Published : 2021 || Format : print || Location : Colombia ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ What was it about the country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy? The previous month, on its own soil, an American man went to his job at a plant and gunned down fourteen coworkers, and last spring alone there were four different school shootings. A nation at war with itself, yet people still spoke of it as some kind of paradise.. Thoughts : Infinite Country follows two characters - young Talia, who at the beginning of this book, escapes a girl’s reform school in North Colombia so that she can make her previously booked flight to the US. Before she can do that, she needs to travel many miles to reach her father and get her ticket to the rest of her family. As we follow Talia’s treacherous journey south, we learn about how she ended up in the reform school in the first place and why half her family resides in the US. Infinite Country tells the story of her family through the other protagonist, El
Yesterday at work, I was trying to multi-task. Or rather, not really multi-task, but use the time between writing my code and waiting for it to run, to browse through my phone. I usually use these small intervals at work to check Facebook. My weakness is my local pet shelter because they post such cute cuddly photos of the pets they have, but that is neither here nor there. I had once tried to read a book during such a break, but I struggled with putting the book down and read too hurriedly. However, I had recently uninstalled the Facebook app from my phone, seeing as how it is such a useless distraction. So then, I started browsing through my feeds in Feedly, which is usually my second stop after Facebook, and that was when I saw this article at Salon by Michael Harris in which he journaled his struggle with reading War and Peace.
That's not a journey I can relate to since I have never felt the urge to read this humongous title, but I have tried to read big books in the past only to drop them after a few pages. The article is, however, more than about one person's struggles with a historically difficult book. Michael talks about how he used to be able to read for hours when he was a kid, but nowadays, he was not able to last five minutes without checking his phone. He was always looking for distractions - videos, Twitter, Facebook, emails, and he was plagued by a feeling of missing something if he didn't check his phone in the last five minutes.
Michael could have been writing about me, for all I know. It's frightening really, how much time I spend staring at this tiny piece of plastic, at dinners, at work, during commute, and even where surrounded by people. If my phone was a little away from me and I heard it ding, I would spend half my brain trying to tell myself that the notification could wait. And then, I would go check it right away. Even a delightful book could not keep me away from my phone's notifications, if I heard the telltale dings. I often wonder how long it would take me to read the Harry Potter books today, with all these digital distractions around me.
I remember reading each Harry Potter book in less than two days, and feeling very sad that the book was over. I doubt I could do that now. I remember those days of sitting up all night to finish a book - something I have not done in years. I remember racing through a book in less than a day and then sitting back and basking in the awesomeness of what I just read. I remember not putting my book down unless it was to get some food or use the bathroom. Even baths have been known to being ignored when an awesome book was in town, not that I should confess to this. I remember walking everywhere with a book and telling anyone I see that they should read it. I also remember not starting another book too soon after the last one, therefore having plenty of time after finishing a book to digest and absorb it well.
I miss those days. I wish I could read like that even now. Sure, I am an adult now and life IS busier. There are also all these extra responsibilities - dinner to cook, lunch to plan, groceries to buy, chores to complete, and then there are the fun responsibilities like blogging or catching up on Feedly. And even if I didn't have those responsibilities, I am usually beat by the end of a workday to want to do anything that requires my brain to go into overdrive. Usually, that means watching stupid TV, but it helps. So reading is now something I do after I am done with all the above. Some days, especially on days I write a blog post, I count myself lucky if I can even read a couple of pages.
I am glad that I uninstalled the Facebook app from my phone. I haven't been on the site since, so that ploy is certainly working. Even though I check my notifications right away, I don't keep turning it on to see if there is anything new. I have somewhat learned to ignore my phone dings after I go to bed. I say somewhat, because some days are better than others. I have also somewhat learned to wait until I am done with my current task or chapter, before checking my phone. But I still browse a lot. I am reading some article or the other all the time, and while I do enjoy that a lot, I want to be able to go back to my carefree reading days of my childhood, when I started reading a book knowing that I will be able to finish it quickly if the book is interesting enough. I would have read (and finished) books like War and Peace in those days - size did not bother me at all then. Today, I avoid chunksters because I know I will get distracted soon by something else and eventually that big book will sit by forgotten.
