Dear Readers, I came across an interesting article by author Naomi Alderman last week, and it made me think about the difference that mobile phones in particular, and the internet generally, have made to our ability to concentrate. I know lots of people who don’t use their phones a lot (well done those folk) but for many of us, myself included, it’s become a kind of default activity – on the train, when I’m having a break, it’s so easy to just look at the phone. And there’s always something new and bright and shiny to attract my attention, be it the news, or social media, or yet another round of Mahjong. So I was interested by Alderman’s concept of doing a ‘couch to 5k’, not for exercising the body, but for exercising the mind, and I was also intrigued by the way the whole concept of getting back into reading has taken off. So many people feel that their lives have become much more distracted and fragmented, and that they have lost their ability to focus. I remember several articles about how the author can no longer just sink into a nice fat Victorian novel, or a complex piece of non-fiction, because their phone seems to call to them.
Alderman’s approach is interesting – she outlines three ‘tracks’, one for people who just generally want to get back into sitting down with a book for half an hour at a time, one for people who are generally time-poor and want to use their limited spare time to read rather than doom scroll, and one for people who want to dive deeper and get back into reading seriously. Then, you build up over eight weeks, in much the same way as you would for a 5k run but without the blisters.
Phone apps are deliberately designed to be addictive, and I sometimes feel the same way that I used to when I’d ‘reward’ myself with a cigarette when I’d done something tricky, or was bored, or just had some time on my hands. But although I’m not actually doing Alderman’s course, I did decide to set myself a reading challenge this year. I used to read the Booker longlist every year – I’m not a great reader of modern fiction, so this was a real chance to catch up with what was going on. And this year, I’ve already got stuck in. I’ve read Elizabeth Strout’s ‘The Things We Never Say’ which is a moving exploration of loneliness – probably not her best book, but one of those where a few words say an awful lot. And now I’m reading ‘The Vivisectors’ – fortunately not about actual vivisection, but instead set on a strange university campus. It is very atmospheric, and from a slow start it is beginning to draw me in. As usual, the one that I most want to read (by Marlon James, who won the Booker in 2014) won’t be published until the beginning of September. I’m looking forward to the range of books that I’ll be reading, and I hope that by the end of it I’ll have weaned myself off of the phone to such an extent that I’m all I’m doing is my Duolingo and an occasional check of my Whatsapp. I’ve taken Facebook off of my phone (though I do still check Bug Woman daily) and dropped Twitter/X ages ago.
So, Readers, what do we think? Have you balanced the undoubted convenience of the mobile phone with retaining an ability to focus? And what are you reading? Do share!
I read a lot of library books on my phone, as well as listening to audio books while doing other tasks, like sewing or crochet. I am very much a long-form reader. I read fewer physical books these days, although I have a stack of at least 40 books by my bed. My eyesight isn’t what it was, and I appreciate being about to choose a larger font on my phone. My main physical-book reading is of books I cannot get at the 3 libraries I belong to. These include out-of-print books and UK books that don’t interest many US readers.
I do think that reading for pleasure is indeed no longer as common as it was. There is an author on IG who goes about asking strangers what books they’ve read in the past month, and it seems that people have either read a ton, or one or none. In other words, if you are a reader, you are an extreme reader; it’s part of your identity. Outside of that, it seems that many people don’t read books.
I’ve read 36 books so far this year. I mostly read fiction. My favorite books so far this year are:
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
I’m currently reading Question 7 by Richard Flanagan and Kin by Tayari Jones.
I notice that these days you don’t respond as often to comments, so I haven’t bothered commenting as much, but I couldn’t resist commenting on this topic!
I agree. I’m an extreme reader and am always surprised by people who read one or two books a year
I love ‘extreme reader’, maybe I could pop that on a teeshirt…
Hi Shannon, that’s a fine reading list! I enjoyed the Richard Flanagan, did you read ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’? Really visceral stuff….
I keep a record of the books I read and am seldom without a book ‘in progress’. Nonetheless, at the beginning of the year I was getting through eight to ten a month and am now down to two or three – it all depends on the book and what else is happening in my life. I’ve just read Anita Brookner’s “Undue Influence” – a Book Club choice – and am relieved to be able to move on to a crime novel in between studying “The Guide to the Aloes of southern Africa”.
I was going to ask you, Anne – do you have a recommendation for a general field guide to the plants of the Cape/Namaqualand? I might have a trip planned soon, and everything I’m seeing is multivolume 🙂
I’m really bad at reading non fiction, always have been. But for work I used to read voraciously. Now retired I’m pursuing theology and have just read Richard Rohr’s Universal Christ.
Interesting, Jean! Retirement certainly opens up the chance to pursue our passions, doesn’t it….
Reading has been my main pastime and enjoy since I was a young child and even my minor phone addiction hasn’t stopped that. Even though I do spend hours pointlessly trawling the internet and playing online Freecell (why?), I can still focus on a book like nothing else. I’ve only read 24 books so far this year, which is fewer than usual, partly due to the internet trawling and partly a six-week trip in California when I was busy from morning to night and didn’t read a book.
Right now I am reading Sea Now by Eva Meijer, which I strongly recommend. A strange – but very easy to read – Dutch novel. It’s ostensibly about a climate(-related) disaster but it’s far more than that, it’s mostly a philosophical exploration of the nature of humans and other life forms, including the sea itself. That makes it sound heavy but it’s very light, dry, funny, sad and interesting.
Thanks for the recommendation, Sarah – sounds like my sort of book…
It’s many months since I read a book, whether fiction or non-fiction, and the Naomi Alderman article made me decide to devote half an hour a day to getting back into the reading habit – but not until the winter, or at least the autumn! At this time of year – and with the kind of weather we’ve been having – I just want to be out walking or swimming when I’m not working. However, I’m going on holiday next week, and I’m planning to treat myself to a couple of new books to take away with me, although I’ve no idea yet what I’m going to choose.
I don’t have much interest in social media these days, and I rarely post anything, but I am addicted to articles, blogs and newsletters covering a variety of subjects, and it’s these which make me reach for my phone when I could be just relaxing – or reading a good book!
I know what you mean – there is so much good writing out there, and Substack seems to have proliferated into such overwhelming abundance.
I’m reading Jeanette Winterson’s “One Aladdin, Two lams” which is partly about distraction and reading, and about reading deeply in crazy times. I almost stopped early on but am so glad I have kept going!
two lamps…..
I love Jeanette Winterson, thanks for the heads up on this one….
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