Grigory Ryzhakov – Russian Writer

Why Do YOU Read and I Write?

Time for a silly blog post (actually, it’s an experiment to test if I’m capable of writing just about anything).

You most certainly have Internet since you are here, maybe you also have a gigantic flat screen television, you can shoot pigs with Angry Birds on your phone and spread gossip on Facebook, flip through newspapers on iPad and watch a 3D zombie blockbuster splashing your popcorn all over.

Then why do you also read? It takes ages to go through a novel, don’t you have anything better to do? You can’t even do house cleaning while you are reading, unless you listen to an audiobook (which is not reading). Is reading something, you think, that makes you look sophisticated, even if it’s a comic book concealed under a fake Ulysses or textbook cover?

Seriously, why do you bother? Yes, you may say watching films is passive, playing games is motoric (yep, I’ve just invented a new word), chitchat is superficial, while reading books is an intellectual activity involving thinking (unless, you read Twilight, which involves a handkerchief of a size of a curtain, at least if you are as sentimental as me).

Ha! You don’t have to read in order to be able think (though it helps), you may just engage in a conversation with a snobbish polymath at your local book shop (if you still have one not run out of business yet, a bookshop not a polymath, by the spreading Amazon e-victor).

To me, there are plenty of other possible reasons of why people read:

  • escapism and procrastination (not unique to books though)
  • you love the smell of print (sorry, Kindle)
  • what else is to do before you go to bed? (indeed, sex is out of question)
  • you can cast yourself and your best friend or Brad Pitt for leading book characters in your imagination, you can even wear anything you like (or nothing at all) unless the author is big on fashion (don’t read Devil Wears Prada then)
  • or… you just love it.

As for me, I read because I like unique characters and settings. I tend to read stories, which have some novel thoughts and ideas. I like to read less well-known books, because if my reading is unique, so would my writing likely to stand out. Yet it doesn’t mean I like smart boring books with no story. A book has to be readable. So if it’s several chapters of the Austerlitz battle in War and Peace, to reduce the pain I pretend I’m reading historical non-fiction for research purposes.

Why do you read? C’mon, you can confess here, I’m not going to judge you.

You say you won’t say a word until I tell why I write? (Such blackmail, unbelievable!)

Why do I write? Are you kidding? It’s like a dope. When I’m finished with a story I feel so good about myself like I’m an equal to Nabokov. No, I’m not that deluded, – he didn’t love (brackets) as much as I do. *lol*

UPDATE:

My debut short novella Usher Syndrome is available on Amazon. It’s about love, friendship and gene therapy. Unusual characters? You bet! I hope you like it, do let me know about your impressions or if you find a typo (I know which page it is on, he he).

The main character called Agie is a M->F transsexual scientist and a writer who tells her tragic love story.

Recently, I’ve written a sequel to Usher Syndrome, again featuring Agie. It’s a novella called Pumpkin Day. It’s a story within a story – an absurd comic adventure and romance. My beta-readers told me it’s unputdownable, hopefully you’ll think the same. 🙂

Just click on your country to download Usher Syndrome: Amazon US UK Germany Italy Spain France.

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