I almost feel guilty admitting this, but I get bored reading. Real bored. Real fast. Seldom will I slog through a book just to finish it. And yet if you’re a writer, especially a Christian writer, suggestions about what you should read abound. Trouble is… I still get bored. Of course, this turns reading into drudgery, an interminable state for a writer, I admit. So it was refreshing to stumble upon the following quote while perusing my copy of The Modern Writer’s Workshop, by Stephen Koch.
…please, don’t sink into this woeful nonsense about not having time to read. Find it. Make it. How much time each day do you give to TV? To the daily paper? The crossword? The real culprit here is almost never your schedule. It is boredom — your boredom with the books you think you are supposed to read. Find a book that you want, a book that gives you real trembling excitement, a book that is hot in your hands, and you’ll have time galore.
This notion that aspiring authors are “supposed to read” certain books is prevalent in writers’ circles. It can lead to guilt (What? You haven’t read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers?), contempt (You call yourself a Fantasy fan and haven’t read Lord of the Rings?), exclusion (Finishing the Harry Potter series is a requirement for inclusion in our coven… er, group), and eventually makes for one long must-read list. This doesn’t mean every one of these books is the best ever written in its category, but that it is viewed as significant to the literary canon, illuminating or instructive. Of course, some books are worth reading even if they’re not completely engaging. I can’t say I looked forward to reading Melville’s Moby Dick, but I’m glad I did. There’s probably a lot of books that fall into that category. Nevertheless, this idea of “obligatory reading” can become a needless encumbrance to a writer. Koch again:
All serious education necessarily involves a certain amount of obligatory reading. that is how it has to be and exactly as it ought to be. Yet this essential aspect of growth does have a dangerous downside: It can darken all reading under the dull shadow of obligation. At a certain moment in your life as a writer, you should resolve to read only what matters to you. Not what people say should matter. What does. You should seek that out relentlessly, find it, and then you should read and read and read.
My earlier stage of writing was characterized by “obligatory reading.” Now, I’ve swung almost entirely to the opposite extreme. So it’s with a certain amount of shame that I admit that the best things I’ve read recently are Watchmen, Master of the Mysteries, and The Heart of Darkness. Maybe Conrad has made someone’s Obligatory Reading list, but the others…? I guess the important thing is that those books gave me that “real trembling excitement” Koch spoke about. Still, I can’t help but feel I’m violating some sacred Christian Writers List.
Question: As a non-professional Christian writer (and by that I don’t mean amateurish, but one who is not employed to write), should I have an “obligatory reading” list. And, if so, what should be on it?
You might categorize yourself as a non-professional writer, Mike, but you’ve already established your voice and you understand the technical aspects of writing, so that changes my answer to you from what it would be if you were just starting out. I think you should do what you’re doing: read what keeps you in the story. Occasionally try outside your favored genre if someone with a like mind recommends a different kind of book or you feel like experimenting. And in the process of it all, guard your heart. Even we adults have to do that, I think.
Non fiction glazes my eyes, elicits severe yawning, causes drowsiness like a sleep inducer, and rarely gets finished. That includes writing instruction books–maybe especially writing instruction books.
You should NOT have an obligatory list, but you should have a non-obligatory list chock-full of fast-reading, fanciful stuff that includes:
American Gods, Neil Gaiman
Demon: A Memoir, Tosca Lee (but I bet you’ve already read it.)
Going Postal (or Thud! or anything else he writes), Terry Pratchett
Summa Elvetica, which I haven’t finished yet (just got it, and am reading Havah at the moment), looks completely awesome – A Church scholar is called by Christ’s representative on earth to determine whether or not Elves have souls. – by Theodore Beale
The Skystone – Jack Whyte
Dead to Me – Anton Strout
Reading really needs to be fun before it needs to be “enriching.”
I understand this. As a musician, I had to learn to play pieces I may not have naturally chosen. In stretching me, my teachers exposed me to new pieces. I found that at the least I appreciated something I didn’t understand before, and at the most, I fell in love with something new.
The same can be said of reading.
So, yes, I do think obligatory reading is a good thing, but I think there are stages to be sensitive to and ways to make some things more fun. For example, I read Moby Dick while on a ship. Pretending to be on Ahab’s ship and gazing out onto the water during reading breaks took me deeper into the story.
