Discussion Post-Do Your Real Life Friends Get Your Book Life?

Okay. So uh, I don’t really know how to do this whole discussion post thing…mostly I just wanted a venue to bitch about something that’s been bugging me lately. Is that what discussion posts usually are? A springboard from something that pisses you off so badly in real life that you have to find some outlet to let out your rage? Well, I don’t know about the rest of you but this is what I’m doing. PS-There may be a few curse words, so I beg your pardon in advance.

Before I started blogging I felt alone. I read obsessively and read so many fantastic books and would try and talk about them with my real life friends…and I was met with blank stares. They looked at me like I had 6 heads. Here’s me trying to exude my absolute love for a recent read and I get this: “it’s just a book.” *cough*sputter*spit* JUST A BOOK?! Pardon me?! So finally I just quit trying. I read and read and read and kept it all in. I wanted to explode with my insane love for certain books only to turn around and find nobody to share it with. I felt like an anomaly in a world full of people who did “normal” things. I thought I was the only one who loved reading that much…

…Since starting blogging I have found a fantastic network of friends and for the first time in my life I realized…I’m not alone. There are othesr like me out there! Oh my gosh, what have I been missing?! There are other people…who fall in love with words?...Who feel like certain books or passages speak directly to them?...Who fall in love with fictional characters and wish they were real?...Holy hell, I had a moment. It was glorious. I’ve loved every second of it.

So you might be wondering what spurned this sudden output of emotion from me? Several situations. The purpose of this post, besides venting, is to see if any of you experience the same thing with you IRL friends. One of my friends in particular really likes to get on my back for my love of reading. Why? I have no idea. I recently was hanging out with him and we got on the topic of reading. He recently started reading a book written comedian/celebrity and this was huge because he doesn't read by choice. But he decided to read this. Ok, cool. Not my cup of tea as far as topic goes but hey, you’re reading? Fantastic! So we start talking about reading and he says something to the effect of: “Well you need to stop reading all that trash and read a real book. When I read, I read non-fiction and real stuff.”……..Um, excuse me mother fucker? Are you serious right now?

My response was this: “Um…I read a lot of really good books. All the fantasy and dystopian books I read have an amazing amount themes and ideas about good and evil and--” This is when he started to laugh…he was laughing at me…I don’t think I’ve seen red so quickly in my life. He was laughing at me and cut me off while trying to explain how profound some of the themes are in the books I read. I was being honest and sincere and he laughed at me. To say my feelings were hurt is quite an understatement. Not only does he NOT read but now he’s judging ME on WHAT types of books I read. Like he’s the literary snob and only non-fiction books are literature. Fuck you, bro. I ignored him until he left. 

Another recent situation was a different friend telling me I need to stop reading so much and read the paper. I “need” to start caring about real world issues. I like to travel so much but I have “no idea what’s going on in those places.” Again…are you fucking kidding me? Like I am some uncultured swine. I read books about real life issues and themes that are completely relevant to our society today. I choose to spend my time reading...like it is such a horrible habit.

Further than that, who the fuck do you think you are to judge me? Bagging on my choice of hobbies. Like I’m selling crack out of my trunk, like I need to be lectured on my decision on how I spend my free time. Wanna know my real opinion on things? I think people that spend their free time zoning out in front of the television watching the 65^th episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians is a gross misuse of time. I think people who never travel out of their hometown are wasting the life God gave them and are ignoring the beauty of the world around them. I think people who choose not to read books are superficial and shallow because they are content to only live and experience the life in the immediate 10 feet around them. I told my friend one time about that quote by George R.R. Martin, the one that says “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only once." He told me I was ungrateful. I should be grateful for the one life God gave me and I was ungrateful hoping for more. I told him people who don’t read or travel are ungrateful for refusing to experience the world around them or the obvious talents that writers bring to readers.

Somebody tell me I’m not crazy. I am not content with going through life working day to day and staying in one place. There is a lot of ugly in this world but there is a lot of beauty, too. The world is full of breathtaking sights and cities and the world of literature is filled with even more.

My question to you is this. Do any of you feel judged or crazy when trying to discuss your love of books with your real life friends?

PS- I would like to give a shoutout to all my fantastic friends who I’ve met through blogging (who I get to meet in real life soon by the way :) ). You all mean so much to me and there are times when I would rather talk to you about things going on than people in my real life. They just don’t understand the feels. :)