On reading and conversational interruptions

I mentioned in yesterday's brief post that I sometimes like to be someplace public when I'm reading so that I can take a brief break and chat with other people if I feel like that.  As I wrote this, I immediately thought of a certain image -- the one I've included in this blog post -- that occasionally circulates around Facebook.

It's true that many avid readers -- including myself on numerous occasions -- don't like to bet disturbed when we're reading.  As avid readers, we get completely engrossed in our stories and like to stay there.  Interrupting us just because you want to talk is disruptive, intrusive, and very much a violation of our boundaries.

I can't speak for other readers (so do any of the following with them at your own peril), but I personally don't mind if someone briefly says hi or asks me what I'm reading.  I'll glance up and answer the other person's question.  I might even give a brief synopsis of the book's plot (or subject matter, if it's non-fiction).  After that, I usually go back to my reading.  (The only exception being if the person is a cute guy and I feel more interested in chatting him up than finishing my story.)

And here's the thing -- and this much I'm willing to bet fifty bucks is universal to most avid readers -- once my eyes return to my book, I am finished with the conversation.  If someone tries to continue the conversation after that point, they've overstayed their welcome in my space.  I will let them know in what will hopefully be a cool yet civil tone that I'd really like to get back to my reading uninterrupted, if they don't mind.  And let's be clear, the "if they don't mind" part is polite convention.  I don't actually care whether they mind.  At that point, the can get hurt all they want.  They can even get angry.  I'm all for letting people feel whatever they want.  But if they interrupt me again, as Granny Aching (first mentioned in "The Wee Free Men")  might say, There will be a reckoning.

The safer bet is normally to only approach a reader when they have taken a break, when they take their eyes from the pages (or their e-reader) and look around.  I will note that when I'm reading in public and am open to conversation, I look up a lot, mainly to help communicate the message that I'm not so engrossed in my reading at the moment that I'd be hostile to a brief conversational break.

But then, I may be an odd duck in that respect.  A lot of times, when I go to someplace like a coffee shop, I read to pass the time and to keep myself from going nuts from having nothing to do.  I'm not the kind of person that starts random conversations with strangers (though I've gotten somewhat better about it), so if I don't already know someone where I am, I fall back to reading (or playing on my smart phone).  In those situations, I do consider myself approachable by others rather than being in "let me read in peace" mode, and I try to communicate that through how I behave and otherwise represent myself.