Reading detective novels & communication skills
So, I recently ended life coaching. The last assignment I received was this: List down the areas that you are working on through coaching and what are your plans (if any) to work on them independently.
One area I have been working on through coaching is communication: communication in friendships, in relationships, in workplace settings; what to communicate to others, how to communicate, etc.
As I was working on this assignment, I came to this weird but somewhat reasonable conclusion that reading detective novels helps me develop communication skills.
See, I have been reading Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie recently. In the book, the author spends a third of the book introducing 6 of the most important characters in the book, each of whom has something to do with the death of our female protagonist Rosemary in one way or another.
My experience of reading this book goes like this: I would read the first chapter, making an assumption about who murdered Rosemary, then overwriting my own assumption after reading the second, third and fourth chapter, time and time again.
I am not surprised that my brain would associate that with having a conversation with someone.
I can only listen to all characters finish their narration before finding out who the murderer is. I mean, I can make assumptions, sure, but until I finish reading the book, there is really no figuring out. And even the assumption that I would be able to come up with who the killer is by the end of the book could itself be false.
The tricky thing is: I am able to gain access to everyone's perspective when reading a book, granted that I have patience to wait for myself to finish reading it. I am not able to gain access to everyone's perspective in real life however hard I try, simply because of the fact that I am not them.
Reading detective novels and finding the murderer is worth trying. The first step is to read, read through. Reflectively. Communication is also worth trying. The first step is to listen. Listen through. Reflectively.
Finish listening before making any assumptions. Life is one huge detective novel, you know.