Reading & Writing, Writing & Reading

Man, this writing thing is so weird.  I feel like I have so much to say but when I sit to write my attention oftentimes shatters into numerous pieces like a dropped glass with the number of shards overwhelming me.  So, when the writing process becomes too difficult I pivot to reading.  I *want* to read more because I keep reading that writers read a lot.  I used to love it and spend hours at it, but that is not so much the case anymore.  I suspect my deep involvement with electronic devices is to blame.

These two books came onto my radar this past week.  The one by Ishiguro has been in my awareness for at least a few years which was intensified by seeing the movie it was based on starring Andrew Garfield.  I was talking to a social worker in the ER here at the hospital where I work when I noticed she had this book with her.  It sparked a conversation about its premise.  She said she thought it was very well written but much of the time she did not know *exactly* what was going on in the overall picture.  This disorientation is part and parcel of the story it is telling.  It’s what you might call “literary science fiction” as a very well written dystopian novel.  This is the kind of writing I aspire to, but my late start and its hobby status provides some serious impediments to me developing this level of skill.  

The second one caught my eye at a local independent bookstore on an end cap.  My daughter and I were on a mission that included dropping in at our local library but we discovered it was closed.  This provided some redirection to explore a nearby bookstore instead and this wolfman on the cover seemed to be looking me in the eye and daring me to pick it up.  It is a collection of essays and the titles of these essays in and of themselves had me intrigued.  Things like “The Night Prince Walked on Water” and “Nina Simone Was Very Black”.  The blurbs on the back mention his “lyrical writing” and the “insight and tenderness” he brings to writing about music and culture from a predominantly black perspective.  I imagine this perspective provides a deep well of understanding drawn up through suffering and the challenges faced by that community.  I would love to have a blurb on a book of mine that would describe me in this way!

So I just started reading “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us” sitting here in our public library, but then the desire to write overwhelmed me and I put it down to type out these rough and tumble words.  Maybe I am a case study for ADHD with my attention flitting about like a fly, landing for only a brief moment before moving on.  Maybe it’s that I am getting old and the time to explore and create feels like it is running out for me and I’m frantically grasping for what I can when I can?

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