I am often asked this question. Now, depending on the season, the cycle of the moon, the state of the economy and a few other reasons. I might not even be reading at all. Sometimes for six months I don’t touch anything more serious than the classifieds that come on Sunday. So I politely reply that I am not reading anything these days. This usually results in a horrified “I-always-thought-he-was-wrong-in-the-head” and “surely-he-is-reaching-senility” look from the questioner. At such moments I cannot help wondering why is it that most educated people (specially the “convented” people, of which I too am one) feel that they are committing a grave crime against themselves if they are not reading anything (these days !).
The fact is as time goes by, I find fewer and fewer books that look interesting enough to read. I now don’t read ANY American fiction. In fact I almost don’t read fiction at all now. I avoid for at least a couple of years all books that win the Booker prize or are hyped about in the media. (I haven’t read God of Small Things: Arundhati Roy, eat your heart out.) And this, after I have in my mis-spent youth, gone through library shelves full of James Hadley Chase, Ian Fleming/ Bond, Ludlum, Alistair MacLean, Sheldon, and you-name-it.
In fact if I had my life all over again, I would never ever read them. Unfortunately we never had the Internet in those days. So one ended up reading trash, without researching or recommendations. I even read Khushwant Singh !! can you beat that for reading trash?
The fact is as time goes by, I find fewer and fewer books that look interesting enough to read. I now don’t read ANY American fiction. In fact I almost don’t read fiction at all now. I avoid for at least a couple of years all books that win the Booker prize or are hyped about in the media. (I haven’t read God of Small Things: Arundhati Roy, eat your heart out.) And this, after I have in my mis-spent youth, gone through library shelves full of James Hadley Chase, Ian Fleming/ Bond, Ludlum, Alistair MacLean, Sheldon, and you-name-it.
In fact if I had my life all over again, I would never ever read them. Unfortunately we never had the Internet in those days. So one ended up reading trash, without researching or recommendations. I even read Khushwant Singh !! can you beat that for reading trash?
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