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Wednesday, March 23, 2005

THE SLOW READER

Today is the one month anniversary of my last blog post. That should be a clear indicator of the current state of my creative spirit: literary inertia precludes any sort of illuminating insight into the written word. These days, the written word in question is the book that just doesn't want to be read. I am struggling to get through Kafka's The Castle, not because it is difficult [which it isn't], and not because it is boring [which it isn't], but because I just don't have the wherewithal to finish. It has become a task so challenging that it is on par with the task that K. must accomplish in his endeavour to carry out his duties among the multitude of distractions and obstacles that waylay him in ye olde Castletown.

Distractions remain the biggest problem. Turning off the on switch of my ever-racing mind might be one way, albeit an ironic one, to address the problem, but how to do that? Especially in light of the fact that I don't really know if I've used the concept of irony in the proper context in that last sentence. Ever since reading the appendix of Eggers' Heartbreaking Work..., I just don't know anymore. I can't avoid the irony conundrum forever, though, that much is certain.

See, a perfect example of a distraction of my own creation that removes me from the immediacy of the problem. This blog entry is also a distraction. I could be doing much more worthwhile things, like reading. Distraction compounded upon distraction, ad infinitum.

This is hardly a new problem. Some have suggested that the answer lies in slowing down. In another ironic twist, I want to be able to slow down so I can read faster. Until I can do that, I will be running as if in a dream and getting nowhere at all.

The road to the castle wears ever on...

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