Here is my latest article, “Entertainment in a Hurry: On art, impatience and middle age” where I wrote about why I’ve watched so much True Blood instead of reading decent novels over the last couple of years. (Actually, it was The Wheeler Centre so I didn’t specifically admit to True Blood).
Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote recently in The Atlantic that at this stage of his life he no longer prioritises ‘difficult books’. Instead, he wants to read books that make him work, not so much as a reader, but as a thinker. My refusal to finish certain books last year was less about the difficulty of those books and more about an intolerance for frustrations of all varieties. But I relate to this sentiment of Coates. I’m tired and rushed, as I imagine him to also be, but I’m still hungry for thoughts. More than ever now. I am skipping breakfast, racing to catch a train, rewriting drafts, reading reminder notices on unpaid bills and arguing with my children about cleaning their teeth – so, I’m dying for big thoughts that will weave their way through my head for weeks or months to come.
In fact, if I had to pick a difference between me in my twenties and me in my thirties I would say that this is it. When I was young I looked to the arts for ideas about everything and anything. In a way, I asked a lot of what I viewed while bringing very little myself. In my thirties, I look to everything with particular puzzles in mind, hoping to find something to excite new ways of resolving them. This is what I think Coates referred to when he said he wants to work as a thinker. And when I find these insights in someone’s creation I am awestruck, because not only do I understand the hard work involved in its realisation, but through the artist’s astute observations I am released from some of my own struggle. Frankly, I am a better audience at this age than I was in my twenties. But there’s a catch.
Yeah, nice article. Live theatre was the first thing to go for me – so risky to spend the dough on a rare night out and get a dud, but definitely miss the transforming experience it can sometimes be. Keep us posted on your difficult choices, I’d be interested.
Now, I look at those lost years of no plays, galleries, exhibitions, novels, concerts and films as a necessary ‘resting of the palate’. At the time, I was completely grief stricken and furious with my inability to concentrate or even care about art. And eventually as I began to dip my toe back in I found my creative consumption, like you say, had changed. Things have to be great, because there is only so much time and space available. Which is a good thing.
Agreed. There’s another side for me too: sometimes I can’t bear to engage with really good art, because I don’t have enough intellectual or emotional energy left, and the prospect is kind of overwhelming. I cry during silly sentimental books, never mind works which dip into real issues. While I do feel entitled to my emotional cocoon while I need it, I wonder sometimes if I am making a mistake, and having a few more challenging art experiences might actually be energizing? Thanks for the great article.
i’ve never commented before but i am a long time reader – i just wanted to say that this article really connected with me right now, i’ve been thinking so much lately about why i read/watch what i do and what i am looking for in my consumption of art