Short Posts Short Posts Short Posts and My Aversion to Fiction

Last night when I was lying in bed I am almost certain I had an idea for a post. I think I remember that it would have been a short post, but a thoughtful post. It would be a self-contained post, but at the same time would be contributing to the larger posts that I have in the works (on the back burner and in the oven).

I don't remember precisely what the post was to be about. I think it was on W.G. Sebald's Vertigo. I finished it last night in bed so that makes sense. But how does Sebald relate to the work I am interested in doing in general?

Eh, I don't know. Narrative and experience. At the very least it is vaguely connected to that.

David Shields really liked Sebald. I think he read The Emigrants and really like it. Ryan Gleason also read that book, I know.

I find Sebald extremely frustrating though.

Ah, and now I remember what this said short post was to be about: how I have been averse to reading fiction since I graduated college in December.

I think this is the fourth novel I have read since I graduated I think. I read Kobo Abe's The Ark Sakura in December/January, I read Philip Roth's The Counterlife in January, then Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart in March, and finally Vertigo in May/June.

I have been reading mostly nonfiction. I think that I am taking nonfiction reading pretty seriously these days. I try to read closely, and I am trying to write about most things I read.

Abe disappointed me, but I think I'll read more by him. Roth was surprisingly good, I really like it, but didn't really care as much for the ending. Murakami I have read before, but thought Sputnik Sweetheart was great, probably my favorite thing I have read by him.

But Sebald is different from these other authors. Such long and complex sentences. Most of the time I end up spacing out and not really understanding a lot of it. But sometimes I have rare moments where I follow a whole sentence and it is usually pretty wild or great. He is an author that you probably have to pay attention to. Unfortunately, these days I have been thinking of fiction as a break from more serious nonfiction reading. So i just lazy read it, but I should maybe start paying attention to fiction more. But I would rather pay attention to nonfiction.

I dunno, its tough. Nonfiction seems the thing right now.