--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a bookish adolescent, I sopped up…" description: "\"As a bookish adolescent, I sopped up texts as if I were blotting paper and they were fluid.\" — Will Self" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/will-self-2296_adolescent_as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-text_2067909.png" --- # As a bookish adolescent, I sopped up texts as if I were… ![“As a bookish adolescent, I sopped up texts as if I were blotting paper and they were fluid.” quote by Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/will-self-2296_adolescent_as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-text_2067909.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/will-self-2296_adolescent_as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-text_2067909.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/will-self-2296_adolescent_as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-text_2067909.png) > “As a bookish adolescent, I sopped up texts as if I were blotting paper and they were fluid.” [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer likens absorbing texts to soaking up fluid, emphasizing an intense, almost physical engagement with reading. **In simple terms:** Reading is like soaking up fluid. Key Takeaway Engage deeply with written material. Themes reading literature absorption intellectual curiosity learning Mood introspective inquisitive Type literary personal When to use this quote - studying for exams - research - creative writing Key Concepts cognitive immersion literary analysis personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How does deep reading affect comprehension? - Can this approach be applied to other media? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overstate typical reading experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adolescent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescent/) [Blotting Paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blotting-paper-2274045/) [Bookish Adolescent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bookish-adolescent-3978835/) [Fluid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fluid/) [Paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper/) [Paper Fluid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper-fluid-3978837/) [Sopped Texts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sopped-texts-3978836/) [Texts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/texts/) [Texts Blotting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/texts-blotting-3978838/) [Up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/up/) [Were](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/were/) ## Related quotes > [I can get incredibly erotic about blotting paper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-morrissey/i-can-get-incredibly-erotic-about-blotting-paper/) [Steven Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-morrissey/) > [What do I eat an hors d'oeuvre for? Because I have a drink, and then I have to have blotting paper in my tummy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constantine-stackelberg/what-do-i-eat-an-hors-d-oeuvre-for-because-i-have-a-drink-and-then-i/) [Constantine Stackelberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constantine-stackelberg/) > [Become like a sheet of blotting paper and soak it all in. Later on you can figure out what to keep and what to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/become-like-a-sheet-of-blotting-paper-and-soak-it-all-in-later-on-you/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Some minds are made of blotting-paper: you can write nothing on them distinctly. They swallow the ink, and you find a large spot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/some-minds-are-made-of-blotting-paper-you-can-write-nothing-on-them/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [I love using blotting paper when people are oily in the T-zone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-mua/i-love-using-blotting-paper-when-people-are-oily-in-the-t-zone/) [Manny MUA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-mua/) > [I've always been a composer dependent on texts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-del-tredici/i-ve-always-been-a-composer-dependent-on-texts/) [David Del Tredici](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-del-tredici/) > [Beckett's 'Stories and Texts for Nothing' is probably my favorite book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-wright/beckett-s-stories-and-texts-for-nothing-is-probably-my-favorite-book/) [Franz Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-wright/) > [Those texts where you can't choose between :) and :(... So you end up with this :/](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/those-texts-where-you-can-t-choose-between-and-so-you-end-up-with-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I hate writing texts to girlfriends because you can't really see emotions in texts. You can get confused on what she says.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophilus-london/i-hate-writing-texts-to-girlfriends-because-you-can-t-really-see/) [Theophilus London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophilus-london/) > [Wherever we've gone around the world, we've found quite significant gaps: the holy texts, no matter which one you turn to, has ambiguity in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-forrest/wherever-we-ve-gone-around-the-world-we-ve-found-quite-significant/) [Andrew Forrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-forrest/) > [I like missing someone and being missed; I like looking forward to seeing him again. I like getting emails and texts with lots of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-moggach/i-like-missing-someone-and-being-missed-i-like-looking-forward-to/) [Deborah Moggach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-moggach/) > [I definitely check my phone for texts a lot - like, 'Did anyone text me? Is anyone thinking about me? Does anyone love me?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spike-jonze/i-definitely-check-my-phone-for-texts-a-lot-like-did-anyone-text-me/) [Spike Jonze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spike-jonze/) > [Twitter? No, I'd rather use phone and texts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/domenico-dolce/twitter-no-i-d-rather-use-phone-and-texts/) [Domenico Dolce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/domenico-dolce/) > [In this day and age of texts, Twitter, and Facebook, we are very rarely surprised by anything anymore - something always leaks out and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-goreski/in-this-day-and-age-of-texts-twitter-and-facebook-we-are-very-rarely/) [Brad Goreski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-goreski/) > [I still put punctuation in my texts. If it's an 'I', I make sure it's a capital.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-cowell/i-still-put-punctuation-in-my-texts-if-it-s-an-i-i-make-sure-it-s-a/) [Simon Cowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-cowell/) ## More by Will Self > [As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of lucidity are but fulgurations illuminating the dark and incomprehensible landscape of its subject's unabashed difficulty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism-its-moments-of-lucidity-are/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“As my voice died away I became conscious of the voice of another woman two tables away. I couldn't hear what she was saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-my-voice-died-away-i-became-conscious-of-the-voice-of-another/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and - it often seems - social consensus that equates all education with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/that-tertiary-education-is-under-a-sustained-assault-by-a-political/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'm an anarchist. I'm implacably opposed to heirarchical systems of power and control. I also mistrust crowds, as they often operate according to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-an-anarchist-i-m-implacably-opposed-to-heirarchical-systems-of/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [What fiction offers us is an intimacy shorn of the messy contingencies of human existence - gender, race, class or age. Those moments of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/what-fiction-offers-us-is-an-intimacy-shorn-of-the-messy/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'd rather fiddle with my phone for precious seconds than neglect an