Saturday, February 26, 2011

What the Fortune Cookie Says...

One of my favourite quotes comes from a fortune cookie.


I've kept this slip of paper for about a year now, though I can't be sure of the exact date I found it hiding in my cookie. This might seem surprising -- I am the girl who keeps fortune cookie fortunes, afterall.  But, I do know it was around the time I started having to make big decisions... about work, about love, and just generally about life.  So I kept it as a reminder to be proactive.

Despite this, I often find myself "going through the motions." My best example of this will of course come from my recent experiences with this latest addition to my bookshelf: Songs of the Humpback Whale.  In the words of another favourite author [sort of]: I'm just not that into it. And yet, I push myself through another few pages a day. I'm only about 100 pages in of 400. At this rate, I'll be finished next year sometime. 

The point is, I've made a decision to read books and write about them. I feel as though I can't abandon ship just because I'm not enjoying the choice of reading this book specifically.  Sometimes you have to do things you don't like in order to get where you want to be. In fact, sometimes that makes it a whole lot more interesting.

Therefore, even though I might be "going through the motions" with this book or with where I am right now in life in general, the end result of my decisions in literature and life should be pretty entertaining and enjoyable.

So thanks, fortune cookie, for always reminding me from your place on my corkboard to go ahead and make choices and follow them through! ...Even if that means I'll be reading this novel well into my summer vacation.

8 comments:

Elizabeth Kinghorn said...

Loving the blog...just thinking about what you said about sometimes having to do things you don't want to do. That is certainly true, however I've never taken that approach with books. Someone once said to me that it is impossible for one person to read every single book out there, so why waste your time on one you're not enjoying? I always give a book a good chance but if I'm not into it I move on. Just something to think about.

Amanda said...

Thanks Liz! I love what you're saying about wasting time not enjoying a book. But I'm terrible, and I always wonder, "Maybe it'll get better" or "What if I will really like it soon?" Haha... The "what ifs" kill me!

Mark Kuntsi said...

I have to agree with Liz. Sometimes you have "cut your losses" and move on. Especially if it is such a chore to get through. I've read many a bad book, sometimes for the simple pleasure of being able to authoritatively rip it to shreds when someone asks me what I thought of it (Hellooooo, "Twilight"!). But if it starts to take up too much of my time and effort, it's time to say "enough!". That said, I DO admire your tenacity.

Anonymous said...

Once I start a book I need to finish it. For whatever reason I feel like "the book got the best of me," if I do not complete it. There is only one book that comes to mind that I refused to finish and that was Pete Rose's biography....the guy was so full of sh*t that I could not take it anymore.

Amanda said...

Such compelling arguments. I'm currently drifting back and forth between "cutting my losses" and not "letting it get the best of me." I might be the world's biggest nerd for even having this internal debate at all.

Amanda said...

PS. Mark, just because you didn't like a book, doesn't mean it's bad. Hellooo Twilight!

Mark said...

PPS. To clarify: I know my opinion is not the be-all and end-all; but I definitely have one that I'm not afraid to share! The stories of the "Twilight" series move along at a nice pace, I must admit, especially if you are into 'tweener vampire romances. But I am firm in my belief that Stephanie Meyer is a horrible writer. There is no art to the way she puts words together, she overuses the word "breathlessly", and her books read like a high school movie script project, not a novel (and certainly not a piece of serious literature).

Okay, I'm done now...

;)

Amanda said...

Mark, everyone's opinions count. And yours certainly one I have heard and read several times over the past few years. And I think we agree that she's no Shakespeare or whoever else you might view as a talented writer, but the story is good. Which was my point. And I have to get on board with anything that gets students excited to read... even if it isn't GREAT writing.