tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post3799956004156125144..comments2024-01-28T03:35:51.182-05:00Comments on Reassigned Time: Ok, So I'm Not Working Again...Dr. Crazyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457967076373916629noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-41934720172128408722010-06-26T22:33:19.312-04:002010-06-26T22:33:19.312-04:00In my first semester in grad school for English Li...In my first semester in grad school for English Lit, a professor told our class that he never had time to read for pleasure, and I found the idea very ironic and depressing. But I've certainly found it to be true of my own career as an English professor, especially (as you say) since I teach and write about contemporary literature. Even when I do try to read a novel for pleasure, I find myself wondering how I would teach it.<br /><br />When I do read for pleasure--before bed, say--it's generally comic books. But for the most part, the pleasure I used to get from reading novels before it became my job I now derive from TV series with long arcing plots and complex characters: HBO and BBC shows, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, etc.Shane in SLChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09009969830290878311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-81697167734909584812010-06-26T10:37:16.971-04:002010-06-26T10:37:16.971-04:00"... then feel like I'm a loser who is to...<i>"... then feel like I'm a loser who is totally an intellectual zombie because everybody else takes the opportunity to read things that enrich their soul or something when they've got time to read. "</i><br /><br />Crazy, why are you beating yourself up? That's not like you! You should enjoy those chick lit books and tell the "you're a loser" voices to go screw themselves! When I've got time to read, I read mindless literature junkfood.Psycgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13476028853857792495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-90424077086094613782010-06-26T02:28:46.989-04:002010-06-26T02:28:46.989-04:00Shit. That sounds awful. Reading for pleasure is...Shit. That sounds awful. Reading for pleasure is one of the joys I'm rediscovering, post-tenure.Notorious Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08700875559325201086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-13085193883285383482010-06-25T22:07:04.860-04:002010-06-25T22:07:04.860-04:00I have problems when people recommend popular hist...I have problems when people recommend popular histories to me, especially if they're at all related to my research interests. Historical novels often evoke similar responses. But there's always trash waiting to be read!<br /><br />This summer, I'm starting up with some audiobooks since I'm on the road a heck of a lot. After a disappointingly abridged version of "Persuasion" I found a winner with Gladwell's "Outliers".Janicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14093558563358431804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-51630716609093370672010-06-25T13:27:56.851-04:002010-06-25T13:27:56.851-04:00I wanted to address the many suggestions I've ...<i>I wanted to address the many suggestions I've gotten that I should sit down with a good book and relax, read a novel, etc.<br /></i><br />For the record, the Comrade has never suggested any such thing, and has only suggested getting fucking drunk.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-50968243987924607752010-06-25T13:24:11.547-04:002010-06-25T13:24:11.547-04:00This is why I quit English lit as soon as I was al...This is why I quit English lit as soon as I was allowed to at school (aged 13)! I love reading - and I was pretty sure that studying literature would get in the way of that (certainly noone could kill a good book stone dead like our second year English teacher...)JaneBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17779448611795379774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-51337315806763692502010-06-25T13:19:13.917-04:002010-06-25T13:19:13.917-04:00I have exactly the same problem--I'm an Englis...I have exactly the same problem--I'm an English Lit grad student, and there comes a time where reading just reminds of work. I do have the same luxury (being an 18th/19th century-ist) of being able to read contemporary literature for funsies, but even then... I often find my brain busily making connections and thinking of "smart" things to say to my colleagues. Blarg to that.<br /><br />Movies work for me--I don't feel bad about watching craptastic films like "Hot Tub Time Machine" when I need some empty-headed fluff, but never feel like I'm working when I raid the "Important Directors" section at the video store. But then again, I rarely, if ever have to think about film in relation to literature for my field, if I don't want to, except to remind students that watching a Keira Knightly flick does not substitute for reading Pride and Prejudice. And that Colin Firth is not actually Mr. Darcyb(oston)s(cholar)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14637814104776326602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-28491972665853958032010-06-25T13:08:33.813-04:002010-06-25T13:08:33.813-04:00Actually, just reading is not always relaxing, eve...Actually, just reading is not always relaxing, even when you are not in English. <br />The thing I've found is that fiction requires that I enter another imaginative world, and that takes work. I don't have lots of mental space for that now.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716705206734059708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-9110313767745186092010-06-25T13:01:12.297-04:002010-06-25T13:01:12.297-04:00Thanks for the recommendation, CG :)
Gwinne - I&#...Thanks for the recommendation, CG :)<br /><br />Gwinne - I've tried that, but I think that the problem for me with executing it is that with the 4/4 load I end up teaching a really wide range of stuff in order not to feel stale (and to make sure that students aren't seeing the same stuff with me if they take multiple courses with me). I suppose I could turn to earlier historical periods, but there's a reason why I ended up specializing where I did, and it involves not actually enjoying the older stuff very much :P (I will say this, though: I'm better about that trick when I don't have a major project going on. It's the major project plus reading worthwhile book things that doesn't go together for me.)Dr. Crazyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12457967076373916629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-41576310290001850192010-06-25T12:54:02.578-04:002010-06-25T12:54:02.578-04:00Crazy, my mental trick is reading stuff for "...Crazy, my mental trick is reading stuff for "pleasure" that I'm not likely to teach or publish on, even if it is in my general field. But the line between pleasure and work is really blurry for me...gwinnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04840990153103781272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-48217507395120018242010-06-25T12:37:09.429-04:002010-06-25T12:37:09.429-04:00You should check out The Immortal Life of Henriett...You should check out The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It's non-fiction, but I still whiled away most of a day reading it!canuck_gradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09450635786450351649noreply@blogger.com