Dickens and Dots
This summer I have been reading “David Copperfield,” a book I always love to read. For some reason, I love reading a classic Dickens novel while my mind is busy writing drill.
Drill writing is very demanding work. I am required to plan many moves ahead and keep a lot of information about the band I’m writing for in my head. It’s a lot of math and charts and planning.
And because of the nature of visual design, I always have a number of shows rumbling around in my head. It often feels like a computer with numerous programs running at the same time.
After many years of doing this, I know that my summer will be mentally demanding in this way. But I also love to read and often choose a Dickens book to read during the drill season.
Dickens is my favorite author, so choosing a Dickens book is not a strange choice. But the books are long and are a real commitment once you start one. I always find them funny and I love his lengthy descriptions of the people and places he writes about. There’s some synergy about his writing and the way my brain has to work in the summer that really works for me. Dickens has a way of making sure you can keep up with characters, even if they appeared in the book way earlier. His method of managing and helping us keep track feels good to my drill-writing mind.
I have a list of all the books I have read since 2003. Looking back over this list, I see that I’ve read Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist, Bleak House, and Great Expectations in recent summers past. LAST summer I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and another summer I re-read the wonderful “Kafka on the Shore,” my favorite by Haruki Murakami. (If you don’t know his writing, do yourself the favor of picking one up!)
Reading is always a part of my life, but it takes on extra importance in the summer when I really need to escape the demands of the numbers and geometry of drill writing. I’m thankful for my love of reading and the ability to escape into a good book. I encourage you to give thought to how you are taking care of yourself in the demanding times of your year. Consider finding just the right book and enjoying relaxing into another world each day. For me, it’s better than a movie or series, as I’m an active participant in the process. Dickens helps me with my dots, and for this I am very grateful.
Tim Hinton
July 21, 2024
