Blog Prompt Friday: Which book has sat on your bookshelf the longest without ever being read, and why?
If it is true that you can tell a lot about a man by the books that he reads, then I'd say that you can also tell a lot by what he doesn't read and maybe even more by which books he doesn't own.
Five years ago, I decided to start keeping a running list (actually a spreadsheet) of all the books I read, broken down by the year I read them. Since I started keeping the list, I've read 91 books. So, I'm averaging about 20 books per year. I bet that I buy at least 40 books a year, so what does that tell you? Yeah, I'm little behind.
But I suspect I'm like most other people who love to read. I buy tons of books, I read many of them, but some just sit on the shelf year and year and never get touched. I call these my "good intention" books. I had good intentions when I bought them and plan to get to them someday, but not while so many other good books are calling my name.
One such book is The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor. It's a book of 31 stories and it's not too big to tackle…around 550 pages. I've never been crazy about reading short stories, but I know that O'Connor is highly regarded and I want to read her for myself. I've just never gotten around to it.
I suspect it's because I'm a bit of a selfish reader. When I read fiction, I generally choose the latest novels by my favorite contemporary authors—not because I think that they are better than the classics, but because I can identify with modern characters better.
With that said, I've been thinking about reading many of the classics that I never got around to reading. Ultimately I know that all characters, whether in classic literature or contemporary, have many of the same goals and desires that are common to man. They love and hate and at times show apathy. They aspire to write, teach, paint, travel, and marry. And they want good friends with which to dine and to share life experiences.
The point where classic literature often loses me is the setting. It seems that many, if not most, who enjoy reading classic literature, prefer to read about other time periods and other places because they like the escape to the unfamiliar. I prefer the escape to the familiar.
That probably sounds like an oxymoron, but I really enjoy being inside the head of a contemporary character to see how he or she thinks about specific scenarios and to see what motivates him or her. I often find my own thoughts and motivations challenged in the process.
But maybe it's time I made time for Ms. O'Connor and many of the other great writers of the past. I suspect I'd be just as challenged by their writings, if not more.
