Reading

I do not like to read fiction. I never have. I cannot sit long enough and concentrate on a made up story by someone I don’t know. I do occasionally listen to books on CD, but they even bore me after a while.

I prefer silence when I drive, conversation or talk radio.

I like short stories but I don’t think anyone writes them anymore. The last ones I read as a child were O’Henry in the 1960s and they were very dated then. But I could at least hang in there and read a whole story.

When people say, “The book was so good that I couldn’t put it down”, I’m thinking, “I sure could and I don’t even know what the book was about”.

A few years ago I saw my friend Charlie spend three or four solid days reading The Da vinci Code. Heck I can’t stay comfortable for more than three minutes. How can anyone sit hours on end reading a fantasy in the same position when there is so much going on around them that is reality?

I guess I’m wired different for sure.

When people pause while reading on vacation they always have this stupid look on their face. I think their brain is still in the fantasy of the book and they are adjusting to reality and you can tell they prefer the fantasy world they just left. Good for them.

I actually read the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck one time. The book was about four inches thick and I hung with it cover to cover. Big hairy deal, I read a classic. I’ll never get that slot of my real life back and I am scarred with the story of poor folks during the depression, plus the ending was funky.

When I married Gigi I married into a family that could spend every waking hour in a bookstore. They buy books by the pound and never read them but they love their books.

I don’t even like the way books smell. I remember the first time I walked into the school library when I was 6. Whew, those books smelled musty. And crap, I have to read them.

Personally I would rather read a shop manual or look at a catalog. Then and only then can my mind roam.

Gigi went to Tractor Supply yesterday. She picked up their catalog for me because she knew I liked that kind of stuff.

The tractor supply catalog had lots of pictures of farm implements and short descriptions. It was perfect and to the point. A compelling read. I couldn’t put the book down.

This was an especially good read because I’m going into day three without an Internet connection at home.

1 comments:

Rose Ghost said...

You said you like short stories.. what kind of genre? Historical, horror, crime? There are loads of books of short stories if you know where to look. Try searching on amazon (com or co.uk or whichever's closest to where you live.). Unforunatly a lot of the stories will be pretty long (more than 15 pages) or novellas but they'll be some that are 3 or 4 pages long. I'll be lad to suggest some titles if you want.

Loretta