All the muss/fuss/cuss about books and books we should read and books we should keep our kids away from and speculative fiction, etc.: Part 3 of 8.

So I'm back to reading several books at once again. I was good for awhile. The Brothers Karamazov was a highly absorbing book and quite long besides, so I absolutely had to focus on that book alone. And I finished finally (this was about a month ago and it was started in early fall of last year). Then I read one of Elise's favorite stories, Their Eyes Were Watching God and had no trouble finishing that one without picking up something else because it was short and highly absorbing.

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I'll admit that I actually did pick up another book, but read only a little of it. That book was The Mystery of Things by A.C. Grayling. I saw it on the new books shelf at the library and on a whim checked it out. I came to enjoy it quite a lot. From there I got interested in quantum mechanics and got a book about it. I'd like to read some more (I've only just begun) but am distracted by other books, and plus I have misplaced it somewhere in our apartment. I have recently read a little T.C. Boyle short stories and also decided to read Catch-22 because it is supposedly one of finest works of 20th century English fiction. It is a difficult book to read.

I found a stack of the book The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood in the classroom where I'm substituting today. I've been wanting to read that book and even requested a hold on it at the library. So I decided to try reading a little of that instead of reading Catch-22, which I even brought with me.

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One last book that is in the process of being read is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which I read snippets of here and there during freetime substituting at elementary or middle schools. I'll admit that I like this one better than the first, which, after reading, I decided I would not read any of the rest. Now I can probably see myself doing just the opposite.

Still, I'm not sure what the big fuss about these books is.

But don't get me wrong... I've drastically reversed my once-held belief (espoused at least three and half years ago) that the Harry Potter books were pure evil and it was a shock that every pulpit in America was not denouncing them or some such utterly moronic ridiculousness. I have no problem with them whatsoever. They are fiction and fantasy and if a child cannot see the difference between the books and reality then I feel terribly sorry for their well-being. I might even read the books to my own child when he is ready for chapter books.

That said, I'm not exactly sold (yet) on their literary brilliance or something. There is perhaps much better writing to engross ourselves in, many such works of classic literature that should be read first. And I'm not worried about my child not reading (for those of you thinking that, well, at least they are reading). Still, I would not bar him from reading Harry Potter for any reason whatsoever.

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This page of inquiry of idiosyncracy started as a discussion-blurb about my compulsive desire to read many things at once. It ended with a small discussion-rant about Harry Potter. I don't know what that means, but if anyone can tell me, Great!