Don't Ask Me About Books

Stepping out of this series for a moment, I want to make a point about reading.

For the record, I think "Appendix N" is unmitigated garbage.  I always have.  As literature, it barely passes the smell test; much of the writing in it is juvenile and overwritten.  It's a collection of works that adult children nostalgically cling to, full of thin plotting and barely serviceable craft.  I do not believe it has any valuable things to teach a dungeon master... and if someone were to tell me that the list DID inform them on being a dungeon master, my kneejerk opinion would be to believe they weren't very much of a dungeon master.

Of course, saying this begs the question, "If not Appendix N, what should I read to be a better dungeon master?"

And here is where I and apparently the entire world differ.  Because as I see it, when people want a list of books, what they want is a "build," a short-cut that says, "If I do this, then I'll get that."  And when they ask me personally what I'd suggest, I can hear the addition, "I want to have what you have, so tell me the books that will get me there."

I don't consider the reading of a special set of books is what makes a person "intellectual," or "well-read," or even wise.  I used to believe that, but I've aged out of it.  My depth of knowledge was not the result of some transformation I had after reading certain books that made me wiser or smarter.  My knowledge has occurred from a long, non-linear process of synthesis, mistakes, corrections, bad experiences and a life-long concoction of pleasure and despair.  Every book that I ever loved is now rich and full of flaws.  I now see those books as an experienced writer does, not as a new reader does.  Every new book I read is measured against the thousands of books I've read, so that I can no longer separate the intrinsic value of this or that book from any other.  So if I am asked, "what should I read," my answer has to be, "It doesn't matter.  Put down what's boring."  That's the most useful, effective advice there is to offer, because I'm not here performing the "academic who gets off on having read great books that the hoi polloi haven't read."  I have a secret for everyone here.

A great book is any book you don't want to put down.  And if you read enough of them, later in life, you'll find that you can no longer read books at 60 that you couldn't put down at 22.  Because that's how it works.

But one last point. You won't find me on this blog crying that I don't know where to go when I want to know something. You won't hear that I'm waiting anxiously for a book to come out that will give me information I want to have right now... because if I want it, I'll go do the research myself, I won't wait. The material is everywhere: in libraries, at bookstores, in search engines... literally absolutely everywhere. If the reader of this CAN read, then stop asking me where to find it and use a search engine. That's why they exist.