apostrophe; I'd rather insert a word laboriously keyed out than resort to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-d-rather-fiddle-with-my-phone-for-precious-seconds-than-neglect-an/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'm very happy for whatever plaudits might come the way of my work, but I never ever sit down to write x with y…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-very-happy-for-whatever-plaudits-might-come-the-way-of-my-work/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [As a writer, I'm not convinced that we are the best equipped to understand how we go about the business of literary production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-a-writer-i-m-not-convinced-that-we-are-the-best-equipped-to/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“I explained to him - as I withdrew the cup, ripped open the sachet and dunked the tea bag - that tea was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-explained-to-him-as-i-withdrew-the-cup-ripped-open-the-sachet-and/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [There is something mysteriously powerful that can happen when young, inchoate minds come into contact with older and more worldly ones in a spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/there-is-something-mysteriously-powerful-that-can-happen-when-young/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [It would seem that I, who never could make much sense of physics when I was at school, have now gained a strong sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/it-would-seem-that-i-who-never-could-make-much-sense-of-physics-when/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [Drug use and procrastination often go hand in tourniquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/drug-use-and-procrastination-often-go-hand-in-tourniquet/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“…with the morbid realisation that his sexual being was a dull thing, a lifeless thing, a mass-produced marionette with chipped paint and fraying strings”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/with-the-morbid-realisation-that-his-sexual-being-was-a-dull-thing-a/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [A creative life cannot be sustained by approval any more than it can be destroyed by criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/a-creative-life-cannot-be-sustained-by-approval-any-more-than-it-can/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I don't think in terms of that bizarre tautology 'value for money' in my literary and journalistic work - and nor will I in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-don-t-think-in-terms-of-that-bizarre-tautology-value-for-money-in/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) [Explore all 172 Will Self quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## More Adolescent quotes > [“Adolescent youths cry out for us to help them contextualize their life experiences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gurian/adolescent-youths-cry-out-for-us-to-help-them-contextualize-their/) [Michael Gurian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gurian/) > [“It’s too easy to follow bad but attractive leaders, embrace pleasurable but destructive habits, ignore looming disaster because maybe it won’t happen after all—or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/it-s-too-easy-to-follow-bad-but-attractive-leaders-embrace/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“I will never be crazy," repeats the adolescent hero to herself. "I will never get killed. I have to grow up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-never-be-crazy-repeats-the-adolescent-hero-to-herself-i-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A lot of people pass off adolescent depression as something trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lacey-sturm/a-lot-of-people-pass-off-adolescent-depression-as-something-trivial/) [Lacey Sturm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lacey-sturm/) > [Why do people stop developing, or, like they stop the way you can rate their, psychologically, their development? Where they stop, and just from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edie-sedgwick/why-do-people-stop-developing-or-like-they-stop-the-way-you-can-rate/) [Edie Sedgwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edie-sedgwick/) > [There's only one thing harder than living in a home with an adolescent - and that's being an adolescent. The moodiness, the volatility, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/there-s-only-one-thing-harder-than-living-in-a-home-with-an/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [Mozart was very much an arrested adolescent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-curry/mozart-was-very-much-an-arrested-adolescent/) [Tim Curry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-curry/) > [When I was nine, we moved to Stanford University in San Francisco so that my father could do a Ph.D. I went to Terman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lawrence/when-i-was-nine-we-moved-to-stanford-university-in-san-francisco-so/) [Caroline Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lawrence/) > [“There is so much woman in many a girl and too much boy in many a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/there-is-so-much-woman-in-many-a-girl-and-too-much-boy-in-many-a-man/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“I've had a great deal of experience with adolescents over the centuries, and I've discovered that as a group these awkward half children take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-had-a-great-deal-of-experience-with-adolescents-over-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Adolescents are still children in that they can't yet tell the difference between make believe and fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/adolescents-are-still-children-in-that-they-can-t-yet-tell-the/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“Capture your youth, while you can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/capture-your-youth-while-you-can/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [Adults forget the depths of languor into which the adolescent mind decends with ease. They are prone to undervalue the mental growth that occurs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/adults-forget-the-depths-of-languor-into-which-the-adolescent-mind/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Music, especially as an adolescent, helps to build identity because that's when people start developing a sense of self. You can kind of tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aloe-blacc/music-especially-as-an-adolescent-helps-to-build-identity-because/) [Aloe Blacc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aloe-blacc/) > [Babies did not attract me, and I was altogether without the maternal sense so highly developed in small and adolescent girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-levi-montalcini/babies-did-not-attract-me-and-i-was-altogether-without-the-maternal/) [Rita Levi-Montalcini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-levi-montalcini/) [Browse all 151 Adolescent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As a bookish adolescent, I sopped up texts as if I were blotting paper and they were fluid.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Will Self" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-texts-as-if-i-were-blotting-paper/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adolescent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-texts-as-if-i-were-blotting-paper/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/will-self-2296_adolescent_as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-text_2067909.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/will-self-2296_adolescent_as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-text_2067909.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/will-self-2296_adolescent_as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-text_2067909.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As a bookish adolescent, I sopped up texts as if I were blotting paper and they were fluid.” — Will Self", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Will Self", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "As a bookish adolescent, I sopped...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-texts-as-if-i-were-blotting-paper/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-a-bookish-adolescent-i-sopped-up-texts-as-if-i-were-blotting-paper/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```