August 18, 2004 - 1:14 a.m.
Why We Read
For my literary analysis class, we're reading Falling Into Theory, edited by David Richter. It's a collection of essays about why we read, how we read and what we read. I'm in the section about why we read, and it's making me think about why I chose to be an English major.
Part of it is I need some sort of Bachelor's degree, so why not English? Librarians should know the classics, was my basic thought. Also, I like to read. What I have discovered is that I don't really like to read in the fashion necessary to be successful in an English class. I read fiction and nonfiction that's written like fiction to escape from my time and/or place. The first time I was exceptionally aware of this power of books was when I finished Anne Rice's The Witching Hour. If I remember it correctly, that book ends with a freak snowstorm occurring in New Orleans. It was the middle of summer in Dallas. I walked downstairs and heard a cricket chirping on the front porch. My thought was, "What's a cricket doing chirping in the snow?" Although I have since drifted away from Anne Rice, I thank her for that first experience. Whenever life gets to be too much, I escape into books. When I had a broken foot and had to drop my college courses a few years ago, I hobbled to the library a few blocks away and checked out book after book after book. It helped me avoid thoughts of my loserdom then.
These days, though, I read because I have to, because it's assigned. Even this summer, I wasn't as voracious as I had planned to be with my reading, perhaps because I realized that within an average week of this fall semester I'd have to read a Shakespeare play, a novel, and a myriad of scholarly articles.
This isn't a thrilling prospect, but the time has come for me to suck it up and just get my degree. There are many reasons why I couldn't finish at Pomona, but one of the main ones is I lacked the willpower. That will NOT happen this time.
Did I mention that I'm too tired to read and too wired to sleep, so instead I turn to my diary to write drivel? Yep, I'm being productive here. Perhaps I'll try closing my eyes again.
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