So I haven't been alternating between books like I had planned. I have found myself far too sucked into Margaret Drabble's short stories to even begin James's ghost stories.
And it's sort of uncomfortable.
Drabble is an expert at illustrating how our expectations of others' perceptions of us can entirely control our behavior. We all want to be seen a certain way, and therefore often fail to act true to ourselves. She sets up very typical situations (a hiking trip, a honeymoon, etc) and lets her characters get so caught up in their own heads that they screw up their own circumstances.
It's very uncomfortable.
I get frustrated when people behave this way in real life. As a very basic and shallow example, when going anywhere in a group, I hate when I say, "Man, I'm hungry," and five other people say, "Oh, me too! I've been hungry for hours, I just didn't want to say anything!" Why?! Why don't we want to say anything? I think, as people, we have a backward notion of what's polite and what's expected and how we should behave. And it suffocates us to the point where we don't act in our own best interests.
So reading about people doing just that is almost annoying. But it's also fascinating. Because it's giving me a glimpse into the motivations that people might have for doing (or NOT doing) these things. And also helping me to recognize when I start to exhibit those same behaviors.
But I think I know a few people I'll share this collection with when I'm done. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment