about the world described by those classic authors. I venture to say that reading lots of non-fiction actually helps me understand fiction better for myself and teach it better to others. By the way, my father is the exact opposite with his reading habits. He is a professor in the social sciences, so he spends his professional life reading journal articles, research studies, and other non-fiction works. He never reads that stuff away from school. He only reads adventure/espionage/detective books in his free time--books I almost never touch. I guess everyone has their preferences.
Three: This is the most difficult reason to admit. The more fiction I read, the more I recognize how much terrible fiction there is. Most of the books I quit reading each month, and thus never make it onto my lists, are fiction. I started reading a major award-winner a few weeks ago, and by page twenty, I was bored to death with it. And this was supposed to be good! What I've realized is that the classic books your teachers make you read, that you may hate now, are classics for a reason. They have stood the test of time and have proved to be good. That is an amazingly difficult accomplishment. With most fiction books today, I can tell within the first few pages that it will not achieve the lofty standards I have become used to. Mind you, that is totally unfair to most of those books, and I encourage all of you to stick with books as long as you can. But, for me anyway, that is what I have found. I am constantly disappointed by today's fiction, and I have grown, sadly, averse to much of it. But, an English Champion never quits, and I will keep tackling anything that looks interesting.
So why do you read what you read? I'd love to hear how you make your selections.
One: I am genuinely interested in a wide variety of topics. That's why my lists usually contain works from sports, history, politics, science, media, economics, and much more. I am a pretty curious person, and not only do I like figuring out how things in our culture work, but I truly enjoy learning new things. I might have thought that once I got older I would know what I needed to know, and I would be satisfied with my wisdom of the world. But the exact opposite has happened. The older I get, the more I want to know. And it's kind of addictive, in the nerdiest way imaginable. Even though I have fancy letters after my name that indicate I don't actually need to keep going, I want to learn more now than ever. If only I had been so motivated as a youngster. Such is the cruel irony, I guess. The desire to become smart only shows itself after one becomes smart.
Two: Since I teach literature and have had to study literature for many years of schooling, to be honest, when I'm not at school, I need a break from it. I spend most of my working days reading Shakespeare and Whitman, Hemingway and Milton, O'Connor and Cather. And I enjoy it thoroughly. But, when I'm at home or on vacation, I almost always read non-fiction. The change allows me to explore new topics and learn more about the world described by those classic authors. I venture to say that reading lots of non-fiction actually helps me understand fiction better for myself and teach it better to others. By the way, my father is the exact opposite with his reading habits. He is a professor in the social sciences, so he spends his professional life reading journal articles, research studies, and other non-fiction works. He never reads that stuff away from school. He only reads adventure/espionage/detective books in his free time--books I almost never touch. I guess everyone has their preferences.
Three: This is the most difficult reason to admit. The more fiction I read, the more I recognize how much terrible fiction there is. Most of the books I quit reading each month, and thus never make it onto my lists, are fiction. I started reading a major award-winner a few weeks ago, and by page twenty, I was bored to death with it. And this was supposed to be good! What I've realized is that the classic books your teachers make you read, that you may hate now, are classics for a reason. They have stood the test of time and have proved to be good. That is an amazingly difficult accomplishment. With most fiction books today, I can tell within the first few pages that it will not achieve the lofty standards I have become used to. Mind you, that is totally unfair to most of those books, and I encourage all of you to stick with books as long as you can. But, for me anyway, that is what I have found. I am constantly disappointed by today's fiction, and I have grown, sadly, averse to much of it. But, an English Champion never quits, and I will keep tackling anything that looks interesting.
So why do you read what you read? I'd love to hear how you make your selections.