On Writing and Books

Although I find Schopenhauer's writing to be mostly the complaints of a cynical old man who despises anything new, I was surprised to find that his opinions on the literature of his time period are relevant to this time period, and I even agreed with a few of them.

Schopenhauer's main argument seems to be that literature only has worth if it is a ground-breakingly insightful piece of writing that teaches us all how to be better people or a better society and is written in the most flawless beautiful prose possible. I wholeheartedly disagree. There is nothing wrong with a story intended only to entertain, or to inspire the imagination of the readers. Many such stories contain important perspectives or philosophies as well. I would agree with him that books written by people only looking to make a profit (ie, James Patterson) are not worthy of much praise or attention, but reading them on occasion will not cause society to plummet into the depths of literary despair. It may not even cause anyone to loose brain cells.

Even reading writing that's simply awful can be useful. It helps aspiring writers to learn how not to write. Which brings me to another thing I disagree with Schopenhauer on. Writing is not a talent bestowed in people from birth. Anyone can learn writing techniques by reading work that skillfully incorporates them; they just have to figure out what to look for.

From the point of view of an aspiring writer, one thing I found particularly interesting was Schopenhauer's idea that too much reading is bad. On the surface I disagree completely. You don't just blindly accept the ideas presented in whatever you're reading, you're constantly forming your own ideas that either conflict or compare with the writer's. On the other hand, I sometimes find that I can't read nearly as much as I use to when I was little because as soon as I start reading, I'm inspired to write, either because the book is so good or because it's mediocre and I can think of a way to do it better. I need a balance between reading the work of others and creating my own.