Over the past few months I think I’ve come down with a case of Reader’s Block. The doctors tell me this can be serious. You can become infected by this chronic disease from many different sources but most of them have a common root: not enough time. As Einstein showed us, even time is relative….for some more than others. In my case, the time is taken by intangible concerns and external forces that deplete my brain’s ability to perceive it. When I read it is important to feel a sense of timelessness, eternity. Otherwise, I cannot immerse myself into what I am reading enough to soak it all in and therefore care enough to take the time to read. This is very difficult sometimes, especially since this disease has many different strains of complexity it can be hard to find the right medication.
Growing up, it took me a little while to learn how to read at a solid level. Most of which had mainly to do with being slightly dyslexic which is also known as: being a little boy completely. It wasn’t until I was around ten or eleven that I actually sat down to read. This was no fluke or chance; it had everything to do with Calvin and Hobbes. For the first time I had found something, in a book, that spoke to my soul in a way that I never thought possible. I believe I read every single one of those comics.
Now, the philosophy of treatment will hopefully allow me to pull through. This time instead of a childhood hero, I am taking a strong dose of Russia and McCarthy. The following is my prescription list that I picked up today.
Leo Tolsoy: Anna Karenina
Fydor Dostoevsky: The Brothers Karamazov
Child of God
Outer Dark
Suttree
photo by: Kelly Pickerill
-John P.
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