Reading Lists and other unimportant thoughts...

This rash of "list books" has really taken up a significant place in many people's imaginations the last few years. There is the 1000 Places to See Before You Die, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Or 100 Best Movies. And 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. And many others. Each TV morning talk show is now jumping into the fray and compiling their own lists. Interesting story about the book list here.

Venice

I don't get this. At all. Why would someone buy one of these books? Is it simply out of curiosity? Is to to gauge how smart or well-read or well-traveled you are? To get a sense what books or albums are "officially" good? Can't we just compile our own list? Can't we trust our own judgement? Reading (at least to me) isn't about reading something because you SHOULD read it (unless you're in school or doing research for something). It's about reading something because you WANT to, because it interests you. Traveling ditto.

I guess I don't travel that way. I just go where I want to go, places that have something appealing: the architecture, the language, the history, the food. I don't want a book "summing it all up" for me and ranking places. I don't want my travel plans all laid out for me by some editors far away who know nothing about me. Part of the thrill of living is NOT knowing where life might take me: it totally depends on circumstance and whim.

I don't read that way either: in fact, a good deal of my reading has to do with my traveling or my general interests in place. Though there are many writers that I like, I generally discover these writers because for three months or two years I get on a "China kick" or an "Argentina kick" (which I'm on now) and I read pretty much books that fall in line with that (though not exclusively). I also tend to watch movies from the same place or period at the same time.

Mexico City

I don't know why I read like this but it's always been this way: when I lived in a certain part of Shanghai, I was on a French Existentialism kick and certain neighborhoods in Shanghai still remind me of Sartre & Simone de Beauvoir and Arthur Koestler. One summer in my early 20s, I read everything by Alice Walker and Zora Neale Hurston and if I happen to go by that apartment in Boise where I lay in the backyard reading, I am reminded of these books and writers.

And these "kicks" come and go: occasionally I get all into Henry James and read three of his novels in a row. Or Edith Wharton. I've been on a Japan kick many times: it waxes and wanes. Lately, I've been on an Argentina kick and I feel like I'm learning so much about Argentine history and culture. But that's going to transition soon into a Mexico kick, I think: I'm priming myself up for all the countless excellent Mexican writers that I've not read (Elena Poniatowska, Carmen Boullosa) and re-reading writers that I have read (Carlos Fuentes, Octavio Paz).

Also I will read history books and watch movies and listen to music from the same area when I'm on "a kick." I don't ONLY read books or watch movies, etc., from ONE area when I'm going through this. But mostly. Also, poetry is different: poets whose work I really like are usually American. Contemporary. Odd. 

I wonder why I don't read novels that take place in modern North America. They often just don't interest me unless there is some historical element to them. Rarely will I pick up a book which takes place in modern America and find it interesting enough to devote hours to. Sometimes: I like Jane Hamilton and Anne Tyler. I like Phillip Roth and Jonathan Franzen. I like Amy Tan and Junot Diaz.

Buenos Aires

I'm much more interested in books and music which explore other kinds of cultural or historical realities.

I guess that's why I don't like these rote lists: they don't speak to me. They don't offer options since 90% of them are by American or British writers: they'll have one or two from France or Italy, maybe Russia. But that's about it.

I suppose reading is a form of escape for me (as it for most people, I guess). But it's a good escape. I don't necessarily want to move to Mexico City (maybe), but it opens up a new world for me and I can both see the similarities to my own life, and consider the differences. Who wants to read about people or lives that are like their own only?

And I don't decide to go travel somewhere because of a museum or restaurant or a three star Michelin rating. Or because some person I don't even know tells me I should go there before I die. The world is HUGE. I've got my own list to get through.