So, I’ve been reading The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks. This is not a Books Off the Shelf post—not a review. Still, if you haven’t read this book—you need to read this book. By that I mean, YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK! Ok, so The Broken Eye is the third book in the Lightbringer series. You really need to start with The Black Prism and read all three books.
Back to the point—I am absolutely loving The Broken Eye. (You might be able to tell from the plug I just gave it.) It got me thinking. I love books. I love getting lost for hours into the shear depth of a thousand page tome or better yet one of a series of thousand page tomes. The depth of characters and intricate details allowed the plot make the entire experience intoxicating, or at least can, when done well. This isn’t meant to be a discussion of the use or purpose of fiction in our society and our lives. I did that already in my post Why Fiction? Why Fantasy? which you can read here if you would like. http://www.ryanjdoughan.com/blog/whyfiction1 My point now is that I love books and believe they offer something deeper than we can get in other formats. I have friends who will say things like, “I’ll wait for the movie to come out,” when they are told about a good book. Now to a certain extent they are joking, but only to an extent. We live in a culture that has been spoon fed our entertainment for so long that we have forgotten how amazing a solid steak dinner is. We miss out on depth that an author can bring us through longevity that would have to be abbreviated to fit on the silver screen. I don’t want to be patronizing, but I pity people who “wait for the movie to come out”. A two hour movie, we can digest easily, but the time commitment of a nine hundred page book or even a four hundred page book became daunting to our lazy nature at some point. We watch seasons of shows on Netflix but even that can only offer so much depth to still wrap things up at the end of an episode. If you’re reading this, it probably means you are already a book reader. You know the depth and joy of a long novel. You know the nearly over powering desire to keep reading even though you should have turned off the lamp and gone to sleep an hour ago (or three hours ago). If you’re reading this, you may not fit the cookie cutter of our society. Don’t misunderstand. I love movies. I enjoy tv shows and the ability to sit back and just let the story come to me in pictures. I need more though. Our society needs more, and can have more. We just need to pick up a book. Just some thoughtful ramblings. If you’d like to hear more and hear my Books Off the Shelf review for The Broken Eye when it comes out, I’d love for you to sign up your email on the left. You’ll also be the first to get free giveaways for MIST FALCON, my upcoming novel. And let me know your thoughts. Why has our society moved from book readers to movie watchers? How do we give the joy of reading to others? |
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2 Comments
Dan
1/15/2015 12:44:14 pm
I like this post. I wonder if we have just become lazy as a society. Also, the "literature" that is forced on us in high school wasn't always the best for imbuing a life long love for reading.
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Ryan J Doughan
1/16/2015 06:21:00 am
Dan, interesting points. It seems like it takes one really good book to get someone hooked, or at least to open their eyes to the possibility of getting hooked.
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