Read!

 

When I was in school, I think I liked the idea of reading, more than actual reading. There were a number of books I read because I wanted to impress myself that I had read them. I read Frankenstein, Catch-22, The Lord of the Rings, and others. I am not a fast reader. I can’t zip through a book like some people, but I tried to with these books. The result was that I did not get much out of them (other than the naughty bits in Catch-22). I checked them off my list, impressed with myself. But what were they about?

It wasn’t until I went to college and met my friend Vern, who instilled in me a love for reading, that my attitude changed. He introduced me to authors I had never read: Ursula K. LeGuin, Robert Heinlein, Walter M. Miller, James P. Hogan, and John Varley. His enthusiasm was infectious, and I found myself reading and actually enjoying the books. These books led me to new authors in the science fiction and fantasy realm.  Eventually I reread some of those earlier books and finding the depth of meaning between their covers. The world grew richer. I had a conversation with a woman once who said she never read books because they were too boring. She watched TV and movies. I thought, how sad. I have almost never seen a movie that grasped the richness and the feeling that one got from reading the book that it came from.

As an adult, I read a variety of genres. Nonfiction: history, science, biographies. Fiction: science fiction, fantasy, mystery, classics. I have even learned not to shy away from big books. War and Peace, which despite its length and the challenge of the Russian names, is a great book which I recommend. Read it for entertainment. Read it for elucidation. Don’t read it for prestige, because frankly, no one gives a crap if you’ve read War and Peace.  Read what works for you. I have read award-winning, highly regarded books that I loved, but also some of those were not so good. Just because critics liked it does not mean I will like it. To each their own.

But I think it is good for everyone to read, whatever they want to read. Even the silliest brain-candy of a book can expand your horizons. Reading can give you knowledge, but I think you can gain emotional knowledge too. It is good for the humanness of you. On the darker side, books have been used for nefarious purposes, to spread disinformation and propaganda. Books have also been political pawns, finding themselves banned in repressive regimes. I am not going to tell anybody what they should or shouldn’t read. I am just telling you to read.

Star Liner