WEBVTT - Second Cup: Re-read an assigned book

0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:10.000
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:15.320
<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:19.639
<v Speaker 1>tip is to try experiencing that uniquely grown up pleasure

0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:23.479
<v Speaker 1>of rereading a book you were once assigned to read

0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:28.280
<v Speaker 1>in school. A good literature teacher can make great books

0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:33.160
<v Speaker 1>come alive. Unfortunately, plenty of people went through school having

0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:37.400
<v Speaker 1>the opposite experience. Maybe a book wasn't taught well, and

0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:41.120
<v Speaker 1>sometimes even if it was, people resent being forced to

0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.160
<v Speaker 1>do things. Or perhaps your mind was on other things

0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:47.360
<v Speaker 1>in school, such as sports or another activity, and you

0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.920
<v Speaker 1>skim through a book doing whatever was required to pass.

0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.680
<v Speaker 1>In any case, when I started reading seriously as an

0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:58.200
<v Speaker 1>adult a few years ago, I had a realization. And

0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:02.040
<v Speaker 1>I know this is obvious, but goes with epiphanies. A

0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:05.480
<v Speaker 1>lot of the literature assigned in school is assigned because

0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:11.520
<v Speaker 1>it is good. Really bad books don't get reread for generations.

0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.800
<v Speaker 1>In order to impress literature teachers who read a lot,

0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:19.559
<v Speaker 1>a book has to be pretty well put together. And yes,

0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:21.720
<v Speaker 1>you can drive a book into the ground. When you

0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.480
<v Speaker 1>need to write a paper explaining the recurring symbolism of

0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:28.839
<v Speaker 1>I don't know that white whale, but still Moby Dick

0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:33.080
<v Speaker 1>is incredibly entertaining. As an adult, you don't need to

0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.000
<v Speaker 1>write papers, and you can move through a book at

0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.880
<v Speaker 1>your own pace. So why not revisit an assigned book

0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:42.000
<v Speaker 1>and see if you can find the pleasure in it.

0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:44.679
<v Speaker 1>If you're not in the habit of reading much, start

0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:49.480
<v Speaker 1>with something short and relatively accessible. The Great Gatsby is

0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:53.520
<v Speaker 1>a good choice. The narrative follows a handful of memorable

0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.840
<v Speaker 1>characters through a series of parties. There's enough action that

0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:01.760
<v Speaker 1>you can read through it in an afternoon. Hemingway's The

0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.480
<v Speaker 1>Old Man and the Sea or The Sun Also Rises,

0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:08.880
<v Speaker 1>are likewise slim but memorable. Edith Wharton's The Age of

0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:14.680
<v Speaker 1>Innocence is absolutely dazzling, and generations have rediscovered and loved

0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:18.480
<v Speaker 1>To Kill a Mockingbird. Or you can consume literature in

0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:23.040
<v Speaker 1>a different way. Untold numbers of ninth graders have stumbled

0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:27.920
<v Speaker 1>through Romeo and Juliette's Strange Spellings. But Shakespeare is much

0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:32.000
<v Speaker 1>better experienced in dramatic form, so get a recording of

0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.760
<v Speaker 1>one of his plays and listen to it as you're

0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:38.560
<v Speaker 1>commuting to work. I'd also note that some authors have

0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:42.240
<v Speaker 1>works that are more straightforward than others. If you're picking

0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:45.240
<v Speaker 1>up Virginia Woolf for the second time as an adult,

0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:49.360
<v Speaker 1>you'll want to The Lighthouse or Missus Dolloway, and probably

0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:53.200
<v Speaker 1>not The Waves with James joyce Portrait of the Artist

0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:55.440
<v Speaker 1>as a young man is going to be better with

0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:59.840
<v Speaker 1>a rereading than Ulysses or Finnegant's Wake. But next time

0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:02.680
<v Speaker 1>you go to a library or bookstore, peruse the ebook

0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.920
<v Speaker 1>lists at Amazon, think about what books you were assigned

0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:09.400
<v Speaker 1>to read in high school or college. Pick up one

0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:14.000
<v Speaker 1>that seems relatively doable, then challenge yourself to read just

0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:17.800
<v Speaker 1>fifty pages. If it's not doing it for you at

0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:21.280
<v Speaker 1>that point, well feel free to abandon the book. One

0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:24.560
<v Speaker 1>of the upsides of reading voluntarily is that no one

0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:28.079
<v Speaker 1>can make you finish, but you just might find yourself

0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:32.160
<v Speaker 1>enjoying the experience, especially as you read through the lens

0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:36.520
<v Speaker 1>of having a lifetime of wisdom and context. You might

0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.800
<v Speaker 1>see things that you couldn't see as a young person.

0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:42.040
<v Speaker 1>And since no one is going to make you write

0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:44.760
<v Speaker 1>a paper, well it's really the best of all outcomes.

0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.040
<v Speaker 1>If you've read a book that you were once assigned,

0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:51.440
<v Speaker 1>please let me know. You can email me at Before

0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:56.840
<v Speaker 1>Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. In the meantime, this

0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:00.520
<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making the

0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:09.240
<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear

0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:12.080
<v Speaker 1>from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.920
<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:20.839
<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:25.560
<v Speaker 1>number four then Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me

0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:29.920
<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com.

0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:32.480
<v Speaker 1>That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:35.200
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.

0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:45.040
<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:50.000
<v Speaker 1>from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.880
<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.