“...reading has as many functions as the human
body, and... not all of them are cerebral.”
I’ve done a lot of thinking on why people say that they don’t
have patience for novels. As someone who is always reading something, has read
hundreds of books and refuses to go down in her grave before reading a zillion
more, I find this statement intimidating, confusing and discomforting. Earlier,
I used to abhor people who would use this statement but my two years in Teach
for India have made me empathetic and understanding. I am able to put my feet
in shoes of others and try to see where are they coming from.
So after a lot of discussions with non readers, observing
them, learning about their way of reading (whatever they’ve read) I’ve been
able to craft a reason why people say that they don’t have patience for novels.
Life makes sense only in the real world, in our surroundings
and in our day to day actions. When people read novels they read it as the
story of someone else, written by someone else. They take reading as a hobby or
as an extra curricular activity. My understanding is that it should become an
integral part of your life for that particular time.
So drawing lessons from the way I enjoy reading -
1) I get immersed into the book completely. I perceive
the story as that of mine. For me it is not reading a book but living a
different life, after all, life is just playing the characters in the script
written by the almighty. I read in bed because reading is right in the middle
of consciousness and dreaming. You can guess the dreams that I see based on
what I am reading.
2) I love authors who take their time in developing
a character, explaining it patiently to the readers. This is the reason I am a
fan of classics. It takes time to understand the characters, to slowly fall in
love with one of them, to start despising one of them, to feel sorry for one of
them, to give up on one of them, to get suspicious about one of them, to feel
the anguish of one of them. And after knowing each and every character well, I
associate myself with one of them.
3) For both the above mentioned things to happen,
it is also important to realize that you need to forget that an author named
XYZ has written this. It is vital to have the feeling that you are reading your
own different life, not pre written but happening as it moves on. I appreciate authors for their penmanship, for
the words that they use and for the beauty with which they describe the most
banal things of life. But that’s about it.
4) Why is important. Books are not just stories,
characters and plots. Books are invaluable lessons for life. Each book is strengthening
your beliefs or questioning your strongheld beliefs. Even fictional books, in
very subtle and artistic ways, throw intriguing and speculative thoughts at
you. The only way to become wiser with each book read is not to note the
intelligent quotes from them but to question and let your mind stir. Every book
should change something in you. It can make something in you stronger or just
break something strong in tiny bits.
5) Last but not the least, we are all scared of
being alone. We are all scared of leading a boring and not so happening life.
We are glued to social media peeking into life of others and wondering that why
is our life not as exciting as it seems for others. We are all scared of dying
with regrets, of things that we wanted to do, of choices that we wanted to
make. Books are an antidote for all these fears. One is never alone when in the
company of books. Books transport you to a different land, give you a chance to
lead a different life. Pick up any book which will take you to those unexplored
areas and live the experience. Grow old without regrets because it might be
difficult to decide the course of your life but you can decide the kind of book
you want to read.
“In books you travel, not just into other worlds but also
into your own”
Read as much as you can because there is no better asset
than to read and no better experience than to read. Fall in love not once but
everyday, be dramatic not once but everyday. And you will realize that your
real world will inflict less pain on you because you will always have the
fictional world to go into and enjoy every bit of it. Don’t be a third party
observer while reading, take part in the events of the book and you never know
in the quest of figuring out a fictional story you might figure out yourself,
discover your true identity because we all know that in our mind our own image
is bizarre.
“Books are the plane, and the
train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.”
– Anna Quindlen
- If even 10 people pick up the habit after reading
this, my work is rewarded.
- If you want help in figuring out good books to
read follow this link http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/20-books-that-will-change-your-life/
Written for a greater cause. XOXO J
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