Saturday, June 20, 2009

Reading and Parenthood

On the whole I think I'd prefer to read novels. Of all literary genres, the novel has the ability to suck me entirely into its imaginary world, even into the imaginary characters. I can feel submerged in a novel.

But with a toddler and an infant, I find my reading time limited, and reading plays works best. I know that I'm likely to be interrupted, and my reading may come in short snippets: it's not difficult to read a little bit of dialogue and then mark my spot when I need to stop. And plays read quickly, so I'll finish many more plays than I could finish novels, allowing for a variety of reading.

Drama rarely submerges me into a new universe, and rarely immerses me into the mind of an imaginary character. The pleasures drama offers are different: a deeper awareness of the artifice, consciousness of the performance. It's punchy, and, well, dramatic.

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