But more importantly, I want to be able to lose myself in the book I am reading. I want to look up from my book and feel that hours have passed (and dinner taken care of magically, of course). I want to keep my distractions to a minimum and not go looking for other visual eye candy, when the best treat is right in front of me and just waiting for its pages to be ruffled.
That's not a journey I can relate to since I have never felt the urge to read this humongous title, but I have tried to read big books in the past only to drop them after a few pages. The article is, however, more than about one person's struggles with a historically difficult book. Michael talks about how he used to be able to read for hours when he was a kid, but nowadays, he was not able to last five minutes without checking his phone. He was always looking for distractions - videos, Twitter, Facebook, emails, and he was plagued by a feeling of missing something if he didn't check his phone in the last five minutes.
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| Picture credit |
Michael could have been writing about me, for all I know. It's frightening really, how much time I spend staring at this tiny piece of plastic, at dinners, at work, during commute, and even where surrounded by people. If my phone was a little away from me and I heard it ding, I would spend half my brain trying to tell myself that the notification could wait. And then, I would go check it right away. Even a delightful book could not keep me away from my phone's notifications, if I heard the telltale dings. I often wonder how long it would take me to read the Harry Potter books today, with all these digital distractions around me.
I remember reading each Harry Potter book in less than two days, and feeling very sad that the book was over. I doubt I could do that now. I remember those days of sitting up all night to finish a book - something I have not done in years. I remember racing through a book in less than a day and then sitting back and basking in the awesomeness of what I just read. I remember not putting my book down unless it was to get some food or use the bathroom. Even baths have been known to being ignored when an awesome book was in town, not that I should confess to this. I remember walking everywhere with a book and telling anyone I see that they should read it. I also remember not starting another book too soon after the last one, therefore having plenty of time after finishing a book to digest and absorb it well.
 |
| The Hierarchy of Digital Distractions Picture credit |
I am glad that I uninstalled the Facebook app from my phone. I haven't been on the site since, so that ploy is certainly working. Even though I check my notifications right away, I don't keep turning it on to see if there is anything new. I have somewhat learned to ignore my phone dings after I go to bed. I say somewhat, because some days are better than others. I have also somewhat learned to wait until I am done with my current task or chapter, before checking my phone. But I still browse a lot. I am reading some article or the other all the time, and while I do enjoy that a lot, I want to be able to go back to my carefree reading days of my childhood, when I started reading a book knowing that I will be able to finish it quickly if the book is interesting enough. I would have read (and finished) books like War and Peace in those days - size did not bother me at all then. Today, I avoid chunksters because I know I will get distracted soon by something else and eventually that big book will sit by forgotten.
But more importantly, I want to be able to lose myself in the book I am reading. I want to look up from my book and feel that hours have passed (and dinner taken care of magically, of course). I want to keep my distractions to a minimum and not go looking for other visual eye candy, when the best treat is right in front of me and just waiting for its pages to be ruffled.
Comments
In a way I'm glad I grew up this way...my daughter is a slave to her i-phone and I cringe when I hear those dings across the room. I can separate my reading time from all other social media with no problems, and won't even have a tv on in the same room. I remember reading a new Nancy Drew in one sitting as a young person, only stopping to get something to eat. It was an awesome experience and I love to recreate it as often as I can--but now I find myself nodding off long before the last page, an ode to my age :)
Great post and food for thought!
Now that my free time is very limited by having a newborn baby, I'm trying not to waste it as I used to.
I am most guilty of sitting and playing a game on my phone or browsing social media, wasting valuable reading time. Sometimes though, my brain just needs the break--or a different set of stimuli.
I do know what you mean though about constantly wanting to check your phone when reading or cleaning or doing some other task. My phone goes everywhere with me just about--even when it really doesn't need to. I have made a point though of setting it aside when I am with my daughter or husband or some other interaction with other human beings. Then it becomes rude, of course, but also I don't want to take away from time with my family.
I've been trying to make a point of setting my phone aside or sitting far away from the computer when I do get longish stretches of reading time so I can get lost in a book for awhile. Unfortunately those even are rare moments--three year olds are pretty demanding. :-)