Losing my ...

I love reading, yet, I start each book by looking at the number of pages I still have to read. Sometimes though, while reading the book, I lose count of the number of pages still to go, and the fraction of the book I have already read. There have been few such books, but yes, while reading these, monitoring my progress was the last thing on my mind. These obviously are the ones I have enjoyed reading the most.

The most recent of such books was "Losing My Virginity" by Richard Branson. I don't know what drove me to buy this book, maybe the realization that I had never read an autobiography before. (Also the fact that I like many others in India was until recently trying to pursue an MBA, and I needed to have read a good business related book to talk about in the interview, but that reason soon went poof. I would have read this book anyway). Well, being an ardent Calvin fan, I never thought that I would read any body's biography. (yeah, I know, MBA interview is a compelling enough reason). Moreover, Mr. Branson is better known as a Joker any day. So why his book. For starters, (yeah yeah, I know I already told u about the MBA), the cover was rather nice, the title gave me the impression that it might be a fun read, and then there was a discount. So there... that's the end of my explanation.


I dare say, that I never had an inclination to monitor my progress or the break in concentration to do so during the course of reading this book. Must Read!

Most books I have enjoyed reading have been this way, unfortunately, there haven't been many. Doctors and Fountainhead are two that come to my mind immediately. I've read lots of great books, but then I do always track my progress :)


There is but one exception to both these situations. Catch 22. I started reading that book Ten times!, and I always gave up after a 100 pages or so. The 11th time i just wanted to get done with it, just for the heck of completing an impossible task. I read most of the book just because the ever increasing fraction of the pages I had read gave me immense pleasure! It was a goal for me, the pleasure of reading the book wasn't important. There wasn't any anyway. Except for the last 20 pages or so, which I guess I read without blinking or closing my mouth. The book is good purely for its shock value following a few hundred pages that will feel like utter crap the first time you read the book. I guess the only way to enjoy this book is to read it again.

I never got around to reading it again though. I completed the task I set myself, and for the procrastinator I am, I was happy. I can let one book pass that does not give me any reading pleasure!

For now, I'm reading Atlas Shrugged. Its funny how gripping Ayn Rand's stories are despite the seemingly excessive descriptions. I know that reading this will be a mammoth task just from the weight and font size, and yet, I am motivated to try, not because I've had it long enough. In fact.. I don't exactly know why I am motivate to try. I guess I'll know if the effort was worth it soon enough..

Labels: Hobbies