Philosophy texts can be rather dense – although I’ve occasionally found myself lost in the excitement of a good piece of argument, as often as not I have to concentrate very hard indeed while reading philosophy. This is probably why Mrs F tries to drag me away from the books now and then. She reads lots of fiction, and is always a little suspicious of those who read too much non-fiction.
So what do I read when I’ve packed the philosophy away for a while? Even after being discombobulated by some hardcore philosophy, I can always enjoy Tintin and PG Wodehouse. Both of these are pure escapism for me. So perhaps I’d better get back to some PG Wodehouse before I get stuck into the next round of philosophy.
I usually find that I cram in some extra light reading during the holidays, though the definition of light reading can be stretched a bit – one Christmas I read War & Peace while staying at my Grandmother’s. And this year I’ve been reading Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman, along with Debt: the First 5,000 Years by David Graeber. These latter two are very interesting, but they fall into a dangerous third category. Not directly applicable to my philosophical interests, and not quite ‘light reading’, either. I’m finding the Graeber book fascinating, but of course it is non-fiction…
I wonder what other philosophers read when recovering from the density they encounter in philosophical writing?
Well apart from reading blogs like yours — though few as well written — I’m quite enjoying David Crystal’s “The English Language” which has the virtue of being light and informative at the same time. The thing to avoid I think is philosophy-lite. I read Mr de Botton’s tome on architecture — or tried to. I found it vacuous, irritatingly pretentious and left me far less relaxed than when I picked it up.