Heading into London yesterday afternoon in support of a great project with which I had been involved, I was running late. Realising that I didn’t have enough time to collect some work to do on the train, I grabbed a book instead. The train journey to London from Oxford is about an hour and I wanted to have something to do on the journey.
Once on the train, I cracked open the book and started to read: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Although the book is proving to be a compelling read, I decided that I was tired. So I took a nap. When I awoke from my snooze (pretty sure I didn’t snore), I tried again to read. But it wasn’t happening.
So I started to think about why I didn’t want to read. And I decided that although I knew I would inevitably be really bored if I didn’t have the book to read, it seemed to be enough knowing that I had the book available to me, should I become overcome by boredom. I could relax, gaze out the window or even sleep, assured that should I need something interesting and engaging to occupy my time, my book could rescue me. That bit of comfort saw my book spend the whole journey into London on the seat next to me.
Then I got to thinking, how many other people find themselves using books as a sort of anti-bordedom security blanket?
I almost always have a book with me, especially on the train to and from work. I too often find that I may read only a paragraph or two the entire ride. It is a half hour each way so I could potentially get a lot of reading done, but I am like you Liam and often just gaze out the window with the book in my lap. I really do think that it is a comfort thing, knowing I have the option to read is a great thing.
@ Bridget
Thank you for the affirming nature of your comment. That was a very much a ‘comfort thing’ for me. I sure am glad that I’m not the only one lugging around books that I don’t read. Cheers!
You have plenty of company in this club. I fess up as would one of my other blog-readers, Kalafudra. We all pack many extra books than we have time to reach but to paraphrase I read somewhere – having more books than we have time (or inclination) to read is just a way the soul reaches for eternity..
@ Shefaly
So, do you have a bag with a small collection of books always in it? I tend to leave whatever I am reading about the house and then curse my luck when stuck on a bus or train without it. I need a better system.