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How to educate oneself
(Picture is my hubby - yes, he is very tall - in mouth-watering admiration of a vintage car. And no, it has nothing, well not much, to do with this post.)Someone read my biography and asked "How do you 'accidentally' educate yourself?" You see, since I finished school before the age of 15, I claim I educated myself by wide and voracious reading. The question made me think, though. I thought the answer was a given, that I read a great deal. But that was making the mistake of thinking everyone is the same as oneself. I don't want this to sound like bragging, because there are plenty of gaps in my general knowledge and whole fields where my ignorance is total. But, when I think about it, there are prerequisites for the act of learning through reading.
1. The desire to read. Strange as we may find this fact, there are quite a lot of people who don't even want to read books. In fact I once saw an estimate that only two per cent of the literate human race read on a regular basis. That was quite a few years ago, and I certainly hope the figure has risen. But I do know people who read only the newspapers, and/or magazines. My husband, a man marvellously skilled in practical matters, reads only science and motor magazines, as well as newspapers. He has never read fiction in his life. He doesn't see the point. If he wants to relax, he goes fishing. He encourages and supports my writing, and he has, I note with an apology to him, read a couple of my short stories, but it's just not in his makeup to read books. He, however, is brilliant compared to others. In the small town in which we live, there are people who get all their information from television and gossip. They never read anything but their mail. No, not even the newspapers. No magazines, no books, nothing at all. So - we have to like reading to do it at all. And golly, I do like it!
2. An interest in the world, or an interest in any of the subjects covered by books. Fiction, non-fiction, history, geography, any human endeavour, curiosity about this human planet. How long do flies live? Why has the population of Egypt skyrocketed since the building of the Aswan Dam? Is the world really going to the dogs or has it been the same since the beginning of recorded history? Is George Bush Jr. as dumb as he's made out to be? Who won the last election in Uzbekhistan? Was there an election in Uzbekhistan? How do you spell Uzbekhistan? And so on. And of course the answer is, a lot of people don't care. Oh, they'll have heard of George Bush but they'll have accepted whatever character analysis their favourite TV current affairs has pinned on him. These people want to know only: the price of petrol, what their neighbours were up to with the lights on at 2 am, and where and at what odds their chosen football/cricket/tennis/rollerball/frog-racing contestant is competing this weekend. In a sense I can sympathise with the sports thing. I like the cricket myself, and addiction to any sport is a great escape from the mundane/unpleasant/stressful parts of everyday life. But not looking beyond one's nose is a past-time which, however nicely it suits some, I personally couldn't cope with. I want to know how the Chinese are going to handle their massive pollution problems; why the Aztecs let a few Spanish soldiers on horses destroy their civilisation; when the human race will discover it is/is not alone in the universe (a pause here to beat off the UFO believers); where precisely on a map of Europe is Luxembourg; and why is it a fact that a child with two feet can lose one shoe. But so many decent honest folk haven't a speck of interest in anything but their own immediate surroundings.
3. A retentive memory. I was forty-seven when I found out that most other people had the recall powers of a goldfish. (OK, I too saw the episode of Mythbusters in which Jamie trained a couple of finny friends to remember a simple maze. But you know what I mean.) A lady I knew from a church we had attended, a lovely person, met us again after a four-year hiatus and asked if we were there when so-and-so was there. She could not remember, after only four years. I was gob-smacked. I remembered every single member of that congregation. I remember most of the things I read, most of the important happenings of my life and an awful lot of the trivia. I'm not pointing fingers here because none of us can help either our genes, our upbringing, or the workings of our minds. I just happen to be blessed with a good long-term memory. And I recall phone numbers, pin numbers, page numbers and recipes for pan-fried nong-bats. I remember birthdays and to who I gave what at Christmas. Do not, however, ask me (a) what I intend to get at the shop without a list, (b) the important phone call my husband asked me to make a few days ago and (c) my shoe size.
Well, I do possess these three prerequisites for learning through reading. I learned accidentally because I didn't read to educate myself. I read (1) because I love stories, (2) because I'm interested in anything and everything, with the exception of the lives of celebrities. And it all added up to an education because (3) my parents' DNA happened to include the code for brain storage of most things thereby read. And (4) reading beats housework any day of the week, any moment of the day. It even insulates one against a passing distraction like that blessed ice-cream van that tootles past our house playing "Fur Elise" like a giant and demented music box just when I'm deep in Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Red Mars'.