Oh, one more note in regards to Xdpaul’s final comment–I’m speaking to those who already read for fun, who already love reading.
Heather forgot to mention her new business. Mike–you should get that information from her. It plays into what you’re talking about.
I’m a fairly voracious reader, (I find tomes such as Ussher’s Annals of the World to be a real romp) so I have a strange definition of fun. But for those who do hit the “boring” factor in books they are supposed to be enriched by, I think it is always good to find engaging stories first. You never know when The Aspern Papers may finally strike your fancy, but trying to choke it down because you think you are “supposed to” won’t be very enriching.
Having said that, Heather’s absolutely right. There are some books worth pushing yourself through (mine was Dante’s Comedy. The whole thing. Purgatorio was just that, but Paradiso is life dynamite, and wouldn’t be were it not for the slog of the first two books) as an author and a reader.
You just need to know how to pick the right “obligation.”
For example, one might be able to go from Varney the Vampyr (for fun, pure fun) to Dracula (same genre, but a semi-obligatory for some folks) to, say, the “obligatory” Don Quixote (a weird example, I know, but it was the order I read them in and found a sort of harmonic convergence in them). Sometimes you can find good (if offbeat) “matches” between the non-obligatory and the obligatory that not only make the obligatory more fun, but also “enrich” the non!
Other non-obligs that might help lead to obligs:
Scarlet Pimpernel (non-oblig – a very fast read) to the Three Musketeers.
The Stand (King) to The Glass Bead Game (Hesse).
And I’d argue that The Westing Game is a good lead-in to The Name of the Rose, which then opens Umberto Eco, which then opens Borges, which then opens a world of obligatory literature, and makes it doggone fun.
I used to read upwards of 200 books a year. Now it’s about 30, and I ‘m reallly picky about what I read. I’m glad I had an obligatory reading list in high school and college, but I’d drive myself crazy if I had one now.
Xd, thanks for all the great suggestions. I’ve not read Tosca Lee’s novel, and will do so (in “non-obligatory” fashion, of course) on your recommendation. I think your excitement about these titles demonstrates some of what gets lost in the Obligatory Reading lists. Nicole mentioned about not being too thrilled with non-fiction. I’m just the opposite. (Next on my list is Year Million: Science at the Far Edge of Knowledge.) However, there’s a certain consensus — at least, from what I’ve gathered — that if you’re writing fiction, you should read fiction; and if you’re writing in a certain genre of fiction, you should read primarily in that genre. That’s all well and good. But I find my brain being just as tickled by reading outside my genre, as narrowing my reading entirely to it. So if the goal as a writer is to keep your imaginative center glowing, doing whatever you must — including being a Non-Obligatory Reader — seems healthy… whether it’s non-fiction, genre fiction, or whatever.
Thanks, Michelle, for the reminder about Heather’s new business. Yes, it dovetails nicely into this. I’m not sure how much much info she’s letting out, but it’s entitled Solomon Summaries and will begin on Blog Tour Oct. 20-24. From what I understand, it is a “book summary service,” which provides detailed synopses of both fiction and non-fiction for busy people (or people with ADD like me). For the record: I love what Heather’s doing and her site is a blast. Perhaps she’ll let us know more as the program unfolds.
I absolutely second XdPaul’s recommendation for Demon . . . a memoir. Superior writing, brilliant concept.
XdPaul–I like your idea of fun! (Another idea: read Cervantes in Spain–they have homages to him everywhere!)
Re: the summary biz, it’s actually only nonfiction. And yes, it launches next week. Members get a 10-page summary once a week of a Christian nonfiction book, along with a review and group discussion questions. Soon, we’ll also have mp3s of the summaries available. The service will be free from next week until December 1st, so feel free to try it out and tell us what you think. The first three books: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, The 10 Commandments of Marriage by Ed Young, and unChristian (forgive me, but I forget the author at the moment). You can visit http://www.solomonsummaries.com to find out more. We’re still putting the final touches on the website, but that should help you learn more.
Final note: I saw a blog post today I thought related to this: http://artspastor.blogspot.com/2008/10/discipline-of-reading-outside-your.html