I often see my sister read books of literary fiction (think Paulo Coelho), books of poetry. It got me to thinking what kind of books I prefer. Have to say I never really cared much for poetry, unless it's spoken word or slam. To quote one TV character, "why can't they just say what they mean?".
I have tried reading the supposed classics (that is to say the usual suspects in "assigned reading" lists) but they rather bore me, I am afraid. At the same time, I can't say I'm not a fan of reading because I do enjoy it immensely, although I watch far more movies than read books.
Looking at my library, that is to say a small gathering of bound paper, I find that biographies interest me a lot. One of my favorite books is Stud's Terkel's Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do (1974) which is a "nonfiction book by the noted oral historian and radio broadcaster Studs Terkel.
It is an exploration of what makes work meaningful for people in all walks of life: from Lovin' Al the parking valet, to Dolores the waitress, from the fireman to the business executive, the narratives move constantly between mundane details, emotional truths and existential questioning." (I quoted from Wikipedia, I'm sorry... lazy Thursday).
The last book that moved me to tears was Jon Krakauer's Into The Wild, a biographical account of the travels of the ill-fated "lone wolf" Chris McCandless. Yes, it's the book the 2007 movie is based on. I watched the movie before reading the book and found the book, as expected, so much richer than the movie. Not to say that the movie is sub par in any way (I might have seen it at least 50 times already). Sean Penn did an astounding job. Besides, being 100% faithful to the biography means having to make a 7-hour film in my estimation.
Anyway, so biographies... I also welled up reading parts of Nancy Nelson's Evenings with Cary Grant. Another biography of sorts is Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way and I have it because of my love affair with the English language. The other non-biographical books are NYC travel guides (but of course!), books on Buddhism, Taoism and Psychology. They're not thick books, either... in view of the fact that I have the attention span of a gnat.
I suppose one can peek into someone's personality by browsing the contents of their library. Or, I could be reading too much into this, pun not intended.
Are we really what we read? Are we better people if we read more than if we watch a lot of TV or movies (as most people tend to posit)?
