Brief thought after having watch an hour-long interview with AS Byatt on BBC4:
Have the authors whose books I really enjoy shaped who I am as a person, or am I drawn to these writers because of the way I am as an individual?
I need to ponder this and might return to this topic sooner rather than later. I’d be interested in hearing your reactions and thoughts.
In the meantime, enjoy this little Youtube clip of Brian Cox giving an acting master class on “Hamlet” to a two-year-old toddler. It’s really, really adorable.
As I see it it is very much a combination of both.
For the majority of books, I choose them because who I am as a person, what I like, fell and want at the moment. What you could call a “safe zone” of books.
Or I’ll come across a book on a whim, an accident, or a recommendation form a friend. It might be close to my “safe zone” of books, but just pushing it slightly in one direction or other. And then, once in a while, it will be something I wouldn’t otherwise have picked up. And that book might move me somewhere new, have an effect on me so lasting that it will change the way I look on the world around me (and by association change me a little as well in the process.)
Erw, that sounds slightly Oprahesque, but hey.
It’s been a while since I have encountered a book like that. Maybe I need to challenge my reading ahbits a bit more :)
You raise a very interesting, thought-provoking question! Like Darth Ken, I also think it’s a bit of both.
When I picked up The Handmaid’s Tale long ago when I was in high school, I didn’t know who Margaret Atwood was, and I knew very little about feminism or dystopian fiction. Many of the themes of the book eluded me. But it triggered something inside of me that caused me to answer all of the questions I had–who is she, what is she trying to say, etc. And it opened up an entirely new world of literature to me. I only picked up the book, initially, because I liked what the cover looked like. So, back then, I picked up the book because of who I was–someone more interested in aesthetics than content, just looking for a story that would captivate me.
Now, it’s a situation of Margaret Atwood (and lots of others, obviously) shaping the reader I am in my adulthood. They’ve introduced me to new worlds that have changed my ideals and forced me to question the things I believe in. So, by awakening me to issues facing women, they’ve inadvertently created a feminist. And that feminism influences what I look for in some of my reading.
At the same time, knowing that I consciously seek certain topics out, I do try to make a sincere effort to branch out and try new authors/genres, so as not to miss anything wonderful. But even in choosing those new titles, I wonder (now, thanks to your question) how much I am subconsciously influenced by the authors who have shaped me.
Sorry that this is such a long response, but this is such a cyclical kind of thing that I could probably talk in circles for days about it.
It is a cyclical thing, indeed. As I wrote in the next blog – it is a case of the Chicken & the Egg.
I too have “safe zone” books. I regret having spent so much time this year on safe zone books.