Our good friend Andrea Syverson has just come out with her second engaging book for businesses that want to boost their brands, called ThinkAbout. In it she encourages companies to think about how different verbs can help them better define who they are.
Andrea is also an avid reader whom I featured in my first book, The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life. Levenger Press Editor Mim Harrison talked with Andrea about how thinking in verbs can help us get deeper into books.
- Steve
Levenger Press: We readers often describe ourselves through adjectives---serious, avid,
incurable, inveterate. Are we missing something by not being verbivores?
Andrea Syverson: I love the idea of readers as verbivores! Indeed, those adjectives capture the
voracious personalities of readers, but verbs really illuminate what readers feel when they immerse themselves into their books. Depending on the stack of books I am enveloped in at any one time, I can be provoked, encouraged, comforted, confirmed, educated and/or nurtured by what I am reading. I love the diversity of experiences between books, and it’s why I keep that “library of candidates” Steve talks about around me at all times. As a verbivore, my reading appetite is constantly changing, which I imagine is true for many avid readers (those adjectives again!).
LP: Do active or passive verbs come to mind when you think about reading?
Andrea: Reading is so very active. In my mind, the only passive thing about it is the prone position you are often in as you engage with the book. William Styron wrote, “A great book should leave you with many experiences and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” Isn’t that just so true? I also find myself communicating with the writer as I underline phrases in the margins, or ink in exclamation points, or ponder with question marks.When we read actively,we befriend the writer.
LP: What are your top five picks for reading verbs?
When I thinkabout all the types of books that I enjoy—literary fiction, memoir, business, creativity and spirituality—my verbs would include inspire, imagine, grow, challenge and luxuriate. I read to learn and to dream, but I also read to savor. I love diving deeply into new worlds and participating in new experiences that transcend the everyday. But reading actively can also mean slowing down the reading process, which I do at the end of many books because I simply do not want them to end. It’s a lot like a great travel experience—we may be, as Styron says, slightly exhausted at the conclusion of a book, but we’re also thrilled to have partaken in such a rich experience.
LP: Louis L’Amour has that famous quote, “Read, read, read. Do, do, do.” How do you connect the two?
Andrea: Reading prompts me. As I read about an issue and become educated, I am compelled to turn that knowledge into action. Sometimes that action is simply sharing what I’ve read with others in conversations; other times it’s much more assertive, like becoming personally involved in creating change or donating to a particular charity. Books change us, motivate us, compel us. I am so grateful to
authors who open my heart.
LP: What book has had that kind of effect on you?
Andrea: Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, opened my eyes and heart to the devastating trauma of human trafficking. Their book, in turn, started a global movement to prompt change. Reading is both educational and inspirational, but it can also be an impetus for good.
LP: A recent study found a link between a person’s capacity to empathize and reading literary fiction. Does this surprise you?
Andrea: “Empathize” is another great reading verb. We only get one set of personal experiences in this life, so we cannot possibly understand all that others may go through in the course of their lives. Reading expands our world of understanding both joys and sorrows we may not have experienced ourselves. I have often learned as much from characters in beautifully written literary fiction as I have through memoir and nonfiction.
LP: What characters were your teachers?
Andrea: There are so many literary fiction characters that have been my teachers…both teaching me how not to be, and inspiring me how to be. Characters like the ones Elizabeth Strout created in Olive
Kitteridge, or Lisa See wrote about in Shanghai Girls. Jane Hamilton and Oscar Hijuelos are two other writers who have given me the gift of empathy. It’s as if they hold a mirror up to our souls through their characters and draw us into their lives—even if their worlds are far from our own. I believe writers can sometimes get closer to emotional truths in this genre. And, as a reader, I may be able to absorb these truths in story form more profoundly, too. Perhaps this is like a reader’s version of Daniel Goleman’s EQ, or Emotional Intelligence—RQ, for Reading Intelligence. Learning life lessons through the literary characters we read about helps our own development.
- Andrea
And so to you, dear reader: something to ThinkAbout…and SmileAbout. What’s your reading verb? I’d love to hear. Just click on the Comments link below with your submission. (If you’re reading this as an email, click here and you'll connect to Comments).
Reading is an activity that requires settings for me. There are readings for standing in a line, waiting at an airport, lying in bed or riding in the car with my husband. A good friend suggested having a stack of books to re-read when you're not feeling well...this has served me well over the years and lets me get the the most out of well loved stories. Back in the day (of course when I was young and beautiful) I would call in sick to stay home in bed to read an anticipated new book...it was my version of attending a world premiere, lol. Reading is my television...and Mr. Styron is absolutely correct: sometimes I am exhausted at the end.
Posted by: Cassandra Clarke-Belgrave | November 06, 2013 at 08:37 AM
My top five picks for reading verbs (books) is pretty similar to Andrea's, though I'd swap Poetry for business (perhaps Andrea is thinking of poetry when she writes creativity). My verbs would include kiss, sing, dance, act, fly.
The Verb in writing takes hold of us like Francis's impulse to kiss the leper. In a transforming moment, the young cleric is overcome by fear and love, but his love is stronger. In an instant, he does what he thought impossible. He embraces the leper and kisses him on the lips. Thus the saint is born. So it is with the reader who submits to the verb and its grammar sidekicks. Ah, happy active life!
Below are some quotes that sizzle with guiding, driving verbs.
"A lively, understandable spirit once entertained you./It will come again./Be still./Wait." --Theodore Roethke
"When someone asks, what is there to do?/Light the candle in their hand/Like this." --Rumi
"When the bird and the book disagree, always believe the bird."
--James Audubon
Posted by: Robert McDowell | November 06, 2013 at 11:10 AM
Wow, Cassandra and Robert--your wisdom and writing are inspiring. I'm going to read both of your comments several more times and let them soak in. Thanks for sharing your passions.
Posted by: Steve Leveen | November 07, 2013 at 10:55 AM
Andrea's interview was thoughtful and thought-provoking. For me, the verb "empower" best characterizes what I get from reading, followed by "appreciate" (in its broad sense, which includes "apprehend").
My proofreader's soul compels me to remark on Andrea's use of "prone." Unless she does a lot of her reading lying on her belly, I believe she meant "supine." Black activist Stokely Carmichael confused these words when a journalist asked him about black women's place in the black power movement; he answered, "Prone." He meant "supine," as shorthand for lying flat on their back in bed, available when the brothers came home from the battle.
Posted by: Steven Finell | October 29, 2014 at 06:59 AM