Long Books
I so admire those writers who can hold your interest through a thousand pages or so. It's no mean feat. Most of us have to contend with sag-in-the-middle even inside two hundred pages. The secret is to have a great story, full of detail and interest.
First one I think of is Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With The Wind". Next is M.M.Kaye's "The Far Pavilions". Stephen King said the latter is a good book to take on a long sea voyage. Never fails in its imagery. And gosh, I know why she shortened the hero's name to Ash. Imagine having to type 'Englebert' or 'Humphrey' a few thousand times...
At present I'm reading "Red Mars", one of the science fiction trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. He not only has a great story full of realistic characters, he also had to render the landscape of the red planet correctly and come up with the machinery, tools etc to colonise it. Amazing. And I'm reading the series back to front, since the first one I found was "Green Mars", third of the line. Doesn't matter, each book stands alone. Now I 'm on the lookout for "Blue Mars", number two. Yes, it's on the bookfinder sites, but I have to leave it until next Christmas, when I usually give myself two weeks off writing and treat myself to reading a long book. I cannot read and write at the same time, being a slowcoach. So Red Mars, started at Christmas, sits next to my chair waiting for me to have time to dip into it for a few pages. Not the ideal way to read, but there's so much substance there I'm quite satisfied with a taste, like a chewy and delicious snack.
What else? James A Michener specialised in long 'uns. I read both "Hawaii" and "The Source" in 1970 while I breast-fed our youngest child. I've read "Centennial" as well. His secret is to have a long and interesting history and tell it in plain language. Something happening in every paragraph.
And I've read Tolstoy's "War And Peace". Honest, I have. Years ago, in my twenties. I wonder sometimes how it would seem to me now, forty years later. But hey, if I'm going to write a long and interesting book of my own, I don't think I'll have time to read old Leo again.
By the way, the picture has nothing to do with the post. It's my husband's paternal grandparents. I just thought it was nice. Be grateful I can post a photo at all. I'm technophobic.
Links
http://nelmasmeanderings.blogspot.com/Excerpt from my novel 'The Pirate And The Puritan' to be released at The Wild Rose Press on 28th September
Nothing could help her now. Perhaps if she swallowed her pride she could beg for mercy... Her mind caught the thought, beg for Mercy. Only yesterday she would have smiled at it. Today it was a meaningless play on words. Today she knew that to beg would accomplish nothing, except perhaps amuse the grim captain.
And how could she beg? Only by falling on her knees before him and holding up her hands in supplication. She could not speak, nor could she write down any plea. The slate that had hung at her waist since her eleventh year was gone. She had hit a pirate with it, broken it on his head. He had merely guffawed, pushed her aside and continued his slaughter.
In the past she had hit, not as hard, more men than one with it, men who thought that because she was dumb she could not carry tales of stolen kisses. This pestering had not lasted long, once they learned she could write. And now her slate was gone, though the small cloth bag of chalk and rag still hung from her belt of plaited worsted cloth. She could write on the bulkhead...
She heard heavy footsteps in the passage beyond the door and Jedediah came in with a wooden bucket of seawater, which he dumped on the table. He left without looking at her or speaking to her. However she heard through the door as he mumbled, of all things, "You needs a clean shirt."
He was answered by a cold sharp voice, which Mercy recognised. "More than a shirt."
She stood quickly and wiped the tears from her face with her bound hands. The captain would not have the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Not yet. Her fingers trembled on her cheeks. She bunched them together in her skirt, straightened her shoulders and stared ahead. She saw, surprised, that the light through the horn windows was dim. The long terrible day approached its end, though that was no solace. Under the cover of darkness men did things they would not dare, in daylight.
But she decided. I will live through this. I will not fight. I will not give him the added pleasure of subduing me. I will give him the least pleasure possible, by submitting. I will survive.
And More...
"The Left Hand Of God" by William E. Barrett; he also wrote "Lilies Of The Field". I find him restful to read. As opposed to some who put my teeth on edge! Purely personal taste of course. Oh, the first book is early 1950s and the second was a movie in the early 60s with Sidney Poitier.Science Fiction: "The Shrinking Man" by Richard E. Matheson. Very moving.
