Some light reading for the train.As a general rule, people on the train don't comment about what other people are reading. We all go about our business, ignoring others as best as possible. Most people read the newspaper in the morning and the latest spy novel or cheap paperback in the evening – generally no-brainer stuff that doesn't require much thinking. (I can't account for the handful of commuters who read e-books.) I usually ascribe to this rule, although I'll occasionally pull a "classic" off my bookshelf that I never got around to reading to see if it's worth all the hype.
To this end, I recently started reading Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov – a tough read at times, especially after a long day of editing, but altogether a good book. As with every other book I've read while on the train, I didn't expect anyone to comment on it. So, I was quite surprised when I got not one but two comments in one week, and rather odd ones at that. My favorite comment was a man who said, "Dostoevsky, huh? I only read him when I'm depressed." Another man said a few days later, "I like Dostoevsky, but I only read him during the winter." What?
I have two theories about why I got more comments about Dostoevsky than all of the other books I've read combined:
1. Maybe more people have read this book and so there is more of a probability that I'll get a comment about it (although I didn't get any comments when I read Mark Twain).
2. Or maybe people want me (and others around us) to know that they are just as into the classics as I am, and are bragging a bit.
Either way, the comments I got cracked me up. I think I'll pick another classic for my next book to see if the trend holds.
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Number 2 sounds about right. I think the guys were intimidated that you were reading a more intellectual book than they usually read, so they had to come up with excuses, mainly to themselves.
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