Reading is an art, not a chore

Week 2, we’re here. As you may or may not notice, this was written a week prior to today. I’ll be on to live writings for next week إن شاء الله. Here we go.

In the past week, I’ve mainly been focused on transitioning out of my Summer classes, and have been trying to map out how I can maximize this ONE WEEK we get before the Fall term begins. It’s not much of an allowance, but I GUESS it’s good in the sense that I’m forced to be selective in what I do.

Appreciation of Literature

About 2 weeks ago, I came across this YouTuber named RC Waldun. His channel focuses on the appreciation of literature, and how our approach to reading should be completely different than how we were accustomed to in school. Nowadays, reading has made a ‘comeback’, where its become a HUGE method of virtue signalling (i ReAd 52 BoOkS iN tHe LaSt YeAr). It’s a great push towards reading more, but sometimes the approach and reason behind reading can have its flaws. I digress, so back to the main idea.

Whether you were in AP Lang or Lit, Honors, or on level, the recurring theme was as follows:

1. You’re assigned a book, usually an abstract work, like Beowolf, Heart of Darkness, or Dante’s Inferno

2. You’re given a set amount to read every day or week, paired with an essay prompt, discussion questions, or Socratic seminars; all of which ask you to pick apart the literary techniques, and search for the deeper meaning, more often than not while you’re progressing from chapter to chapter

3. Once that set of months is complete, you’re left in either 2 states: you love the book beyond explanation, because you managed to truly connect with it and already have a background in reading properly. OR, in my case, you internally hated the journey, are relieved it’s finally over when you’re done writing that last DBQ and you’ve run out of time as you’re mid sentence, and you adopt a nonchalant, fake deep attitude towards it, pretending you understood it all and now hold an uncertified degree in philosophy. Don’t front, you know its true.

What RC Waldun points out is that the flaw lies in the approach. We’re taught to jump straight into analyzing, picking apart at the types of sentences used, the character’s relation to overarching themes, the overall motif of the text. What we’re not taught is how to appreciate the process of reading. This isn’t a ‘down with public education’ schpeal, but just a critique on the default approach we’re all so used to. Maybe it was just the mysterious nature of the youtuber that enticed me, but what I took from it was really beneficial for me in approaching the daunting aspects of literature.

Reading is a personalized experience. Everyone goes into a book with their own preconceived notions, their own set of life experiences, and their own emotions. All of these factor in to what you take from a book. We can talk about the differences between reading a book and skimming sparknotes another time, and how long form content is related to beneficial, experiential knowledge that we’re taught to seek in Islam. But the main focus right now is how to garner an appreciation for writing. Understanding, before you start a book, that you’re allowing yourself to dive into an experience at the whim of the author, letting the narrative take you where it goes, should be the prime focus. Don’t overthink it. Don’t start analyzing the text before you even ingest the text. As you’re reading in this manner, letting the book guide you through the journey, you’ll naturally pick up on the characters emotions, their development, and a picture of the bigger theme will start to form, simply through your own battle with the text. I often forget that the author lived their own life and had a set of life experiences that led them to writing this piece of literature thats in front me. This might sound fake deep at first, but i can’t express how much realizing this changed how I see books.

Now, for full transparency, I’ve only been at this for a solid 2 weeks. I’m no academic, I just happen to have a Kindle app where I can borrow a book or two from the local library (through an app called Overdrive, you can borrow ebooks straight to your kindle). I started a book called [[The Secret History]] by Donna Tart, and I’m in LOVE with the way its written. A fair warning, I find myself looking up the definition of at least 2 words on each page, but that doesn’t detract from the experience. You could probably use context clues to pick out the meaning anyways if that’s your preference. But the book is a solid way of getting into fiction thats a little denser than the usual.

My point in bringing this up is that, like almost everything else in life, all it comes down to is your mindset when going in. Choose a book you’ve heard about or a topic you’re passionate about, and set aside time everyday to work through it. Drop any preconceived notions, and allow yourself to get immersed in the work and the author’s narrative. I started by setting aside an hour every morning, when my mind feels the freshest, to understand the reading and prevent myself from making excuses, like watching Peaky Blinders (yeah, I’m late, but i just finished season 2 and maybe this deserves its own blog post). The dedicated time blocking is a trick for your own mind to place importance in it, to be intentional in the use of your time, and just make sure you can hit those reading goals. It’s an enjoyable way to start the day, gives you that feeling of productivity that you can carry into whatever you choose to do after, and is such a minimal opportunity cost that any excuse not to would just be that, an excuse. I’m still working on staying consistent, especially throughout this break before classes start where catching up on Netflix takes the priority, but its something I wish to keep consistent at throughout the semester إن شاء الله.

I definitely can notice off the bat that my mind feels a little calmer every morning, as the reading distracts me from any anxieties I might be feeling. Again, it may sound corny, but the intentional act of waking up to read has definitely made a noticeable impact on my mood throughout the day. Reading makes it easier to transition into my to do list for the day, already having started with a ‘productive’ boost.

Don’t overwhelm yourself

One more thing I’ve picked up from [[RC Waldun]] is that you should always read less than how much you think you should read. This basically means you shouldn’t burn yourself out in one sitting, and then never touch a book again for weeks. It’s better to stop yourself at a set time limit or page count, one that is enough to keep your interest but not enough to get exhausted. In the beginning I found myself struggling to stay consistent to an hour, losing focus especially at the start of the book. But as I got deeper in (relax), i found myself struggling to limit myself to an hour. Despite wanting to read more, I found a good stopping point at an hour and left myself excited for the next morning. This is an easy to spot feedback loop to give you the motivation to wake up the next day, and works pretty well.

So yeah. Pick a book you love, maybe reread Percy Jackson or Artemis Fowl or Alex Rider. Maybe look into self help and productivity books, biographies, things of that nature. Whatever it is, I think reading on a daily basis, maybe even every other day, is a simple habit to pick up, and one that would prove to be hugely beneficial in the long run.

That’s pretty much it for this one. Thanks again for reading, and let me know if there’s anything I can work on, maybe even some solid book suggestions. I’d be really impressed if you managed to read all the way through here, so I appreciate it. I’m still working on my writing style through these, so definitely call out any fluff or cringe asides. It definitely helps me, as critical as it is.

Week 2 done. Deuces.