Tag: Writing

My Hot and Sticky Blog Re-evaluation

Posted July 7, 2016 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in My Essays, Writing / 2 Comments

It is often a good thing to re-evaluate your life, your goals and if you are a blogger like me, your blog. I have been thinking about this for a while and decided it is time to refocus. You may have noticed that I have not been as active on my blog as I would like. I had this goal to write something about everything I read, plus I wanted to do more than literature. However due to motivation, work and other plans, I have not achieved much at all on here. I would say I have about twenty books to review but is it really worth the effort? Maybe, but does this achieve what I want to achieve.

For the longest time I wanted to be a writer, I never was sure what I would write but it was something that was always in the back of my mind. When I started reading and blogging, that desire slowly faded, to the point where I convinced myself that I was not a writer. This became a problem, as I would always dismiss myself and any ideas that I might have. The ideas kept swimming around in my mind; I was just not doing anything with them.

It took me a long time to change my thinking, I am a writer. I may not be a writer of fiction but I love blogging and that is a form of writing. It is a skill I want to build and improve. I want to write more engaging posts and the only way to do that is to practice. My blog is a collection of my thoughts and writing and I can see improvement happening. I am happy to be write about literature instead of writing literature. I am happy in my own writing universe but I still feel the need to push the boundaries.

I started a BookTube channel as a way to develop my skills at communicating and ultimately become a better writer. I got addicted to the community and my writing started to suffer. I need to find the balance. The channel Stripped Cover Lit proposed a #HotAndSticky novel writing challenge. Similar to NaNoWriMo but instead, you have a more manageable 488 words a day over the course of a few months (June till September). I decided to join in as a way to push myself further and see if I can in fact write fiction.

I think 488 words a day is a good way to start developing a writing habit again and try something new. My first novel idea was to write a hard-boiled detective novel with a female protagonist. I wanted to explore the pulp crime genre but I also wanted to explore the idea of how women are treated in a male dominated job and even go into sexual manipulation and abuse. I had a great plot lined up but it was not working on the page. I do not know if I have the ability to write plot heavy stories, I tend to rush through the story arc.

I quickly put this idea on the backburner and decided to try something different. This idea was to explore a grumpy bookseller as he reflects on life and attempts to find a connection with someone, in a world he does not understand. I hoped that trying a transgressive story would work for me. I want to try developing a character and seeing how the idea progressed from there.

I did not have much luck here although I did found some fragments that I enjoyed, I just felt like a failure. Reflecting on this, I asked myself what type of writer I wanted to be and a few names popped into my mind. Mary Roach for her entertaining and educational style and Anne Fadiman for the way she wrote about books. Both authors are witty and knowledgeable; two things I admire greatly about their writing. I have come to the conclusion that if I want to write like this, I need to change the focus on my blog.

I still think reviewing is an essential skill to develop and I will continue to work on that. I have to stop reviewing every book I read and start practicing essay writing. I would love to write about my journey into literature in different essays, and develop that skill. But I also want to develop a more educational approach. A busy work and life schedule means I cannot achieve everything I want to achieve right now, but I need to work towards my goals. I would like to say ‘expect less reviews and more essays’ but this is a work in progress and I am not sure what the future will hold.

You can expect changes, but I feel like I am still trying to develop the skills I want, I think in order to do that, and I will need to try. I am a little unsure how to best write an essay but this is the place to experiment; Knowledge Lost houses a lot of my writing and blogging from when I first started. Most of it is embarrassing but it is a not so subtle reminder on how much I have improved.

I have some ideas planned and to begin with, this may be very focused on literature and my reading journey, I hope in time I will be writing about an array of topics. I hope this is enough to reinvigorate my passion for blogging and writing. Giving me the freedom to explore without the reminder of how many book reviews I am behind. I hope you will continue with me on this journey and if you have a topic you would like me to write about, I would love to know it.

Time for some Cultural Studies

Posted August 17, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Education / 4 Comments

While writing a review for Ms. Marvel: No Normal I came to the burning realisation that I don’t know how to review art work. As a result of this realisation, I had to leave out any thoughts of the art. This got me thinking, I have a book blog that has been a great tool for developing my skills in reviewing and talking about literature. This blog sadly still gets neglected a little too much but I think I can make use of it for developing my skills.