Profile Information
- About Me:
- Dad a carpenter and all round nice bloke, mother a nurse in
the 1930s who discovered at age 62 she was a Naive artist. Two younger
brothers, one younger sister and we all get on well. Ordinary childhood
of the 1940s and 50s, i.e., ran around playing games, walked everywhere,
listened to the radio. Out of the ordinary, was a voracious reader from
early years. Finished school at Grade 10 level, age 14yrs and 10mths.
and started work in an office the next week. Accidentally educated
myself by means of wide reading, interest in history and a retentive
memory. Married Arthur when I was eighteen. He's very good at the
practical skills, i.e. carpentry, joinery, restoring & repairing cars.
We have four kids; three sons and a daughter, all married, and we're
very proud of all of them, less that they're achievers than that they
all stand on their own two feet.
There are thirteen grandkids, seven girls and six boys, and eldest
granddaughter and her partner are parents of three great-grandkids. This
granddaughter has inherited my mum's artistic talent, is trying to
create a career illustrating and writing children's books while she's an
at-home mum.
I've been writing since age 11, won a short-story contest at 15,
took 30 years off with the occasional scribble and magazine article
squeezed in. First book pubbed in 2002, second in 2007, lots more in the
pipeline if I can just find the energy.
- Website:
- http://monyamary.blogspot.com/
- Published Novels
- Contemporary romance The Incredible Miss Brown
published by Rocky River Romance (Australia) in 2002. Historical romance
The Pirate And The Puritan as an e-book in Sept. 2007, available in
print January 2008.
- Favourite Books
- The King Must Die by Mary Renault
Bugles And A Tiger
(non-fiction)by John Masters
Nightrunners of
Bengal (fiction) by John Masters
any of Georgette Heyers 18th century and Regency romances
anything by Mary Stewart several of Catherine Gaskin's
M.M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions, Shadow Of The Moon & Trade
Wind.
anything by Winston Graham (notably Poldark series)
anything by C.S. Forester, (notably Hornblower series, Brown On
Resolution {W.W.1} and The Gun {Napoleonic Wars)
Morgan's Run by Colleen McCullough
George MacDonald Fraser's "Flashman" series.
Non-fiction: Joan Of Arc, Self-Portrait compiled by Willard Trask
Non-fiction humour: I'll Trade You An Elk by Charles A. Goodrum
(pre W.W.II); and Fillets of Place by Gerald Durrell.
There's also a couple of authors from M&B Masquerade
I like. One is Dinah Dean, the other I can't recall either the name of
the writer OR the book and shall have to dig them out.
The Pirate and the Puritan
Monya Clayton's Blog
My name - answer to Cara
Cara, I explained my weird first name but I do believe I posted it in the wrong place. I'm technologically challenged! Did you receive it or would you like me to write a new post about it?
Happy writing,
Monya
Happy writing,
Monya
Posted on January 25, 2008 at 12:22am —
I have a review, but...
When The Pirate And The Puritan was released as an e-book, I sent it to several review sites and the first one to return a post was Long And Short Reviews. The review was by 'Snapdragon' and awarded the novel 4 and a half books out of five. It was a very good and positive piece and I do appreciate it, however I had an uneasy feeling, which may simply be due to the wording used, that the reviewer had read only the first chapter. Nevertheless, if anyone would like to see it, here is the link: http… Continue
Posted on January 25, 2008 at 12:17am — 4 Comments
Hello
- It must be my dimwit week. I forgot to add in my profile that The Pirate And the Puritan (I write the historicals as Mary Clayton, by the way) is published by The Wild Rose Press. And, sigh, am going to have to get Anne to upload the cover photo for me. I hope you're all more practical than I am. I can't really plead that today is my 67th birthday. Older folk than I still have all their marbles!
Posted on January 23, 2008 at 8:00am —
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Anne Whitfield
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Hope everyone is writing/reading/enjoying life.
Thanks for friending me. I love pirates too! My story PLEASURING THE PIRATE will be an August 2008 Leisure Book. Please visit http://www.emilybryan.com to read an excerpt!
Enjoy!
Many thanks, your comment did come through okay and believe me, you are not the only one who is technologically challenged. I have a love/hate relationship with my computer in the way that I do with my own name. I used to hate being different - there were five Susans in one of my classes at school and like most kids I simply wanted to fit in. Now though I'm very happy with my somewhat different name. The story about your naming was not only interesting but useful. I'm always trying to think of 'real' backgrounds for my characters, and how someone got their name can help to define them so thanks again.
Cara
And good heavens, no family commitments, there's just my husband and I at home these days. The kids and grandkids visit, phone and mostly email.
Thanks again, looking forward to more chats.
Monya
Cara
Cynthia
Welcome to the network!