Summer Reading is Cancelled

Finally, summer vacation is here. No more school assignments getting in the way of all the reading I wanted to do during the semester. Now I have sunny days to sit and read anything I want.

This is a common sentiment among many friends of mine here at IU — a sentiment I share

with them. There’s only one stumbling block: what to read. Honestly, the problem isn’t that I don’t have a clue but too many clues.

When I read popular fiction, it seems like I should use the time better and read a classic. But what about those interesting non-fiction books my professors mentioned in class?

Those should be given attention, too. This thought process usually results in a stack of barely-read books on my night stand and a deep sense of dissatisfaction. Those summer reading lists from high school look more and more appealing.

It is time for a radical solution: read nothing this summer. Why is it that we wait for the most beautiful season to arrive, and then decide that we ought to stare at fine print?

We return home from college to family and old friends and then worry that we aren’t finding enough time to read. It is madness to ignore an actual sunset for the written description of one.

I say have a bonfire, then chuck those pesky books into it. Toast your marshmallows with Melville and cook your hot dogs with Hemingway.

Enjoy the summer without feeling like you’ve got to impress other people (and yourself) by reading things that aren’t even good (just famous).

Take up basketball or watch a movie instead. Books aren’t the only avenue to fulfillment, sophistication or fun.

If you really want to read something, make sure that it’s not because you want to tell
people you did.

 Also make sure it’s not just because you’ll just hate yourself if you don’t finish two dozen books this summer like you said you would.

Unless, of course, we’re discussing the IDS, which is required reading for any self-respecting human person. I don’t care how you feel about the IDS or about your motivation for reading it, by God you’ll read it and like it!

Bottom line: Don’t let summer reading stress you out or damage your fun this summer. We’ve all read a lot this past semester and this season is a time to branch out a bit.

It may sound stupid or provincial, but so do those idiots in the fall droning on and on about how many books they got through in the past three months. Let’s trade our paper cuts for sunburns this summer. Let’s not read stories, but make our own.

­— Mthomas5@indiana.edu