Knowledge Lost was created to allow me to talk about what I have learnt and I can apply them into a blog post. So I have to wonder why I am not trying to socially critique all things pop-culture. Thanks to two recent books I’m starting to see issues relating to feminism (The Fictional Woman by Tara Moss) and sexuality (Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith) in everything I see. I’ve decided to practice these skills and start critiquing movies, TV shows and obviously art. The goal is to improve my writing skills in these areas and gives me an excuse to look more into pop-culture.

I have plans to talk about a few topics already, so I’m hoping that this blog is going to be neglected less. If you read my book blog you may have seen my manifesto where I have decided to write every day. So stay turned, it might not be as educational as before but this blog is now my new playground to practice and develop my abilities. I think the term for this is cultural studies, it is very similar to literary criticism but it applies to all things related to pop-culture.

Write 750 Words Every Day

Posted July 27, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Writing / 2 Comments

Recently I have been trying to build a habit of writing every day. This was in the hopes to build good writing habits and improve my writing abilities. I decided to use a site called 750 words to help develop this habit. Basically the site sends me a reminder every day to write 750 words. It is a great little site, I’ve been using it to write drafts for my future blog posts and get down my blogging ideas as I go. I have written a lot of thoughts about the books I’ve been reading as I go along and I’ve noticed it has already started to have a positive effect on my blogging.

Not only have I got a record of my thoughts throughout the novel, it has helped me connect those thoughts I tend to forget about with a much larger idea. I’ve been notoriously bad at note taking and keeping a record of what I have thought of a book while reading but this has been a huge help. Not only have I forced myself to sit down and write about books but also since I need to make 750 words a day I often write more drafts and I’m hoping that shows through in my blogging.

One of the negatives I have notice about forcing myself to write is I am starting to get anxious about my writing. The other day I found myself getting upset with my wife for cutting into my writing time. I try to set a time to write every day after work and sometimes I finish it before she gets home but not all the time. My finger muscles are starting to hurt, I thought I typed enough as it is but it turns out that maybe I haven’t been and at times I have to type through the pain. Who knew that fingers had so many muscles that could hurt?

There is one really cool thing about the 750 words site that I find really cool and that is the stats. The site has put together so much information; I didn’t even know I needed that much detail but it has been interesting to see what it says. It analyses the text via a few different systems; a Regressive Imagery Dictionary (for the emotions), and a Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count system. I’m not sure what that means but it is interesting to look at the statistics it provides.

Currently I am on a 21 day streak and this post will go towards the 22^nd day. I’ve averaged around 1200 words a day and it takes me about 47 minutes to complete 750 words. This is only a small glimpse of the data it gives you; it even has a daily breakdown. Some of the data is a little strange; I’m still trying to work out how I got a PG rating for sexual content from my review on The Secret Garden. I could have mentioned the secret garden being a metaphor for her sexuality but I don’t think I went down that road in that review. This post was actually rated PG for sexual content and violence if that makes any sense. It even tends to think I’m an extrovert in my writing, mostly feeling self-important and talking about leisure activities (I’m guessing that is books).

I am not sure how the data would help but it does provide me with some entertainment. I am more excited about the 21-day streak, I hope I continue to develop some positive writing habits and improve. Let me know if you have any suggestions that might help me improve as a writer and develop a good writing routine. Lastly I have to mention that 750 words is free to try for thirty days, might be enough to get you into a good habit. I’m not sure if I’m going to pay the $5 a month to keep my 750 words account but I think the positive impact it has had in my writing is pushing me towards continuing.

My Bookish Manifesto

Posted May 10, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 20 Comments

I love my blog, I’ve been very proud of it and I can’t think of anything better. I like to spend my time playing with it, slowly improving it and writing posts for it. I don’t make money off my blog but it is a real passion of mine and something I plan to continue for a very long time. Recently I read a fantastic article on advice to young critics, while this is focused on the TV and movie industry I think it is still relevant to what I want to achieve.

Feeling all inspired by this article, I started thinking about what I want to achieve in life. I want to be considered a critic and I would love to get paid to do what I love but if that never happens I will still enjoy doing it. I’m not satisfied to with my current skill level and I want to continuously be improving. I took the advice given in the article on board and decided to adapt it to reflect my intentions. Being as pretentious as I am, I’m calling this my book critic manifesto.

