The Best Moments In Reading
I cannot shake Alan Bennett’s thought about reading. ‘The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours.’ When I first heard it in his play The History Boys, I was spellbound. That’s it. That’s exactly it. Those are the moments to aspire to in writing. Those moments of true readerly connection, where the heart quickens and time collapses between us. Where we’re able to bridge the gap between page and lived experience, and truly say ‘I think that too’. Music does this fantastically well too. It can bring us to tears as much as it can produce genuine euphoria. I’ve sung myself hoarse as much as I’ve just needed to be where other people are not. I’m happy we live in a world where this is possible. Music has never been a social outlet for me. I am happiest listening to records on my own, for hours and hours. It’s always been like this. The same is true of books. My default state is to be alone with a great book, all weekend. To lose oneself to the music.
