Over the past couple of weeks, there were two books vying for my undying attention, and I found a way to coddle both of their over-inflated literary egos. The first book is what I refer to as an obligation book: the boasting of its cover that it won a Pulitzer Prize and is part of the Oprah book club along with and my friend's constant, almost nagging recommendation of it make me feel that it is a necessary read. However, whenever a book is labeled as such in my mind, I instantly find that reading it becomes just another task on my to do list, and whether it is enjoyable or not, it becomes a chore.
I can still see some of you scratching your heads, befuddled and wondering what on God's green earth I am going on about, thinking "that crazy Marisa! There's no section titled 'Obligation Literature' at MY local Barnes & Noble!". First of all, you are wrong- that section just goes by a different name- "Required Reading by High Schools" or, "Book Club Reading" (although the second one is arguably a self-imposed requirement, since book club members join of their own accord, unless it is some kind of book club cult). Even the "Our Staff Recommends..." section somehow seems more obligatory than merely suggestive. Like a challenge almost; bet you can't read all the books we read!
There are two subcategories of obligation books: friend/relative-imposed obligation books and society-imposed obligation books (indicated in one way by the Oprah book club sticker). The first is rather dreaded and exactly what happened to me with my most recent read, Middlesex. Wow, it just took me two entire paragraphs to get to the name of book one of the two vying for my attention. I can't even imagine how much longer you will be sitting here waiting for me to mention the second.
I got myself into the obligation completely- I recognize my culpability. One day, while enjoying coffee with my friend, I mentioned how much I enjoyed reading The Marriage Plot by Jeffery Eugenides. My friend perked up (more than she already had from the caffeine) and said "ooh! You need to read his other book, Middlesex!" There it was: that dreaded "you need to read..." comment. I figuratively rolled my eyes, thinking, "please stop adding books to my reading list" but saying with mock enthusiasm "yeah, totally!"
Unfortunately, hers was not the only "you NEED to read..." comment pertaining to Middlesex. I can often shrug off such comments if there is only one. However, when I brought up my recent read in my acupuncture appointment, my acupuncturist recited the exact same words! "You NEED to read his other book..." I eyed her suspiciously after she said that, wondering if she and my coffee-drinking friend were in cahoots and plotting to ensnare me in the pages of an overly-engrossing novel. Whether they were or it was purely coincidental, ensnared I was. If you haven't read Middlesex, first of all OMG you HAVE to read it (ha! Gotchya! Have fun obligation reading for the next few weeks!). It is about a hermaphrodite and his/her upbringing and life challenges. This made for dense and disturbing reading material that messed with my mind on a number of levels. The sequence of events triggered by once I finished the first page ended up reflecting those from the kid's book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. If you give Marisa a book about a hermaphrodite, she will look up "hermaphrodite" online from sheer curiosity. If she looks up "hermaphrodite" online, she will see disturbing images of genitals. If she sees disturbing images of genitals, she will not be able to fall asleep as they will come to the forefront of her mind right as she is trying to settle down. Okay, maybe not the best sequence of events for a kids book.
Here is where book two of the two books vying for my attention comes in: remember how, in a previous post, I said that Mindy Kaling's book tucked me in better than a Swiss au pere (I think Swiss was what I went with, I'm too lazy to check)? Well, it just so happens that so does B.J. Novak's (also an actor/writer from The Office) new collection of hilarious short stories. So, my method became: read Middlesex for as long as possible until I became mentally troubled, then read one or two short stories to lull myself to sleep. This worked like a charm!
Well, I would go into my reviews of the two books, but this post has already morphed into a tome, and I want to give you eyes a brains a reading break. Peace.
I can still see some of you scratching your heads, befuddled and wondering what on God's green earth I am going on about, thinking "that crazy Marisa! There's no section titled 'Obligation Literature' at MY local Barnes & Noble!". First of all, you are wrong- that section just goes by a different name- "Required Reading by High Schools" or, "Book Club Reading" (although the second one is arguably a self-imposed requirement, since book club members join of their own accord, unless it is some kind of book club cult). Even the "Our Staff Recommends..." section somehow seems more obligatory than merely suggestive. Like a challenge almost; bet you can't read all the books we read!
There are two subcategories of obligation books: friend/relative-imposed obligation books and society-imposed obligation books (indicated in one way by the Oprah book club sticker). The first is rather dreaded and exactly what happened to me with my most recent read, Middlesex. Wow, it just took me two entire paragraphs to get to the name of book one of the two vying for my attention. I can't even imagine how much longer you will be sitting here waiting for me to mention the second.
 |
| You CAN'T ignore that "winner of the Pulitzer Prize" sticker! |
I got myself into the obligation completely- I recognize my culpability. One day, while enjoying coffee with my friend, I mentioned how much I enjoyed reading The Marriage Plot by Jeffery Eugenides. My friend perked up (more than she already had from the caffeine) and said "ooh! You need to read his other book, Middlesex!" There it was: that dreaded "you need to read..." comment. I figuratively rolled my eyes, thinking, "please stop adding books to my reading list" but saying with mock enthusiasm "yeah, totally!"
Unfortunately, hers was not the only "you NEED to read..." comment pertaining to Middlesex. I can often shrug off such comments if there is only one. However, when I brought up my recent read in my acupuncture appointment, my acupuncturist recited the exact same words! "You NEED to read his other book..." I eyed her suspiciously after she said that, wondering if she and my coffee-drinking friend were in cahoots and plotting to ensnare me in the pages of an overly-engrossing novel. Whether they were or it was purely coincidental, ensnared I was. If you haven't read Middlesex, first of all OMG you HAVE to read it (ha! Gotchya! Have fun obligation reading for the next few weeks!). It is about a hermaphrodite and his/her upbringing and life challenges. This made for dense and disturbing reading material that messed with my mind on a number of levels. The sequence of events triggered by once I finished the first page ended up reflecting those from the kid's book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. If you give Marisa a book about a hermaphrodite, she will look up "hermaphrodite" online from sheer curiosity. If she looks up "hermaphrodite" online, she will see disturbing images of genitals. If she sees disturbing images of genitals, she will not be able to fall asleep as they will come to the forefront of her mind right as she is trying to settle down. Okay, maybe not the best sequence of events for a kids book.
Here is where book two of the two books vying for my attention comes in: remember how, in a previous post, I said that Mindy Kaling's book tucked me in better than a Swiss au pere (I think Swiss was what I went with, I'm too lazy to check)? Well, it just so happens that so does B.J. Novak's (also an actor/writer from The Office) new collection of hilarious short stories. So, my method became: read Middlesex for as long as possible until I became mentally troubled, then read one or two short stories to lull myself to sleep. This worked like a charm!
Well, I would go into my reviews of the two books, but this post has already morphed into a tome, and I want to give you eyes a brains a reading break. Peace.
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