The Two "R's" - Reading and Retirement

The other day when we were running in the pre-dawn darkness of Verona Park, DT was commenting on the difficulty of staying current on all of the reading we are doing - Shakespeare one week - Beowulf the next, followed by academic commentary on both. According to DT one of the main problems is that after he reads for about 20 minutes on top of a full day of work, he starts to nod off. Actually that's sort of what the rest of us experience sometimes during one of his think tanks, but that's another story. In fairness to DT he is a senior partner in one of the largest law firms on his street so his practice keeps him fairly busy.

Although I didn't say it the time, I understand the problem and to some extent still experience it myself. While I am doing a lot more reading in retirement, it still presents its challenges. A big part of that is timing, with some modest exceptions during the day, I usually don't try to do much reading until the evening. I kid about it, but I am actually working pretty hard in retirement, the difference is that it is primarily on things that I want to do. But I still have these feelings about work before fun, which in practical terms means working during the day and reading at night.

The problem is that much like DT after I read for a while, I either start to nod off or have a hard time concentrating. Part of that is the content I am reading, I like George Eliot's work, but she isn't the most accessible author of all time and the almost 700 pages of "Daniel Deronda" has its challenges. The other book I am reading at present is Adam Cohen's new book "Nothing to Fear" which is the story of the first 100 days of the New Deal. That's actually easier reading than "Daniel Deronda," but it's definitely not light reading. Although my father used to read 4-5 books at a time, I pretty much find two is my limit - one fiction, one non-fiction.

One of the things I am realizing now is that I need to add a third book, something that is lighter and easier reading. To that end I just started reading E. M. Delafield's "Diary of a Provincial Lady." Once again this was a suggestion from Elaine at Random Jottings and once again she was right on the money, it is hilarious and a relaxing read. The other thing that I need to do is to break up my reading during the day a little bit - read some in the morning, some in the afternoon as well as in the evening. That should allow not only more time for reading, but the time will be a whole lot more productive.

So once again DT although mistaken was helpful. As Sherlock Holmes says to Dr. Watson in the "The Hound of the Baskervilles," - "in your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth."