2/27/07

burned out on books

After years of disagreeing with the nay-sayers who rail against the perils of internet culture, I have to admit that the time I spend online is responsible for my book burn-out.

These days, I have to fight to get through a book. The fiction seems tired, redundant, predictable. The non-fiction is pedantic and uninteresting. And there are any number of fascinating (I'm convinced) emails, blogs, and online magazines begging for my attention. When I do get some non-online reading done, it's usually because the internet went out or my laptop is in use by my husband. And that's just sad.

It's easy for you to tell me to just not spend so much time online, but all of the work I do involves being at a computer and using the internet. I've noticed recently that I'm so used to being online that when I'm not at the computer, I'm pacing around the apartment not knowing what to do with myself.

I admit I have a problem; no intervention needed. But where's the rehab center for internet junkies? Or, can you point me to the book that will restore my desire for reading?
Posted by Rachel at 2/27/2007 12:36:00 PM
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2 comments:

  1. It can be argued, though, that the Internet merely raised the bar on what we deem compelling leisure-spending. While two millenia ago one might take in a Homeric poem for entertainment, and 500 years ago a Shakespearian one, nowadays our literature must match YouTube and blogosphere voyeurism to merely keep us focused. Anything less makes it almost studious. And who wouldn't rather play than study?
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  2. I feel your pain--this has happened to me too. Partly I think it's that a lot of the books published these days are boring, derivative, unimportant works. Partly I think it's that my own attention span has shrunk. But here's one that grabbed me recently (unexpectedly--it had been sitting on my shelf for ages, unread): Cintra Wilson's Colors Insulting to Nature. Sorry, not linking b/c I'm running out the door to work (at a computer, on the Internet!) But it's a great, fun, surprisingly solid read. It made me come home and sit on the couch and ignore everything else until I was done.
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