Reading with Mandy

With the start of the new month it’s always a good idea to take stock of your reading pile and purge what needs purging and add what needs adding. One thing I realized years ago is that a book will look interesting when it is nonfiction but will often feel stale by the 2nd or 3rd chapter depending on the topic. When you read books about a similar topic most authors will give you the same background information and won’t seem to add anything new to the topic. This is especially true if you are reading it years after publication when other authors or podcast hosts have gotten ahold of it and start disseminating the information. If you are someone who enjoys reading and learning then this very often can happen. The trick is knowing when it’s time to cut bait and when it’s time to invest in finishing the book. I often tell my students the importance of reading the original source. Yes I could very easily watch the amazing movie 10 Things I Hate About You and understand the plot of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. But there is something in reading Shakespeare and picking up on all the sexual innuendos that makes me feel accomplished (like have you read Romeo and Juliet? it gets vulgar in a hilarious way). We live in a society that wants instant gratification for everything and reading a book is very much an act of rebellion because the gratification isn’t instant. It often comes at the end of the book and even then it might be delayed until you read something else or watch something else that makes what you read click and just brings it to life in ways you couldn’t have anticipated. I heard something recently that said fiction is where the Truth lies. Stories inherently attempt to reveal Truth about human nature and the human condition. All great works of fiction do that. There are also different experiences in different seasons of life with different books. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a book I originally read in school (this is probably true for many people) and there is a new hidden complexity every time I reread it. Good literature does that. It’s why Jesus taught in Parables. What is a Parable? It’s a short didactic story (didactic means that it is intended to teach with a moral lesson hidden in it) that illustrates one or more instructive lessons. The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler is a must read if you enjoy Science Fiction/Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic novels or if you just want to read a really good book (or listen to it like I did on audio). Parables are fascinating because no matter how many times you go back and reread them they always offer new insights. Good literature is often a parable even when it’s not intended to be. Books are so much fun. Happy reading!