kmkcat

This book had been on my "to-read" list for years, literally, and I finally got around to reading it. I found it inspiring, and eye-opening. It made me realize several things about my reading habits: 1) I read enthusiastically, but not closely. I never stop to analyze how an author is making me feel a particular way. While I think there's something to be said for just being swept away by a book, Prose's book has inspired me to linger over passages I admire and do some genuine analysis on them. 2) I need to spend more time with the classics. I consider myself fairly well-read, but I've only read maybe 10-20% of the books Prose lists in her "Books to Be Read Immediately" section. I realize that it's a subjective list, but I also realize that there are some authors on there that I have been passing up for far too long. 3) I need to admit that the desire to write is not a desire that everyone in the world shares, and the fact that I feel that desire should probably be harnessed and used. I also need to take to heart her words on writing with courage, because clearly I'm not the only writer in the world who procrastinates until the last minute on every project (because then if it's bad I can tell myself that it could have been better if I had just made more of an effort), or who is afraid to share her non-academic writing with anyone other than in anonymous circumstances (and who probably wouldn't even share her academic writing if not forced to do so to advance her career). In snarky moments I found myself wondering why Prose wrote an entire book basically just to say, "There are no rules, and every example I give you can be counteracted with a different example." But fundamentally this book did the two things I assume it was intended to do: it inspired me to want to read more widely and carefully, and it inspired me to seriously consider embarking on another writing project now that I have finished my dissertation.

2020-12-12 02:03