"I liked to read." I told him, feeling a little nervous about the next question.
"What did you read?"
"Science fiction and fantasy, with some other stuff." I answered some what sheepishly.
"Really!? Me, too!"
"Really? I'm usually kind of embarrassed to admit it."
"Why? Don't be." He seemed genuinely perplexed about my embarrassment.
Charles did a lot to teach me to help me be proud about who I am. Unfortunately, I forgot some of that over the last three years. I've retreated back into my closet.
Maybe one of the reasons I'm embarrassed is because I'm a kind of lightweight nerd. I don't delve deeply, but certainly delve into one genre - science fiction and fantasy. Here's a list of all the books I've read over the last three years:
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
Shadow of the Giant
Revelation Space
Chasm City
Redemption Ark
Absolution Gap
The Willpower Instinct
Zealot: Jesus of Nazareth
Ok, I'm not going to list all the books I've read. But that's already pretty representative. I think I've made my case.
So why do I bring this up? I'm laying the groundwork for my most recent read: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Ready Player One is about a kid, Wade, who is so obsessed with a game called the OASIS that at one point in the book, he locks himself in his room and only plays the game - for six straight months. This book is kind of like a melding of The Matrix and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Wade is in search of an easter egg (a secret) left behind by the programmer of the OASIS, which will allow the finder to inherit a considerable fortune - the largest in the world - as well as control the OASIS. Wade has to contend with the smartest, wealthiest, and most capable people in the world. He also has to know every video game, every science fiction book and, somewhat randomly, every nuance of 1980s culture. So not only is the book an exploration of a possible future for video games and the internet, it's chock full of references to all these things. I didn't know most of them, but it was fun to catch the few I did know.
It was a fun read, one which made me want to be a little more proud of who and what I am. The guy who programmed the OASIS managed to get the whole world obsessed with what he'd been obsessed with. The main character managed to do some pretty cool things with those obsessions. And, while I don't expect to win any massive fortunes based on reading sci-fi novels, I think I can enjoy myself a little more by sharing something I love with others.
