Reading
posted in General |READING
When it comes to indoor sports, reading ranks right up near the top. Maybe not #1, but right up there with the leaders. You can read whenever you want, whatever you want and as long as you want. And you can allow your imagination to wander all over the landscape. But I wonder if nowadays we are being inundated with too much to read. Magazines, catalogs, brochures, fiction, non-fiction, newspapers, notices, and the ever present junk mail. There is no stopping the avalanche. Face it, there is only so much time for anyone to read, particularly those of us who tend to snooze when the reading gets a little heavy. So what is the solution? I pick and choose the authors.
There are many good writers, but many of them are wordsmiths who are not tightly connected to the thought process. And so often they seem to specialize in long paragraphs that substitute for a couple of well drafted sentences. I confess that one of my favorite historical figures is Winston Churchill, but his lengthy prose leaves a lot to be desired. My list of current favorites is not very long. It includes Tom Freidman of the NY Times, George Will of the Washington Post, Rich Lowry of the National Review, Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated, William Buckley of the National Review, and syndicated columnist Michael Kinsley who sometimes writes for Time. When they write, I read. Tom Clancy and John Grisham are pretty good story tellers, but they only make the B team.
In the midst of the great Techno revolution that envelopes all of us, I am sure that there are some splendid authors. Unfortunately we don't share the same language. So for the time being, when I pick up a magazine or newspaper, I look for my Big Six. And if I miss them, I try the internet. It tougher to take a nap while typing or moving the cursor.