In "A Song of Fire and Ice," the acclaimed Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin, Jon Snow asks Tyrion Lannister why he reads so much. He responds:
"I have a realistic grasp of my own strengths and weaknesses. My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind… and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.” Tyrion tapped the leather cover of the book. “That’s why I read so much, Jon Snow.”
There are hundreds of known benefits to regular reading, some of them more obvious than others. The person who reads more has a better GPA in school, a higher intelligence, more knowledge, a bigger vocabulary, is a better writer, has a better memory, is more creative, and his mind stays sharper longer as he ages. Studies even suggest that it reduces stress, promotes tranquility, and aids in prioritization.
It only makes sense that in a self-improvement journey, I should devote the same kind of effort and commitment to improving my mind as I do my body. The simplest, and yet most powerful challenge I could give myself is simply to chew my way through a very large book. This challenge is described perfectly by the modern philospher, Roosh V, on his YouTube page.
Roosh is a man that recognized faults and shortcomings in himself at a young age, and then devoted himself, inexorably, to solving them. The primary vehicle for his transformation was his desire to become adept at, and develop the necessary skills to, communicate with women in a way to inspire attraction and create the type of relationship he wanted. Since then, he has authored multiple books on the study and process of attracting women, changing the lives of thousands of men around the world. This transformation has spilled over into other parts of his life, however, as he has created a website that has become a mecca for the modern man to find inspiration, motivation and education for their masculinity, to become unapologetic about who they are, and how best to comfortably and happily live out their lives as men, check it out here.
One of the great pieces of advice that Roosh drops on his YouTube channel is the Big Ass Book challenge, in which he challenges guys to read a big-ass book (over 500 pages) in 15 days.
I jumped on it, but I changed it up a bit. My challenge is 30 days, so I'm doing two.
Roosh suggest that you grab a nonfiction book, preferably historical or biographical with a strong masculine theme or focus. He wants you to better yourself, directly, not just by reading, but from WHAT you are reading.
I've always been a big reader of nonfiction. I've read history, religion, philosophy, biography, mythology, science, fitness, nutrition, etc. and I've never really been able to dive successfully into fiction. I've read some. I've read the Bond novels, the Sherlock stories, and a few of the classics, but the few dozen I've read have been paltry compared to all I'd like to read.
So for my first book, I did exactly what Roosh suggested. I chose a biography called "Hemingway's Boat." It examines the latter life of Ernest Hemingway, legend, man's man and Nobel-prize winning author, and allegorically juxtaposes it with his relationship with his boat, the fishing ship Pilar.
I chose this book for multiple reasons besides it being exactly the kind that Roosh suggested. It will be an excellent segue into fiction, it will inspire future reading, it will help me conduct a study of successful masculine author, as I would one day like to be, and it will directly help me become a better author.
For my second Big Ass Book, I stepped away from Roosh's suggestions (as is my prerogative since I'm going above and beyond) I will be reading the complete collection of Hemingway's short stories. This will hopefully get me started on a new lifetime habit of digesting fiction.
This challenge will be difficult to measure insofar as to keep quantitative records of progress other than simply finishing the books, so instead I will be writing a short review of both. One upon the completion of each.
Tomorrow: Week 2 update
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