There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag—and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is part of a trend or a movement. Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty—and vice versa. Don’t read a book out of its right time for you.
(1919-?)
From the introduction to THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK
Winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature
I love this sentiment -- don't read a book out of its right time for you. And I believe it. My reading has changed over time. I seem to find myself wanting richer stories, full of characterizations and meaning. For me, this does not mean leaving behind my love of mysteries, as some folks feel that any genre reading is "light reading", but just that I want a great story. Whatever that means. I know it when I read it.
A good quotation to remember when you're finding a book boring. It's very true there is a right time and a wrong time for a book. For some books though the time is always right - or wrong!
ReplyDeleteThat's such a fabulous quote! I especially like "never reading anything because you feel you ought". And how true about every book having its time.
ReplyDeleteWhat an insightful lady. I think I've always known that there is a right and wrong time for certain books for certain people, but it needs someone bright to point these things out sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the comments. I'm glad that this quote spoke to others as well. I think sometimes that our lives get so hectic and, while I love blogging and the blogging world and all of you, sometimes I think we feel like we "ought" to read this or that or we "ought" to like this or that. This puts it all in perspective. For me, anyway.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a perfect quote! I couldn't agree more. And, like you, I feel I'm longing for more substantial reads these days. I don't mind the occasional fluff, but right now I want something meaningful and thought-provoking.
ReplyDeleteThat quote is so true for me...if it's not the right time for me to read a book, I can't get myself to do it, no matter how much I think I should.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great quote. I'm so pig-headed that I often avoid books because I feel that I 'should' read them, which isn't the best decision-making criteria. But I do feel that I get more out of a book if I read it when I choose to rather than when I feel I should.
ReplyDeleteThat is absolutely brilliant! Thanks for sharing it. I also find myself looking for more out of the books I read, richer as you say.
ReplyDeleteOh, you just know how much I love this quote, don't you?! Almost any book I read all the way through, and don't quit, is 'rich' for me. I love just about everything I read which to me makes perfect sense. I have an image in my mind from The Golden Notebook (I think) which I read almost thirty years ago. There is a group of people going to a party and there is something about the early evening light which has stayed with me. Funny what stays in the memory.
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