A Support Group for Literature Students
Hi, my name's Beth and I miss reading for fun.
Almost four years ago I made the decision to study Comparative Literature and French at degree level, and I have loved it every step of the way.
I got to study Heidi, Catcher in the Rye, The Iliad, Dracula... to name a few. I felt truly academically challenged and pushed myself to achieve my absolute best work. Without a doubt, my course is my favourite part of being at university.
But I really, REALLY miss reading for fun.
What's that you say? Why not read for fun in your spare time?
I wish I could. By the time I get home from a full day's work in the library, it feels like my eyes will fall out of my head if I have to read any more. I would much rather watch something mind-numbing on Netflix just to give my brain a little bit of a break before doing it all over again the next day. (I just finished season 4 of Jane the Virgin and ... oh my god, that show is so! good!).
That's not to say that I don't enjoy reading our set texts on my course - some of them have been really entertaining. But, and if you are a literature student I'm sure you will agree with me on this, the way you read a book changes massively when you have to write an essay on it. It suddenly becomes less 'fun' and more... challenging. Having to think critically about a text means you can no longer simply enjoy it for what it is, there is always another level to be explored.
So that's why I'm calling for a support group for literature students. We are often misjudged as having 'easy' degrees by others, and all I can say to that it is: I apologise you chose a degree you absolutely despise and don't enjoy. You're just jealous. Come to the dark side.
We need to find a way to fall in love with reading for fun again, outside of our studies. So here are 3 things I'm going to try and do to get back into exactly that:
Re-read a favourite book
Yeah, yeah, I know I wrote a blog post about why I don't re-read books, but let's just ignore that for a second. I'm hoping that if I delve back into a book that I absolutely adore then it'll inspire me to read for fun and will no longer feel like a chore. (Side note: Children of Virtue and Vengeance comes out tomorrow so I also want to re-read Children of Blood and Bone before I start the sequel. Two birds, one stone and what-not).
Designate time to 'fun' reading
Because I spend most of my time either reading a book or reading on-screen, by the time I get home I am too tired. What if I stop reading for uni about an hour earlier than I normally do, so that I have enough energy to read for fun at home once I'm done?
Take the pressure off
I think it's pretty clear at this point that studying a literature degree means you read a lot. A byproduct of that is there is a lot of pressure to read an extensive amount every week, and be able to discuss it at length in seminars. Now that teaching has almost finished for the term (counting down the days until Christmas), I no longer have seminar prep work to do, I just need to concentrate on the books I know I'm doing my essays on. This automatically takes the pressure off reading academically. I can spend more time on reading for leisure, with no deadlines in sight.
So, there we have it. These are the habits I am going to try and incorporate into my life over deadline season.
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