Read a lot of different books – make sure to explore a wide range of genres, going outside more comfort zones and reading from more nationalities, different translations and genres.
Read from the back list – avoid only reading from the novels that have only just come out. Read books from all periods of time. Go back further than the 18^thcentury and try to understand how books from the past have paved a way for the present.
Learn about the book industry – the politics and what goes on behind the scenes, it is important to have a finger on the pulse of the bookish world and understand trends and strategies deployed by the publishers.
Write every day – Commit to writing at least one post a day, it doesn’t matter if they get published or not, develop a habit. Writing takes practice and the more you practise the better you will be come. This is an essential step for self-improvement.
Find time to read every day – I can’t improve as a book critic if I’m not spending time reading, make the time. Listen to audiobooks while working, driving or exercising. Carry a book (or ebook) at all times and use any free time to read a little more.
Write it down – any good ideas or notes I have need to be written down before I forget. I’ve started carrying a notepad with me and finding other methods to jot down notes and thoughts as they come to me.
Rewrite – Edit, edit and edit some more. First drafts are never going to be my best writing but I often don’t like to rewrite. I must disciple myself to put my best work forward and thing will mean rewriting.
Proof read – I’m lucky enough to have a great editor (my wife) who is supportive of my blogging. She generously takes the time to read over every post I write before it hits the blog. I have to train her to be tougher on me and tell me if I need to re-write something but with her help I will improve. However I need to make her life easier not harder, I need to make sure I’m not relying on her and I’m checking my work thoroughly before she sees it.
Read up on history and psychology – It is fascinating to see how helpful knowledge of history and psychology can help with critical thinking. I am to critique books, so I need to understand more about the historical context and the psychology behind it.
Study literary theory – I need to understand literary criticism better; I know I will never understand all the theories but a basic knowledge will be useful. I suspect that my primary focus will be Marxist and Psychoanalytical theory but I would also like to be able to read a book from a Feminist, Post-Colonial, etc. view point as well.
Learn about language – Read more books about language and grammar, they can be fun and I can learn a lot from them.
Interact with the bookish community – it is important to continually seek out people with different viewpoints, I don’t want to become an echo chamber. Interacting with people that read and review books differently to me will help me develop my style and avoid becoming stale. We don’t want to live in a world where everyone says the same thing and if I can spend time reading different opinions I hope to avoid being similar to the crowd.
Learn about creative writing – I sometimes wish I could write a story but I feel I’m better suited as a critic and a reader than an author. I do need to learn the tools of the trade so I can understand why an author does what they do and develop an appreciation for the craft.
Develop my voice – I feel like my style is very conversational and personal; this is how I relate to the novels and this is how I feel. With practice I can perfect my style but I must always remember what I’m trying to achieve and how I want to come across in my writing.
Avoid only writing reviews – I don’t want to fall in the habit of only writing book reviews, if I’m writing every day I’m never going to keep up. I will write non-review posts, about my bookish thoughts or what ever is going on in the bookish world. Memes are great but I don’t want to rely heavily on them.
Meet deadlines – If I’m going to request an ARC then I must make sure that I read and review the book before the deadline or release date. Non-solicited ARCs don’t need to be read before a deadline or at all. I have written a review policy that clearly states that not all ARCs will be read but I need to make sure if I’ve committed to one that I read it.
Don’t be afraid to be different – I’ve found that I often hate books that others may enjoy, I do enjoy writing a negative review and I must remember that there is nothing wrong with that. However I must also remember that the job of an author is hard and I must always use tack and constructive criticism. I can’t be afraid to try something different and have a voice that differs from the rest, stand firm in what I think and be uncompromising in my writing.
Be the best you can be – I need to learn that sometimes a piece of writing isn’t working and I should dump it and start again. I shouldn’t be afraid to start over, I want my editor to be hard on me and I should be hard on myself too. I can learn a lot from others and I must be willing to take criticism. It is a helpful to my growth as a critic and also essential. If I’m not happy with a piece how can I expect others to enjoy it. Try and try again until you get it right.
Just write – I know that there will be times where I will feel like I’m not writing well or am suffering from a writer’s block. I need to remember that I don’t have to publish everything I write to my blog. I can write a bad piece and then dump it and try again, I might get some decent lines out of my bad writing that can help form a better piece.
Have fun – This is a passion not a chore.

