What I'm Reading

Heyo!

I shared my October reading list last Saturday, and I thought it would be nice to check in and show you what I've been reading since then and what I'm currently reading. I also thought it would be nice to have a shorter post as it's a Sunday, and also because some posts this week have been on the longer side. This is a brief little update and review of my first impressions of what I'm reading right now.

I'm one of those annoying people that has at least two books on the go at any one time, and this infuriates a few people I know because they start one, finish it and then move on. To me, it's perfectly normal because I might not be in the mood to finish that book, and instead of putting in on my ever-growing 'to-be-read' pile, it's nice to bounce between two with different plots or genres so if one isn't tickling my fancy the other one will! This is a system I have spent years developing, and I think it is so important for creatives in any field, be it art, music, literature or history to have different things going on to keep variety, but also to separate work/study from doing things just for fun!

Both books I have on the go right now are for uni, which is not something I usually do because I hate having to read things because someone tells me I have to. This is pretty ironic when you consider I chose to do this degree, but it's just the principle of not having freedom of how I read that frustrates me a bit. Once I'm into the books, because I choose the modules based on subject area and reading lists combined, I actually end up really enjoying them for the most part. There are of course some I have hated (Clarissa, Vathek, Otranto, Genesis etc.) but I have discovered and re-studied books I love because of it, so I'm not too dismayed at having two on the go for one module!

Friedrich Nietzsche - Theories

I've read Nietzsche for the last three or four years and I really like his ideas, especially around the idea of evil as a concept. Nietzsche asks us what is evil, how do we categorise it, and makes us question whether we are born evil, or if we become evil due to factors in our lives beyond our control. I find him to be a lot easier to read, understand and to interpret than some of the other philosophers and critics we've studied in English (I'm a-Freud I Kant understand the others!!)

Theory and psychology jokes aside, I've started re-reading this old copy of The Birth Of A Tragedy to help me get back into the way Nietzsche writes, so when I have to re-read 'The Genealogy of Morals' I won't be struggling as much I have been with Immanuel Kant and his appalling use of grammar and punctuation. I just like the way he explains his ideas, and also how his theories were relevant then and still continue to be every bit as relevant now as they were then.

Truman Capote - In Cold Blood

This was actually on my summer reading list, and I never got round to finishing it because I got super busy super quick over the summer with other uni prep and just enjoying my summer with my family, dog, pals and exceptionally good music! The book is Truman Capote's literary detailed reconstruction of a murder back in 1959 in Holcomb, Kansas. The case was notoriously difficult to try and solve, as there was very little evidence except some footprints, dead bodies, and walls drenched in blood. Capote mixes journalistic intention with his ability to imagine what might have happened with the limited evidence. I'm only on the second section of the book, but the way it is written reminds me a lot of Jon Ronson, Patricia Highsmith and even George Orwell at times. I haven't read anything by him before, but I can already tell I will want to find some more of his work.

Lots of the books on my course are in a similar style to Capote, a recollection, journalistic account, or factual analysis of acts of evil. I feel this module will lead to me finding some new favourite authors that otherwise I might not have discovered for a long time, if at all!

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That's all for today guys, go and enjoy your Sundays whatever you're up to! I'm going to go and have a roast with my friends and do some more uni work - revision never ends! I might do another reading post later this month if I have time and room in the schedule. I really hope you're enjoying Blogtober as much as I am!

B x