Last week was my first week of English-language Literature at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, and today I had my first class of Literature Studies. Up to today I have been pretty happy with the choices I have made. I said, “up to today,” because I realized something today that has the ability to squash all that happiness.

When I speak with other literary students I notice this character trait they all have in common: they’re addicted to reading books, prose and poetry. You think that is pretty obvious considering they are enrolled in a literary course? Well, if it’s so freaking obvious, then why isn’t reading a hobby of mine? To be fair, I don’t generally like reading books. From time to time a book will catch my attention and I will put all my concentration in reading, understanding and analyzing it, but those times do not come often.

Right now I’m still mesmerized by Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” and soon I’ll be with his “War and Peace” (dude, that one is fat), and Dostoyevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov.” In the past I have been addicted to Dutch literary genius Eduard Douwes Dekker (Multatuli), but that’s about it. Every time a “noted” book is discussed, everybody seems to have read it — and I just sit there, silent.

Is it weird that I don’t like reading (a lot of) books? I don’t feel it is, because I don’t want to be a reader of books, but a writer of interesting fiction. And with the absence of a Literary Writing course, all the other critical and analyzing literary courses are the only thing somewhat related to what I want to do.

Perhaps I’ll be addicted to reading in the coming year because of sociological pressure, and perhaps there will be a musical theatrical adaption of Richard Dawkins “The God Delusion” played on Broadway and produced by Tyler Perry in association with Christian music artist Michael W. Smith. Perhaps it’ll have a record-breaking run on Broadway. Just perhaps.