A magazine I was reading mentioned a writer that kept lists of the books she read. I have a friend who does this, and I want to start too, at least keeping a list of the ones I liked. I was interested to see that the writer had read 9,592 books by women and 747 books by men. For a number of years I have been reading mostly women writers, at least in terms of fiction. I just feel more drawn to them, and somehow am not captivated in the same way by most books I pick up written by men. There are of course exceptions. And there are plenty of female writers that I don’t like. But still I worry about this a little. I think I would be unhappy if the feelings I have about male writers were expressed by a man about female writers. Maybe it’s just a reaction to not reading many women, and lots and lots of men during high school. Even though it’s been a long time since then, I still somehow need to hear what women have to say about life. Who knows?
The other day at the library, I saw a young guy that I’d met recently, and he asked me if I “knew any good books”. I know lots of good books! Where should I start? I tried to remember a list of favorite books and good stuff I’d read recently. I ventured one book containing interviews of three sets of Palestinian mothers and daughters. Hmm… He had heard of Barbara Kingsolver, but I was a little embarrassed about suggesting “Prodigal Summer” which they had on the shelves. Then I tried to think of male writers and came up with Umberto Eco, “In the Name of the Rose”, which I really liked, and which was also on the shelves. He said he liked books about other places, so I suggested James Michner, (although I think I’ve only read one of his books) and he chose one. Later he mentioned that he was enjoying it.
I wish I could think faster. Then I’m sure I’d have found a book by a woman that would have interested him. The experience made me think, about why I prefer female writers, and whether it’s lazy of me. Probably, but for the time being at least, being I’m not going to try to force myself to read things that do not appeal to me. There are enough books in the world that I should be able to find books by men that I like.
But I also realized that it was not just a question of gender to me, but also of age. My friend is probably about 10 years younger than I am, and while I realize that I felt pretty grown up at his age, I still felt a sense of delicacy about exposing him to certain content. Is that strange? What obvious book recommendation did I not think of?
3 comments:
I am also more drawn to fiction by women than by men, and I’m sure it’s partly a reaction against what I was assigned to read in high school, which was all male authors (you know, DWM). That was a long time ago, but that’s a very important time in our lives – the formative years. Reading literature did not really grab me and I was reading a lot of non-fiction until I discovered women authors.
It is wonderful to be able to concentrate on what women have to say about life – I need to hear it too. I’m in the process of reading all of Jane Austen’s books. Male writers I enjoy are storytellers, like R.K. Narayan and Alexander McCall Smith. Perhaps I need to digest what men have to say about life in small portions, whereas with women writers I can sit down a read a whole novel.
When you get through all of Austen's books, you'll have to tell me which one you liked best.
I was recently introduced to Narayan and read a couple novels, but somehow didn't bite. I've heard so much about Alexander McCall Smith, particularly that he is good at writing about women. I'm looking forward to trying some of his writing.
I didn't like Narayan's novels much either, but I loved his short stories (Malgudi Days). Universal human truths in a small Indian village. There's even one story entitled "Selvi"!
If you get to McCall Smith, you’ll have to tell me your reaction to Precious Ramotswe (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency). I wonder if it’s because of her that drinking bush tea has become trendy in these parts?
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