Saturday, July 07, 2007

Bibliophile Changes

It's been more than a decade since I decided to become a bibliophile. I remember back in high school when me and my best friend said "Hey, let's start collecting and reading these kinds of books." He bought the original Shannara trilogy while I bought the Shannara Heritage and then we swapped books. And then I moved on to Terry Goodkind and Terry Brooks while he moved to the likes of David Eddings. And then we again we swapped books.

Fast-foward to the present day and I don't think I can stand to read David Eddings. I dropped Goodkind a long time ago (it started when politics crept its way into the series and did so at the expense of the story). I actually have the latest Wheel of Time book but haven't really found the time to read it. Lately, I've been enamored by non-mainstream writers such as Jeffrey Ford, Kelly Link, Lucius Shepard, etc. (sorry, I'm not yet a Jeff Vandermeer convert). Of course part of this shift I think can be attributed by the company I keep. I mean I would never have heard of the likes of Jeffrey Ford and Kelly Link if it weren't for Dean. And Banzai Cat just keeps on talking about these writers.

Another part, however, is me. I'm not the same person I was ten years ago (he was a jerk). My reading tastes have similarly evolved. It's not a matter of who's better or who's not, but I think a matter of difference and variety. I can't keep reading the same thing over and over again. Change, I think, is a good thing.

1 comment:

banzai cat said...

Hehe it's not who you are, it's what you read that matters. ;-)