My Material Soul

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4010b2efb3471be666343487bde1b601I love this, and it is most certainly me. I get very emotionally invested in my reading material, and especially the characters. When I read a long book or a series, it takes me a while to re-coop when it is completed. This is probably why I was not a fan of Game of Thrones 😉  It’s also why I prefer to read books before I watch any adaptations. I like having the opportunity to form my own ideas, thoughts, and (most importantly) imagination around a story.

Book have always been a magical experiencing for me. Some more than others, but it is a feeling and experience I treasure. For this reason I have a hard time casually reading books I am emotionally invested in. I need to really be able to focus and absorb the story, so I can really feel like I am a part of it. I try to purposefully insure that I am distraction free. It’s not always easy or possible, but it worth it for a quality reading experience. I have been known to put off reading a particular book, simply because I knew I would not be able to really lose myself in it. I didn’t want to cheapen the experience knowing I would only get to read it a quick moment here and there. I don’t mind reading some books this way, but when it’s a book that I am really connected to I don’t want to be desperately scrounging for time to read it. That’s just stressful and depressing. Maybe that means I take my books and my reading way to seriously, and to that I say
“AMEN.”

Does anyone else do that? Put off reading something purposefully until the atmosphere is just right?

65 thoughts on “My Material Soul”

  2. I could never put off reading a book that I wanted to read – I suppose this is why I have three or four on the go all the time. It depends on my mood as to which of the three or four I pick up to read at a particular time. :-o) Which can be a real pain if my wife is waiting for the same book . . .

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  3. Yes! I have friends that will borrow me books, and sometimes it takes me forever to return them because I don’t want to read them until I can really take the time to absorb and appreciate them. My favorite way to read a book is in one or two sittings because it lets me get completely absorbed in the book; it gives the book time to be magical.

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    • I am the same way, I hate borrowing books because it stresses me out. I’d rather buy it cheap so I can read it at my own pace or save it for when I can really enjoy it, without feeling rushed. 🙂

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  5. I’ve done that many times. I’ll also put of reading a book I’m especially looking forward to just because I know how sad I’ll be when that first read is over. So I’ll wait and savor the anticipation.

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  8. Amen, ditto, me too! I identify with your comments so strongly. I really miss my kid days lying on my bed totally lost in a book, and, like you need time with good books for that kind of immersion. This will be followed by a need for decompression when finished, a kind of case of literary “bends.” Then, an inner tussle to start something unlike my last beloved book until a few pages in the new story ensnares me and I fall in love once more.

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  10. I’m absolutely the same way. Love having the time to get totally into a book and to truly savor it. Then when it’s done I feel like I just want to stay in that world, but life goes on. Ah, the joys of reading.

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  11. I definitely try to purposefully set aside a quiet place and time to engross myself in reading something that will impact my emotions. I can read on and off again development type books but for the real get into your mind kind I have to have alone quite time.

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  13. When I commuted to work an hour each way on the bus, I always read. Sometimes I missed my stop because I was so engrossed in the story. One time I finished a wonderful book with a very emotional ending and sobbed uncontrollably. Everyone on the bus wondered what was wrong with me. I often save books for the “right” time to read them.

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  16. Yes, definitely! I really need my full attention on a book and will re-read sentences many times to get the full effect. Although, I loved reading on the subway. I remember reading Zola’s The Germinal on the subway and when I got off at my stop each morning and walked up the steps from underground, I felt like I was emerging from the coal mines.

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  17. Definitely. I bought Houellebecque’s “Submission” last summer in Paris. Scheduled to read it around the end of the year… Then came the killings in Paris (and elsewhere). I need things to cool off a tad before I dive into it. 🙂
    Have a lovely week-end my dear. (Full of good books and a couple of drinks with friends)
    😉
    Brian

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  18. I postponed The Nightingale to defer to a Poe biography after just finishing In The Heart of The Sea, needing an emotional break before dwelling in the pages of The Nightingale.
    Re connecting strongly with the book and characters: When my students were reading Deathwatch (a YA novel), I was lucky to have a back room where I could have mats and bean bag chairs. They went there to read. It was a very hot week, the book takes place in the desert, and the students (mostly guys who never read) were so immersed in the book that they said they felt just like they were in the desert with the characters. I think it was the first time these essentially non-readers experienced an in-dwelling with a book and the characters. It was great! I continued to give them book choices–and they continued to want to read.
    Thanks for the post.

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  20. “It’s also why I prefer to read books before I watch any adaptations.” Good point.

    Imagination will always surpass anything and everything a camera can capture. It empowers the reader.The writer has a vision; the reader sees differently. The voice and the ear are separate and beautifully distinct, and no man can say one is right and the other is wrong.

    Across space and time and culture the author speaks and the reader dreams. This is the mystery — the sorcery — of language.

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  21. I completely agree! And like yourself, I like to gather my thoughts and like you say re-coop before moving onto another book after reading a big book or a series of books. I don’t understand how people can read 2 or 3 at once! I wouldn’t be able to concentrate!

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  24. I am not reading much right now because of the distraction of those around me. And yes you’re right about Game of Thrones. I could never stomach it. So heartbreaking! I got depressed for a week after reading just a little bit.

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  28. Hi Abbie, I want to thank you, for reading my blog posts. I also want to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. You have a great eye for literature, and I like you love it when you find a great book to read and you get so involved in the characters, etc. that you may need a short break. 🙂 However, nothing feels better than to have read a great book which you feel connected to all the characters and full from the content it fed you, and to that I say Amen as well! “Keep Calm and Read On!” 🙂

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  31. The books I read (usually the classics) always, Always, have a very uncanny way of being my guide through whatever difficulty I’m going through at that time. That being said, my to-read list is very long and varied, but I’m currently awaiting that “mood” to strike to tell me which one to pick up and read. I read for the soul, or does my soul read for me? It’s kooky!

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  32. Finally found time to reply to this!! 😀 I always read in coffee shops since it’s generally more peaceful there but when it’s too crowded I just leave. There have been times when I made the trip from my house and I just ended up going home as soon as I got there because it was too suffocating. Not just the noise (I usually bring earphones for that anyway) but when it’s packed and people keep moving around — I just can’t deal with that. -_-

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