Carrying A Back-Up Book
So, say you’re sitting on the train in the middle of reading a real pull-on-your-heartstrings tear-jerker. You’re so absorbed in the tragedy that when you read, you want absolute silence around you. No distractions. Nothing to pull you out of the fantasy world that you can’t help but want to get lost in (I know this sounds a bit cheesy, but lets face it – this is what fiction novels do to us). And then, all of a sudden, someone starts playing music really loudly, or a group of guys decide to have the loudest, most hilarious conversation ever – and the fantasy is ruined. The atmosphere has completely slipped away, and, as much as you want to keep reading to see what happens next, you don’t want to ruin a potentially amazing moment that might just happen when you turn the next page.
Maybe I’m being a bit over-dramatic, but still, I like as close to complete silence as I can get when I’m reading. And, as a regular train traveller, this tended to happen to me quite a lot – and it’s so frustrating!
Until, one time, I happened to be carrying multiple books in my bag. So, instead of ruining the current novel I was reading when the distractions undoubtedly came, I decided to switch books; re-reading something I had already read before, and wasn’t afraid of ruining. Just like a light, feel-good type of book.
Truthfully, putting this into words this makes me feel like a bit of a weirdo, but really, who cares? All this means is that now, every time I travel, I always have my trusty back-up book – just in case.
I give you props for trying to read something else. I’d probably just give up and listen to music or something. I just can’t concentrate on reading if there’s noise. I don’t absorb a thing!