My father, who is 84, put a prohibition on anyone in the family purchasing books for him about five years ago. Being a mathematician, he calculated the time it takes him to read and the statistical probability of how long he could live, and he concluded that he already has too many books.
This has slowed me down in terms of purchasing him books, but it has not stopped me completely, to his dismay. To be fair, since he recently had to go to the hospital twice (once to have his lungs drained – a 10 day stay – and then to have open heart surgery), I have felt the need to provide him with some form of entertainment that he could enjoy while lying in bed. He had books, but many of them were interesting, but depressing, so I felt that he might enjoy something more fun. Spoiler alert: after telling me to return the books and my telling him I would prefer not to do that, he ended up liking them.
Recently, I read an article about a lady who was a minor celebrity on Canadian television who recently passed away. I actually had not heard of her, but I was surprised that she had her own show because she was over 50, quite fat, part of the LGBQT+ community, and Native Canadian (which means Indigenous Canadian). While, in my opinion, these things should not prevent a person from having her own show, it is my experience that they frequently do, so I was impressed that she had a show despite these points.
I was curious about her life because I don’t have as many challenges, and yet I find life difficult. I am always interested in knowing people’s life stories. I also wondered why/how she died because I think most people would assume it was from complications due to obesity, but, being a fat woman myself, I know this is an inconvenience and it is not healthy, but it is not as much of an automatic death sentence as people seem to assume. In this lady’s case, it turns out she had a rare illness, which I had never heard of. Her death was unrelated to her size.
However, in researching her life, I found an article which was an interview with her from a few years ago. She was purging her bookshelves of over 1000 books because she reasoned she would not have time in her life to read all the books she already had. I felt sad when I read that for two reasons: 1. She was close to my age, and I like to think I have time to read all the books in the world by some magic, and 2. She died within three years of the article’s publication. She assumed in the article that she had at least 20 years of reading left. It made me cry. Yeah, I know I am too sensitive, but still.
It made me wonder if my father’s consideration of how many books he can read, in a practical sense, is actually more reasonable than it at first seemed. This lady got rid of over 1000 books, but it still wasn’t enough because she was not going to live as long as she thought.
Of course, this could lead us down even more philosophical (and possibly maudlin) avenues. For example, how long will any of us live? We don’t know. Many people save money, etc. for “retirement,” and it is important to prepare for the future, but what if we are too old or infirm to enjoy the future? There has to be a balance between delaying gratification and enjoying the moment.
When I read 
I see the footage of houses and apartment buildings being rendered to rubble, and I think it is important to buy a house, but it is also impermanent. That is the dichotomy of being human in this age: we must prepare for the future because anything else would be irresponsible, but we must also realize that this future is not a guarantee or a promise, and that the present moment is precious. It is all we have.
I read somewhere that Bill Gates always makes a point of finishing every book that he starts. When I read that, it made me feel bad because I do not do the same thing. However, I have had some time to think about this. If I have a limited amount of time to read before I die, why would I finish a book that is not, in whatever way, working for me?
On the one hand, some books are slow. If a book has excellent reviews, and I believe in it, I might try to force myself to finish even if it has some boring or questionable parts. However, if I really am not enjoying a book, I simply stop reading it because, at the end of the day, life is too short to waste on a bad book.
However, there is a difference between fiction and non-fiction books. If a non-fiction book has information I am interested in, I try to be more patient with it because, unfortunately, some non-fiction books are dry, but the information in them is important or interesting nonetheless.
I have met people who exclusively read fiction or who exclusively read non-fiction. Personally, I enjoy both, but for very different reasons and in very different ways. Most of the fiction I read is simply for escape or enjoyment, so I read a lot of domestic thrillers, fantasy, and sci-fi novels because that is what I like. However, there is also fiction that illuminates the human condition. Maybe all fiction does that to some extent or another, but some does it better, and I suppose that is when we call it “literature.”
I find that, like fiction, non-fiction can take many forms and some is of a decidedly higher calibre than others. For example, I read a book last year about a young lady who pretended to be wealthy, but it was a fraud; she ended up leaving her friends to pick up the bill – did she end up in prison? I cannot remember. It was a very interesting book, but it was not very illuminating. What I mean is that it was like the literary equivalent of reality TV. It did not contain any useful information unless I accidentally meet someone who is pretending to be a wealthy heiress… and even so.
I prefer non-fiction that is either self-help or self-improvement in some way or about a topic that I find interesting. Maybe that is true for everyone although true crime novels are very popular. I am currently listening to the audiobook of “The Christie Affair,” which purports to be about Agatha Christie’s disappearance. However, although I am enjoying the book, according to my research, this book deviates from fact so much that it might as well be fiction. Is it fair to write fiction about a real person so close to the time in which that person was alive?
The author appears to be taking advantage of the fact that no one knows what happened, but the narrator is “Nan O’Dea,” the mistress of Agatha Christie’s first husband, Archie, whom he later married. However, his actual mistress was Nancy Neale. So, this book is a mixture of fact and fiction – where does one end and the other begin? It is impossible to know. Maybe I will review this book when I am finished, but I am, at times, tempted to stop reading it entirely. The latter is mainly because I feel as though the author is cashing in on the famous Agatha Christie disappearance, but writing a story that is a fictionalized account of it. If it is a story about real people, should it not be facts? If it is fiction, should it not be entirely fiction? This mix of the two feels like a (successful) attempt to cash in on Agatha Christie’s fame.
Should we be selective about the books, audiobooks, and movies that we consume, knowing that our time on this planet is limited? I have been quite haphazard in my selection so far, and I will probably continue to be, but I am aware that I should also consider creating a reading “bucket list.” Maybe I should have one for fiction and one for non-fiction.
There are books that many of us intend to read “one day,” and I think we should ensure that we make room in our lives for “one day” to happen. Then again, sometimes I start reading my “one day” books and decide that they are simply not for me. I don’t believe in forcing the reading process. Maybe a chapter or two might be boring, but in general, if it is not an interesting book, maybe it should be abandoned with the realization that there are hundreds of thousands of books and only so many hours to read in one’s life!
How do you choose what to read? Do you literally judge a book by its cover? Do you read reviews? For non-fiction, I read reviews and I like to find out about the author. For fiction, I read books by authors I like and then I try to find books that other people who liked the same author liked.
Much Love,
Harlow
P.S. My thoughts and heart go out to the people of Ukraine. My heart also goes out to all people in the world who are suffering in whatever way -- I have read some people who think we forget one crisis when we reflect on another, but, for me, at least, this is not true. I hope you can hold on until better days come.
