Gretchen Rubin writes in
The Happiness Project of her love of books. On page 229, she accepts her "idiosyncratic reluctance to read any book (or see any play or movie) that centers on the theme of unjust accusation." She then names books she will never force herself to read.
Oliver Twist
Othello
To Kill a Mockingbird
Atonement
A Passage to India
Burmese Days
Crime and Punishment
Arthur and George
I've read all but the last three. There are books I cannot read as well. And those are books of meanspiritedness. I had a really hard time with
The Kite Runner. It made me ill. I've begun
Lord of the Flies twice and not passed page 2 either attempt. Nowadays I can pick up a book and return it to the library after only a few pages. I can't take mean. Do you have reading limits?
4 comments:
I liked To Kill A Mockingbird, but it was relevant to my personal experiences at the time. I don't like mean either, and I don't like tragedies involving children. Seems like those types of stories are in abundance these days.
I used to wear it as a badge of honor that I finished every book I started and then in the middle of a certain book, I realized that my "honor" was not worth the waste of time and internal peace. It is liberating to determine a book is unworthy of time and attention.
i have firm limits. this extends to movies, as well. life is hard enough on its own. why seek out sorrow in entertainment?
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