This is still a work in progress and I plan to add more to this manifesto when I think of it. I feel like I have a goal in sight and I want to work towards it. This is not about getting a job or anything like that; this is about developing my skills to be the best book blogger/critic I can be. I’m passionate about books and I love talking about them, I will improve and this is how I plan to do just that. If you have any good advice that I can add to this, let me know in the comments below.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Posted January 23, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Historical Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Paris Wife (Goodreads)
Author: Paula McLain
Published: Virago, 2011
Pages: 392
Genres: Historical Fiction
My Copy: Paperback

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Forget everything you know about Ernest Hemingway because Paula McLain has set out to change that in The Paris Wife. This stunning novel follows a fictionalised account of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson. McLain’s version of Hemingway starts off as a tender man, with a crush on an older woman; he is persistent and full of love; nothing like what I know of the man.

The Paris Wife begins in the Chicago in 1920; it is here we meet Hadley and Ernest. Slowly we watch the two fell in love and get married. Soon after they have relocated to Paris where they meet other expatriate authors, such as James Joyce, Ezra Pound and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The love shared between Hadley and Ernest is nothing short of beautiful, while it lasted.

If you know much about Ernest Hemingway, you know this whirlwind romance wasn’t going to last, I’m not spoiling anything by mentioning this. In fact it is mentioned on the back of the book. What I found most interesting about The Paris Wife is the way it is written in a first person perspective. My calculations from the clues in the book, is that Hadley was narrating this account at least thirty-four years after her divorce from Hemingway.

This presents a unique perspective of Ernest Hemingway, the pain and suffering would have been mostly gone and we get a distorted opinion of this famous author. Paula McLain’s masterfully presented Hemingway in such a way that I began to re-evaluate my personal opinion of the man. He was depicted as loving and caring, a struggling author with big dreams but also suffering from the torments of war. This eventually all came crashing down and my opinions where back to how I originally felt about this author; it takes some talent to be able to pull that kind of writing off.

This is the kind of novel you take to Paris. The atmosphere of 1920’s Paris was stunning, I could picture it and I wanted to go back to France and enjoy this city all over again. Unfortunately I don’t live in the world of Midnight in Paris, so I will have to stick with the modern city. Mentions of Shakespeare and Company were particularly special for me as I have very fond memoirs of that wonderful bookstore.

Fictionalised accounts are tricky and should always be taken with a giant grain of salt but I was happy to see Ms McLain ended this book with a note about her research including sources for her research. While this doesn’t mean I’m going to take the entire story as true, it does provide me with some reassurances that the author intended to keep as close to the facts as possible. This meant that at times the novel did feel more like a biography but the story was compelling enough to keep the book enjoyable.

One thing that bothered me after reading some reviews about this book is the people who hated this book because of the ‘unlikeable character’ when referring to Hemingway. I’ve always thought of the author as an unlikeable person (the man was a dick). What I was impressed with is the fact that Paula McLain managed to alter my opinion and try to look at things from another perspective. He was self-destructive and often came across as a man with no remorse but seeing his downward spiral on the page is what made this journey interesting.

I read this book for Jazz Age January; it was a good excuse to pick up The Paris Wife. I did in fact enjoy the novel but not in the sense that I would recommend it, I just think it was an interesting journey and look at Ernest Hemingway. There were flaws in the novel but you have to respect the way McLean worked the reader. I knew the Fitzgeralds and Hemingway had a falling out but now I suspect it was a case of them siding with Hadley during the break up. I will have to research some more to know for sure.

The Hanging Garden and Unfinished Novels

Posted May 28, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Historical Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Hanging Garden (Goodreads)
Author: Patrick White
Published: Knopf Doubleday, Random House, 2012
Pages: 224
Genres: Historical Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

During my last book club gathering, we were talking about Patrick White’s unfinished novel; The Hanging Garden and this lead into a discussion of books being published after the author dies which the author never wanted to see the light of day. Patrick White never wanted this novel released; I believe he did tell someone to burn it because it wasn’t finished or anywhere near ready for readers. There are heaps of authors that have had books released that were never meant to be released including; Kurt Vonnegut, Virginia Woolf, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Leo Tolstoy and the most famous of them all was Franz Kafka’s The Trial. This does lead to some interesting topics; do you think books that the author never intended to be released should be published? Are publishers just using them as a money making gimmick? And lastly, if those manuscripts were submitted to a publisher by an unknown author, would they still be published?

