Getting through Franklin in an age of incompetence
tl/dr: I’m about to start reading Crime and Punishment and writing updates about it and about current events on a regular basis is going to be my commitment mechanism.
Big difficult novels have always been more of a fascination than an active part of my reading choices. I’ve been quite happy with my portfolio of well edited books about the issues of the day and a few small to medium sized novels every now and then when I need a break from reading about those issues.
But a new addition to my admittedly tiny library is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (I’ve named my copy of the book Franklin in an attempt to find it less intimidating). Franklin, to my knowledge, falls into neither of the above two categories.
So, why the change? How does reading a story set in 19th century Russia help me?
I’m not quite sure yet.
Surely there’s some merit to reading a well known and respected book that has been admired by many over the last century and a half. But in my experience, the charm of this motivation fades.
On the other hand, I certainly find it impressive when I meet someone who has read big, difficult, and serious books. I have certainly been impressed with myself in the past when I’ve finished reading other books that were big, difficult, and serious. And I can see the possibility of impressing myself and others by reading Franklin in its entirety. But this form of impressiveness has become a lot less important to the present-day me (a 25 year old Londoner doing some economics and some consulting who recently ran a half-marathon) than it was to a previous me who was a lot more lacking in self-confidence (for example, the 20 year old at an obscure midwestern American university studying economics and wanting to consult, who avoided exercise at all costs). As the previous sentence illustrates, I rarely use unimportant factoids about myself to try to impress people.
Reading well constructed stories in well written books has brought me a lot of joy and motivation in the past. But so have documentaries, tv shows, movies, cool LinkedIn profiles, Samantha Power, well-functioning public transport systems, competent public servants doing a good job, museums, and Samantha Power.
Will reading Franklin be different? Is the return I get from getting through Franklin perfectly substitutable with putting the same time and effort into other books (or other media)?
There’s one thing I haven’t yet to add to the list two paragraphs up: writing.
If there’s one thing I’m hoping reading Franklin will get me to do more, or at least something that I’m gonna commit myself to doing more as an outcome of reading Franklin, it’ll be to write about the progress I’m making.
Nothing too intense – some updates on the story, my thoughts about it and how it’s written, combined with some reflections on current events.
Why?
It’s a good commitment mechanism. And living through the response to COVID-19 in the UK has brought with it a lot of frustration, and a general lack of motivation. For me, this is a good way to talk about what is hopefully an interesting book and thus have a bit of a creative outlet for the endless introspection that i go through every time I come across an interesting book. Additionally, it might be an outlet for thoughts I have on the vast portfolio of important issues that need addressing. Neither of these may be of any interest to you, but I appreciate the time you’ve spent indulging what may be me overthinking everything.
The plan as of now to write these updates every weekend. I’m completely aware that there may come a point when I give up on reading Franklin. I hope that doesn’t happen but it might. There may be weeks when I don’t read much, but I’ll be honest about my progress.
I’m also aware that I know very little about Dostoyevsky or about 19th century Russia. If anyone reading this knows more about either or has read the book, please feel free to comment and give me some context or advice.
Take care and watch this space for more!
