Comments on: Not So Easy Reading

By: TryThis Again

TryThis Again — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:12:30 +0000

Hmmm…The Sisters Grimm; Rilke’s Book of Hours / Love Poems to God (translation); We Need to Talk About Kevin; my old trusty Edna St. Vincent Millay Collected Poems (SO in need of a scrupulous editor, to highlight Millay’s tougher/cynical/lyrical (cynical-lyrical?) side, for modern readership); The Deerslayer (an unbelievably offensive page turner); Benjamin Franklin’s bio (shocking in some parts, Franklin a racist, I did not know that). Also, old cookbooks, does that count as escapism?

Also, love art books with tons of “reproductions” in them – coffeetable books – maybe with all the digitization going on, there will be a paradoxical return to gigantic coffeetable books, all that heft and size and “gorgeous” photography seeming fresh again…

By: Amy Lewis

Amy Lewis — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 16:42:57 +0000

I find that there can be a moment where Escapism turns to Transcendance. Inside the Escapist narrative, the reader is offered choices that may not necessarily be available outside of it, in the real world, or under the bed. And the echoes of those choices remain (Standing up to Tyranny, Finding Love, A Soul Redeemed). And it is these echoes of choices, of transcendant realities that can allow us to engage. But often, the problems of the world are so vast, and my hands so small, that the only thing I feel empowered to do is to create the world I want to live in, instead of the one there is. And I do this by engaging with narrative, by reading and writing.

By: Kristin Laughtin

Kristin Laughtin — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:14:56 +0000

A little of both, maybe? As far as fiction goes, I like my mind to be engaged in thinking about the human condition, social issues, etc., even while it’s being transported to a different world (or version of our world). As for non-fiction, I’m usually reading to educate myself, so I would count that as engagement (and maybe a little escapism if it’s something that really gets my imagination going, like extrasolar planets).

By: AudryT

AudryT — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:09:15 +0000

Engagement, mostly. There’s so much going on in the world, and I want to keep up with it. Also, I’ve found much of the escapism I’ve tried recently too fluffy. Conditions are frustrating and depressing, and I suspect that what I’d prefer to read in fiction right now is stories in which character overcome serious, believable odds, rather than easily triumphing over straw men.