Reading: Pain or Pleasure?

I asked my friend whether she has read the book that is currently hitting the bestseller lists. She asked me if I was crazy. "Reading books is social suicide," she said. Actually, what she had said was on the minds of most of today's youth. Why read when you can watch the movie? Why spend do much time thinking and trying to understand the depth of the book when you can read the summary on the Internet? I have answered these questions: the value of a book is not in its length, but in its meaning; the words will be etched in your mind for a very long time, maybe even forever. You can always learn something from a book. Reading should be for pleasure, and today's youth is lacking this opinion. Here are some ideas that can change that.


The love for reading should be developed at a very young age. Children, as they are learning to read, should be guided carefully through the path of knowledge since they can easily stray; the distaste for reading in general is often passed on by the main teacher- the parent. Children do what they think is right, what they see at home. If parents encourage reading, children will develop a natural fondness of books. As the children mature, the books they read will become more and more sophisticated. By the time those children become adults, they will be capable of passing on what they have learned from their parents: reading that is welcomed.


The reading spectrum of children, especially teenagers, should be broader. The books assigned for reading at school, even though educative, are often boring, and therefore avert students even more. “De gustibus no est disputandum,” was once said. About taste we cannot discuss. Everyone is different. What might appeal to one may repel another. That’s how many genres appeared. Because many students do not read anything else than what is assigned by teachers, the books that are assigned should sometimes be more about fun and relaxation than about education. That could be a way for the students to develop the love for reading they lack.


Reading is good; it always has been, it always will. A good book can take you to a beautiful world not present in reality. After all, don't we all want to live in a fantasy world from time to time? "Some books should be tasted, some should be devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly." Those few that Cornelia Funke is talking about are the ones that matter; the ones that will change the way of thinking of the majority, that will improve it. Ever since the dawn of time, people have written books to express their emotions, theories, beliefs. No man knows it all; to gain the knowledge, one must gather it from many sources. Reading gives us knowledge. Knowledge means power. Keep on reading.