More thoughts on Reading, Listening and Viewing
Woman Reading by Richard Tuschman
I am currently compiling a list of recommended critical editions of Mortimer Alder’s canon.
For fiction, I am content to see a film or listen to an audio dramatisation before dedicating the energy and time for reading. Knowing the basic plot and characters is an enhancement to cultural literacy. Appreciating the craft of the prose can wait.
I find that audio books require attention and are not suitable for walks, shopping or the like.
For books, I think for a topic, say house plants, get one solid physical book and the rest as e-books.
Like many of you, I keep electronic devices out of my bedroom. I heeded Cliff Tan’s advice and I have removed the plant from the bedroom. I now keep it in the bathroom where it seems to be content. My rest has improved.
I also have a specific bedtime book which never leaves the room. Likewise, I don’t allow daytime reading (let alone screens) into my bedroom. If I am particularly tired I bring in a bluetooth speaker connected to the iPad in the front room. I listen to BBC comedies on a sleeper timer. They don’t require focus, and the silliness and studio laughter are pleasant accompaniments.
My bedroom is very monk-like. I sleep on the floor and it is bare with only the essentials.
In my bag, I keep a book and headphones at all times when listening might be more suited to my environment than reading. I also keep a Tom’s Studio Wren pen, Stabilo yellow highlighter and notebook in my coat pockets. I also keep spare the ink-filled cotton cartridges and a highlighter refill in my bag just in case I run out.
Though I may be lonely, I am in conversation with the greatest minds that have ever lived, some who endured circumstances worse than mine.
In that great conversation between the dead and the unborn, I listen and when the silence turns its attention to me, only then do I speak.