I've been doing something similar with nonfiction. I have so many NF books I want to learn from, but the heavy subject matter is intimidating. But if I can handle 10 minutes at a time and balance it out with contemporary fiction, that's more digestible.
This is a smart approach! I have to slow myself down when reading non-fiction because even though I sometimes want to devour it whole, it's better absorbed when you let smaller pieces sit for a while.
My thoughts exactly. Living in the MENA region makes it dangerous sometimes to think and express out loud. I crave having conversations in real time about what truly makes my soul alive. Literature, quantum physics, politics, the state of the world, the state of OUR world. Even Kaballah. As a Muslim woman discussing any of that in the open can be dangerous. I make up for this by writing the surreal, and teaching people say so much in so little as in flash fiction. I started a substak just to share and connect.
I've been feeling the same way. Our lives are highly processed. Not just the food we eat, but also our thoughts and actions. Original thoughts are rare, and these days, AI is doing a great job at offering up highly processed answers that people happily consume as first-hand knowledge.
I'm reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic, and in one chapter, she says that authenticity is more appealing to her than forced originality in creative work.
And that made me think about our own ideas and thoughts. And perhaps, the answer is authenticity? Taking this soup of thoughts inspired by others, and reflecting on it, so when we do give them a voice or a place in our lives, they feel like they fit.
I crave this too and it is often the reason I can’t select or settle into a book, movie, or show. The themes, narratives, stories, characters and outcomes all seem predictable and predetermined. Anyone have any book or show suggestions that kept you absorbed, curious, thinking, surprised?
I enjoyed Ted Lasso because the writers usually didn't take the predictable way out of storylines. I also enjoyed The Diplomat for keeping me on my toes plot-wise, and the main character's complicated marriage is well written. In terms of books, I'm a big fan of Stuart Turton's The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, as well as his more recent book, The Last Murder at the End of the World. Both are unexpected and make you pause and think.
I meant to do Wolf Hall! And then forgot because I got excited about other books haha. So glad to hear you are loving Wolf Hall... Must put it back on my list!
Simon Haisell does SUCH an amazing job. It will make you want to go to England and bury yourself in Cromwellian (not sure that's an actual word) archives.
Maybe the key is to allow ourselves to question everything and let go of the idea that there always has to be an answer that fits perfectly. Perhaps some things are not meant to be completely resolved, completely understood, completely reasoned out...
Must be something with reading or in my case listening to Les Miserables. Sometimes it feels like we forgot we get a choice in how we act, and have tried to put a mask in to just blend int.
I've been doing something similar with nonfiction. I have so many NF books I want to learn from, but the heavy subject matter is intimidating. But if I can handle 10 minutes at a time and balance it out with contemporary fiction, that's more digestible.
This is a smart approach! I have to slow myself down when reading non-fiction because even though I sometimes want to devour it whole, it's better absorbed when you let smaller pieces sit for a while.
My thoughts exactly. Living in the MENA region makes it dangerous sometimes to think and express out loud. I crave having conversations in real time about what truly makes my soul alive. Literature, quantum physics, politics, the state of the world, the state of OUR world. Even Kaballah. As a Muslim woman discussing any of that in the open can be dangerous. I make up for this by writing the surreal, and teaching people say so much in so little as in flash fiction. I started a substak just to share and connect.
I'm glad that you found Substack as a place for you to explore and share. 💛
I've been feeling the same way. Our lives are highly processed. Not just the food we eat, but also our thoughts and actions. Original thoughts are rare, and these days, AI is doing a great job at offering up highly processed answers that people happily consume as first-hand knowledge.
I'm reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic, and in one chapter, she says that authenticity is more appealing to her than forced originality in creative work.
And that made me think about our own ideas and thoughts. And perhaps, the answer is authenticity? Taking this soup of thoughts inspired by others, and reflecting on it, so when we do give them a voice or a place in our lives, they feel like they fit.
Beautifully put, Smriti. 💛
I crave this too and it is often the reason I can’t select or settle into a book, movie, or show. The themes, narratives, stories, characters and outcomes all seem predictable and predetermined. Anyone have any book or show suggestions that kept you absorbed, curious, thinking, surprised?
I enjoyed Ted Lasso because the writers usually didn't take the predictable way out of storylines. I also enjoyed The Diplomat for keeping me on my toes plot-wise, and the main character's complicated marriage is well written. In terms of books, I'm a big fan of Stuart Turton's The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, as well as his more recent book, The Last Murder at the End of the World. Both are unexpected and make you pause and think.
Amen, sister. I love your slow reads, btw. I'm doing Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall Trilogy and loving it....
I meant to do Wolf Hall! And then forgot because I got excited about other books haha. So glad to hear you are loving Wolf Hall... Must put it back on my list!
Simon Haisell does SUCH an amazing job. It will make you want to go to England and bury yourself in Cromwellian (not sure that's an actual word) archives.
I really must start/catch-up. I paid for this year's slow read with him! I do so love that he does this.
Thanks for giving me something to think about… ❤️
☺️💛
Ok, this! I hadn't thought of pieces of world view being clustered and then adopted wholesale, but yes! And things are so much more nuanced then that.
So happy this resonated with you, Sarah!
Maybe the key is to allow ourselves to question everything and let go of the idea that there always has to be an answer that fits perfectly. Perhaps some things are not meant to be completely resolved, completely understood, completely reasoned out...
Yessss
Must be something with reading or in my case listening to Les Miserables. Sometimes it feels like we forgot we get a choice in how we act, and have tried to put a mask in to just blend int.