I’ve spent the last decade battling an anxiety issue that made it almost impossible for me to read. I simply couldn’t calm the “monologue” constantly flowing through my mind enough to enjoy reading.
This was especially tough because reading had been one of my favorite hobbies since childhood.
Finally with the help of medication and therapy I felt I was ready to jump back into reading. I picked a book I had long wanted to read but had never gotten around to. Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.
Now I want to stop here and say that I do not consider myself a dumb person. I’m not smart either. I’d say I fall into the category of broadly mediocre when it comes to smarts.
I finished high school with good grades, i went to a few years of college, when I watch Jeopardy! I can seem downright impressive if the categories aren’t science or geography based. I’m not a smart guy but when hanging out with other average people I can pretend I am well enough to get along.
This book CHALLENGED me. It was such a strange combination of beautiful prose mixed with obscure words I’d never heard. Potent brutality alongside mundane and unending description of terrain. Moments that I still don’t get (WTF was with the glowing in the dark barn with the mother cow and her baby?)
Overall I loved the experience of reading it. It challenged me in a way I haven’t experienced since trying to get through Moby Dick in the 10th grade. Do I fully understand what I read? No. Am I better off for having read it though? Absolutely.
It may have been the perfect pick to get me back into the reading groove because anything I read next will seem like a Little Golden Book by comparison.
by offspring515
1 Comment
Such a nice sales pitch, thanks. Going to add it to the next batch I’m ordering.