Spontaneous Musings

While reading part of another one of Jonathan Franzen's essays about the relationship between reading and writing novels, I thought about how people relate to culture, individual taste, and this constant need to connect with others who share the same tastes, interests, what-not that we do.
Franzen in an essay entitled "Mr Difficult" discusses how there are two models: the Contract model and the Status model. The Contract model - is when the novelist provides the reader with a pleasurable reading experience, the reader relates to what is inside the novel and the words are easy to digest, they are relateable. The Status model -the best novels are great works of art which more often than not cannot be read or appreciated by the average reader, who will most likely discard them. After tearing these two models apart for several pages, Franzen says something really interesting about reading a good novel:

Think of the novel as a lover: Let's stay home tonight and have a great time;just because you're touched where you want to be touched, it doesn't mean you are cheap;before a book can change you, you have to love it.

I think this is true about more than just books. And what we love, I think is individual to us. Unique to our experience.

When I think about the TV shows, films, fictional characters, and books that I fell in love with, to an extent that I've tucked them close to my heart and won't forget them, I realize that they changed me. What I liked, how I perceived things, people I've interacted with, how I see the world. But it did not happen until I fell in love with them. So much in love in some cases that I've defended them to the death. Don't you diss my favorite characters - or I'll diss yours. And trust me, I'm good at it. There's nothing funnier or more pathetic I think than watching people defend their favorite books or characters or tv shows on a discussion board, particularly people who can write and not just use net-speak. Nor is it as crazy as it looks. People defend what they love. Regardless of what it is. It may not seem important to an outsider but it is important to them. It is also I think private. We protect that which we love.

The aspiration, I think, of all writers, if they are honest, is to have the reader fall in love with their words and work. To fall in love with the narrative and experience that moment of connection.
For the reader to be changed in some small way. For a communication to occur that is beyond just reading a bunch of letters on a page. It doesn't really matter how many readers you accomplish it with, I think, just one, for me, would be enough - unless I get greedy and want two.

I also think regarding books, tv shows, movies - the more you sample, the more aware you are of what you like and what you don't. What works and what doesn't. The more likely you are to find that book, tv show, movie that you fall in love with and changes you. I think this is particularly true with books. And the difficult to read books, the ones that are just undigestible, feel like you are tryling to eat lima beans or boiled cabbage when you are craving steak or chocolate mousse or chickpea hummus, sit on your shelf, unread, as you peer guiltily at them like a neglectful spouse whose married for all the right reasons but love. While you partake of a quickie with that fun and sneaky pulp novel no one has ever heard of, yet is pleasurable, and makes you happy, touching you in the right places. You become a better reader reading the more difficult ones, and eventually, like any long engagement, may grow to adore and even love them beyond reason, but if you deprive yourself of the fun ones...well, the difficult ones may never get read or loved. I'm a strong believer in diversity - read whatever fits my fancy, because if I do that, the more likely I am to hit that magical moment of connection.