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A readerly question...
Aug. 2nd, 2010 02:30 pm...I was talking to my co-worker about this the other day, so it's been on my mind. We both came to the conclusion that as readers, we find that there are some types of books that we read in public and others that we prefer to read at home and yet others that must absolutely be read alone, with no one but the cat around, not even the significant other.
I tend to read non-fiction in public or at the front desk. I find it less personal than reading fiction in public, I guess. I feel like, for whatever reason, that I'm not broadcasting as much of my self to complete strangers. If people comment on the non-fiction I'm reading, it's easier for me to respond that I haven't finished the book or thought enough about the subject to expound at length about it (even if I can). This tends to end conversations I don't want to have. Even though I love reading, and I love being around people who love reading, the average person on the street it usually not MY kind of reader. Specifically in that they don't have the same background or interests that I have and so any conversation about whatever non-fiction book I am reading would just be idle chit-chat and essentially meaningless for us both, so it is easier for me to just be non-commital and not start a conversation anyways. I have no idea if that makes sense. I tend to not want to read fiction in public because fiction is INTENSELY personal for me and I want so desparately to talk about what I'm reading and it is so rare to even find someone who likes sci-fi or fantasy let alone the sub-genres that I like that I just don't like dealing with the disappointment. The one exception I have found to this is manga, which I also read in public or the front desk, and that's mainly so I can strike up conversations with kids.
I must read stuff that I know is going to be heartrending, beautiful, terrifying or amazing by myself. I'm just greedy, and I want to be alone with my thoughts when I read something that is just grand and sweeping and mind-breaking. So I tend to read authors like Catheriynne Valente, Jeff VanderMeer, and Peter S. Beagle alone, in solitude.
So, what sorts of books do you read in public? In solitude? With friends? Do you even makes these sorts of distinctions, or am I just crazy?
I tend to read non-fiction in public or at the front desk. I find it less personal than reading fiction in public, I guess. I feel like, for whatever reason, that I'm not broadcasting as much of my self to complete strangers. If people comment on the non-fiction I'm reading, it's easier for me to respond that I haven't finished the book or thought enough about the subject to expound at length about it (even if I can). This tends to end conversations I don't want to have. Even though I love reading, and I love being around people who love reading, the average person on the street it usually not MY kind of reader. Specifically in that they don't have the same background or interests that I have and so any conversation about whatever non-fiction book I am reading would just be idle chit-chat and essentially meaningless for us both, so it is easier for me to just be non-commital and not start a conversation anyways. I have no idea if that makes sense. I tend to not want to read fiction in public because fiction is INTENSELY personal for me and I want so desparately to talk about what I'm reading and it is so rare to even find someone who likes sci-fi or fantasy let alone the sub-genres that I like that I just don't like dealing with the disappointment. The one exception I have found to this is manga, which I also read in public or the front desk, and that's mainly so I can strike up conversations with kids.
I must read stuff that I know is going to be heartrending, beautiful, terrifying or amazing by myself. I'm just greedy, and I want to be alone with my thoughts when I read something that is just grand and sweeping and mind-breaking. So I tend to read authors like Catheriynne Valente, Jeff VanderMeer, and Peter S. Beagle alone, in solitude.
So, what sorts of books do you read in public? In solitude? With friends? Do you even makes these sorts of distinctions, or am I just crazy?