Patrick White is a two time Miles Franklin award winner and has also won the Nobel Prize for Literature. His unfinished novel The Hanging Garden was only just recently published; it feels like an old novel in the sense that, while it’s nicely written; nothing ever happens in the book. This is very much a character driven book, focusing on the two characters and a wild garden. I think I’d be alright with reading a book like this if I didn’t have the feeling that the author hated every single one of his characters; he was mean and cruel to them all, not just the key characters. As a general rule I love dark and flawed characters but this just felt mean and even the attempts of being erotic felt awkward. I spent the whole book waiting for something to happen and I was left disappointed. Also, as this is an unfinished novel, I don’t know what the overall goal was with this book and I get the feeling that maybe Patrick White doesn’t either. There are parts of this book that are beautifully written and then there are parts that felt like the author’s ramblings. This is supposed to be an unedited book but while I think there was some editing done there are also parts of the book that clearly feel unedited. Including a few paragraphs that didn’t make sense and had no punctuation and then some notes to himself reminding him to explore or research some parts later. While I’m not a fan of this book, I think a lot of people might get a kick out of it. Either for the memories of the time and the place; the memorable characters, or just to see the thought process of once of Australian top authors of all time.

On this day 100 years ago, Patrick White was born

My Search for Good Steampunk Literature

Posted April 12, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 7 Comments

Steampunk and literature is an odd combination and I’ve often found it hard to find decent examples of this genre. It has gotten to the point where it is easier to look for the genre Alternate History instead of trying to find good Steampunk that isn’t the generic mass produced Young Adult novels. I’m not saying all Steampunk or YA novels are mass produced rubbish but when I look at the most popular Steampunk list on Goodreads I find the top ten are pretty much 4 different YA book series;

Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger
Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld
The Clockwork Century series by Cherie Priest
The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare

I’ve not read many books from these series but I tend to think of those books are either Paranormal Fiction or Fantasy with very small elements of Steampunk. I know this genre is hard to categorise because it often features elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, horror, and paranormal but from a literary point of view it’s hard to find to find exceptional novels in this genre. Often this genre is generalised as Victorian alternative history featuring anachronistic technology, or futuristic innovations.

So if we leave out the obvious influences, such as Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and even Mary Shelley are there any Steampunk novels that a wannabe literary snob like me would consider worthy? I can only think of two.

The Difference Engine by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling

Often considered one of the first Steampunk novels this had pretty much everything I want in a Steampunk novel; the Victorian/Sci-Fi mix worked really well and it was nice to read a book with one of my heroes, Lord Byron, in it. The book follows a world changing with the invention of a mechanical and analytical computer. The book focuses not only on the technological boost but also the social change that come with it. Although at times it did drag on a little, this is definitely a recommended read for someone interested in getting a feel for the Steampunk genre.

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

Having recently mentioning this book in my trending books post, I thought Imight read this book before everyone else does. I’m glad I did. I hope this book gets read by many people; it has so much to offer. Angelmaker is a Steampunk adventure unlike anything I’ve read before, featuring a mystery involving Joe Spork the son of a gangster, a spy and his quest to stop the evil villain Shem Shem Tsien and his doomsday device. While this book may feel more like a plot for a Bond movie the writing is what makes this book so great; while many people compare the style to Charles Dickens, I think that it was the Victorian writing style that made this book such a standout.

I’m interested in the Steampunk genre, so I would love to know what people think about it and what they would recommend to others. I will continue my search from great books,

even in the Steampunk genre and I hope to never rule out a popular YA books as good literature.

Half Yearly Review – 2011

Posted July 12, 2011 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Writing / 0 Comments

The first 6 months of 2011 went really quickly. I don’t think I got a chance to write a blog post every week but I was really impressed with myself and what did end up on my blog. A few interesting miniseries showed up over the past six month, including a look at Picasso with Picasso – The Icon Breaker & Guernica; Picasso’s Masterpiece. The highlight for me was my Romantic period series; A Quest for Liberty, The Romantic Bond With Nature and then the quick look at the three most known romantics; The Romantic Brooder, The Romantic Bad-Boy & The Romantic Celebrity.

