Reading for Pain and Pleasure

The reading Poetry and Pleasure by Mac Low interested me the most because it really made me think about the literature, poems, and articles that I read and why I read them.  There are many different types of genres I like to read.  Poetry interests me when I can just read it to enjoy it, however when I have to analyze it that’s when I start to hate it.  Reading books for fun is more of what I enjoy doing with my free time.  I enjoy mystery, and fiction the most.  The point that Mac Low points out is that “artworks do make things happen, at the very least, pleasure and pain, and the kinds of pleasures and pains they may cause are hardly ever predictable” (Mac Low). 

            This made me think about the texts that I read and my reactions to things that happen.  Did I like the book because of the way it was written and the plot line so much that if it was written differently, or events altered then I would not like the book?  Or did I like the book because it was predicable and if I were the author I would have written it the same way?  These are the questions that come to mind when faced with the aspect of predictability of the reader, and the reaction to the text. 

            Usually when I start reading a book or any text for that matter I find myself forming my own thoughts or predictions of what I think will happen or what I think about the book almost immediately.  This is not always the best thing to do because then if the book doesn’t turn out the way I wanted it to I am left feeling left down and betrayed by the author resulting in disliking the book.  The way the book is written in the aspect of pain and pleasure also has a large effect on liking the book or not.  For example the book My Sisters Keeper is a perfect example of a book filled almost entirely with sorrow and pain, although it’s a touching story that doesn’t leave the reader depressed the whole time.  On the other hand poetry that I read for fun because its heart warming and silly is Shell Silverstein’s book Where The Sidewalk Ends.  As readers we read for pleasure, not that everything we read will make us feel that way but as long as the book is something we enjoy then its worth the pain and pleasure to read it.