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Reading Habits Have Changed
I am not a fan of fiction. The time I have to read is so small and precious that I have always said “I don’t have time to read about things that didn’t really happen.” In the Marine Corps we call reading about one’s profession PME (professional military education). One of my personal goals is to consistently expose myself to new and relevant PME. Almost any non-fiction book can be related to your profession in some way, unless it’s some sob-story biography from Oprah’s Book Club.
I do most of my reading on planes while flying back and forth from coast to coast to attend training. I also try to make time in the evening at home for PME. I’ll read history, science, politics…almost anything non-fiction, but I just can’t bring myself to spend my time learning about falsehoods…until now.
It seems that Iraq feels like one big PME. Every day I am immersed in reading about and interacting with the Middle Eastern culture. My mind is so saturated with new information from dawn ‘til dusk that I go back to my trailer at night and look at my copy of From Beirut to Jerusalem and think “Ahh…not so much.†One day blends into the other as I constantly learn about my new home. However, I have found that reading 20-25 pages of fiction can be an entertaining way to help my mind relax before bed. Recently I have delved into the Underworld novelizations by Greg Cox. I know, I know. Had you told me two years ago that I would soon enjoy reading about vampires and werewolves I would have thought you mad. This may not seem noteworthy to some, but it is quite a change of character for me.
You see, I’m that guy that always has Fox News on in the living room. I Tivo “Modern Marvels†more than I do anything on network TV. I’d rather read “Scientific American†magazine than peruse an issue of “People†to find out who is sleeping with who this week. I will watch a movie, but to spend the time necessary to actually read fiction was previously unthinkable. I wonder if this will be a life-changing habit or if I will slip back into my old ways when I return from deployment.
Perhaps all that time I was giving fiction the cold shoulder undeservedly. I must admit that reading non-fiction exercises my imagination, which might lead to practical applications in the real world. After all, it is innovative ideas, not the repeated application of doctrine, that really pushes us forward as a society.
Have you read Lord of the Rings? You ought to if you haven’t.