In regards to popularity with the readers, here were the top 5 posts;

5. Autodidact Vs. Higher Education

4. What is Wrong with Dark YA Novels?

3. What is a Cult Book?

2. My Literary Wall of Shame

1. What Would You Read in an Introduction to Fiction Course?

As for my reading goals for the year, I’ve been working through some really amazing books and I would recommend the following books, based on what I read in the past six months;

5. Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson (2011)

4. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (2010)

3. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (2006)

2. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938)

1. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

I’m really happy with how this year has been going for my blog, I know there has been a bit of a focus on Literature lately, but I hope no one is thinking I’m neglecting a topic. I write a topic based on what has been on my mind and what I’ve been learning so you may get batches of one topic. I do except a lot more to do with literature in the future but I won’t neglect the other subjects; I promise. Is there a particular topic you would like to see here? Anyone interested in doing a post for this blog?

Burning Realisation: I Can't Write

Posted April 7, 2011 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Writing / 0 Comments

Over the past few weeks I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that I really not very good at writing. I think I’m getting better at blogging, but for someone that aspires to be a writer, I’m not good at it. I’ve had to take a step back and evaluate what I’ve been doing wrong.

If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.

Stephen King, On Writing, p. 147

I’ve been reading a lot and I’ve been getting lots of great ideas on what I want to do with my writing, from style, plots, metaphors. But when I go to write a novel, I really do lack the skills to get very far. I’ve decided I have to change my approach. I have to learn the art of writing. I can’t give up; I still have a burning desire to write.

The only reason for being a professional writer is that you just can’t help it.

Leo Rosten

So I’ve reached a decision to give up trying to write a novel for now. I need to practise my craft, and build up to attempting to do something like a full novel. I read an interview with Carlos Ruiz Zafón (who wrote the brilliant book The Shadow in the Wind) that he always had this book sitting in the back of his mind but he needed to gain the skills to attempt writing it. So Carlos Ruiz Zafón began his career writing books for young adults. While I don’t think I have the skills to write a full length novel, I think the idea of starting small and building up is a smart move.

A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.

Thomas Mann

So I’ve decided to set myself a new writing goal; to focus not on completing a full length novel, but to focus on honing my craft. To do this, I’ve decided to focus on writing short stories (not limiting myself to a word count); I’m hoping this will help develop the skills to write more complete and interesting stories. Currently I’m aiming at a short story a quarter, but I will see how I go.

Why Study Literature?

Posted February 18, 2011 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 0 Comments

Recently I posted a blog post about what I would teach if I was to do a class on English Literature 101. The topic sparked a lot of debate and I was very happy with the post. But I was asked this week, why I read so much and why I would want to teach English literature. The short answer is the fact I love reading and it’s an exciting topic; but I’ve been pondering the question and trying to get a deeper more extensive answer.

As most people know, I never was much of a reader until recently, when I started my journey into educating myself; I discovered a real joy in reading. It’s easy to just look at reading as just an activity to do for enjoyment but I believe there is so much more to reading and there is a lot to gain from studying literature.

To benefit from others beliefs, bias, insight & knowledge

The world of literature has a wealth of knowledge we can learn from and if we take the time to study and analyse what we read, we have access to some interesting points of views. This information can give us access to many different aspects, from first-hand accounts of history, their personal understanding of the world and even a different take on the philosophy and culture we live by and in. While it’s important to remember that what we read is in the view point of someone else, this bias view can help us redefine or strengthen ourselves.

Self Improvement

I can think of so many ways reading can help you improve; from simple things like improve vocabulary, exercising our brains, learning from others mistakes and helping to define a writing style. While I think these are great; there is one more reason why reading can help you improve and I want to focus on this one. Reading encourages us to question “accepted” knowledge; in school we are taught that we have to accept what we are taught as fact, and those basic hypotheses are the building blocks of knowledge. However the human progress doesn’t work this way. When we get older we begin to question things more and more. The main problem is we often just form assumptions based on what we know and don’t take the time to analyse the information. When we read (especially nonfiction) we are forced to look at information from other points of view and while we don’t always agree with it, inevitably we are forced to look at ourselves. While people “say what they mean and mean what they say” ultimately we need to learn to open our minds to the ambiguities of world.

Exploration

While most people say they read as a form of escape, it is important to remember that we are able to learn while we are escaping our world. We can be learning empathy just by reading a tragic story; we can be learning about other cultures and their views and even into the mindset of a different type of person. There is so much about the world we can discover.

Maybe we don’t take the time to analyse what and why we are reading but maybe subconsciously we are learning something new. I’d like to think every book I’ve read is teaching me something different and while I don’t take the time to analyse every book, I do try to understand and judge the books content for myself.