Thinking About: A Resolution of Significance

Many people think that I read a lot. I suppose that in comparative terms I do, especially as (apparently) the average Brit reads three books a year. I think this is a horrifying statistic. If I was restricted to reading only three books in 2014 I’d have no idea how to choose them – how on earth would I decide which books to read and which to reject. I suppose that it would concentrate the mind somewhat. The three I picked would all have to be something truly special, there would have to be something truly exceptional, something significant about each one. Most of what I read is, to be brutally honest, fluff. OK, it’s often entertaining fluff but it’s still essentially fluff – ephemeral and ultimately forgettable. But it is pretty much why I read what I read: entertainment. After all, if I’m not being entertained what’s the point? But is mere entertainment enough? No, I don’t think that it is.

Now, I don’t make resolutions. Mostly I feel that they’re a complete waste of time. Most resolutions, like giving up smoking, cutting down on fat, going to the gym and such like normally last a few months before old and bad habits reassert themselves. Resolutions, like so much else these days, are throw away and in effect just another fad to be played with and then dumped when no longer convenient. So, I don’t do resolutions. However, I have been thinking about my reading habits again. Having the alternative batches of 10 themed books has added some structure to my reading which is good. Added to this is my long standing interest in History and this has been focused on British and European history so my time and energy isn’t diluted trying to have a working knowledge of the whole planet. That is also good but more is needed.

I do read a fair bit but I do not consider myself to be well read. There are many books, often regarded as classics, that all I know about them is the title and author. Others I have a fair idea about the contents but have never read. Others, far too many others, I have simply never heard of. Indeed there are authors, apparently held in high esteem that I have never heard of. Although it’s not exactly unforgivable to be in this position it is at least somewhat embarrassing to someone who spends most of his life surrounded by books. So the plan, rather than the resolution, is this: as well as continuing to read a significant number of books I will endeavour to increase the number of significant books that I read. Of course the nub of this whole thing is what exactly constitutes a ‘significant’ book. Partially they’ll be what are widely regarded as classics. I’ve already increased my reading of such books and this will be increasing further. As to the rest, well that will be a work in progress as they say. I’m seeking advice from various places at the moment and will continue to seek advice along the way. Suffice it to say that in future the fluff content should be decreasing and the significant content should be increasing to compensate.

None of this will happen overnight of course. For one thing there’s an eight book backlog between a book being finished and it being reviewed here – that’s about five weeks’ worth. Added to that I’m going to start with what I have to hand rather than using it as another excuse to buy myself a whole new set of books. It’ll take a while to turn this oil tanker but turn it will. This is a project for years rather than for months – one more reason why it’s not a resolution – but if the determination is there I should be much better read in ten years’ time. I imagine that it will be quite an interesting journey.