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WHY READ
September 20, 2008Some of us love reading books; others just read for comfort or for entertainment of the moment. I, meantime, love reading just as much as writing. I started a month ago and I finished 5 already, most of them were English books. One was of Paulo Coelho (well, he has a new book out in the market although the one I really liked costs P700 so I opted for the other one which was half expensive, darn!) I also got a hand of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, which I really enjoyed! I would never lose fascination in poems written in Old English. They are mind boggling and very artistic.
WHY READ?
… because it makes you FLY. Peter Pan takes you by the hand and you soar. You circle the sky with tinkerbel and you begin to believe in fairies.
…because it makes you fight with valor and honor and with your greatest strength as you battle side by side with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, or with the vikings, or with the warriors of Sparta.
…because you sail with the nymphs under the waters of Poseidon, the God of the Sea, or you have the privilege of sharing the adventures of Odysseus in his voyages.
… because as you turn the pages of a book, you’ll hear the own words of Brutus talking about Caesar… or eavesdrop in the sweet call of Romeo to Juliet as he profess his hidden love…or be educated in the wisdom of Confucius or Plato or Socrates and learn about these great philosophers the world has ever known.
…because it makes you dine with kings and princesses… or the goddesses of Egypt, and if you are lucky, you can eat with the gods of the greeks and savor their ambrosia.
… because it makes you see the cruelty of Hitler, the oppression of the poor and see rummages of war. It makes you run in fear just like the casualties in many great wars fought long before you were born.
…in your books, you’ll meet angels and demons, of dwarfs and fairies, of spirits and ghosts, of vampires and wolves. And perhaps you’ll meet centaurs and unicorns, magic and spells.
.. because it makes you read the thoughts of Anne Frank in her diary or of Mother Theresa pleading not to take the life out of the innocent unborn.
… because as you browse through the pages of your favorite novel or book that interests you, you’ll see your own self reflected in the many characters of the stories that you read. And some of your confusion are shed with light, some fears are lightened and some of your dreams take flight.
… You begin to flap your wings and feel the strong wind as you soar like the hawks and eagles; you begin to breathe in water like princess Ariel and the mermaids; you sleep for thousands of years under a spell like princess Aurora; you die with so much pain seeing Romeo lifeless by your side immortalized in the novels of Shakespeare.
You read because there is so much to life that is unravelled through books. There you meet the characters created by the mind of Christian Anderson like the Frog prince. There you bathe in the Nile in Egypt like Cleopatra, you taste the juice of Ambrosia with Zeus and Hera, the gods of Olympus in Greek mythology. There you meet Annabel Lee of Edgar Allan Poe and witness their eternal love. And there, you might meet yourself reflected in their personalities.
You read because it takes you to wild imaginings. You climb with Jack on a Beanstalk; you ride and fight with Don Quixote; you meet the ragpicker of Og Mandino who tries to salvage lives of hopeless people and you’ll hear Og say “You are God’s Greatest Miracle.” And you see your life change because of what they all have to say.
Books tell us a fragment of who we are. We see our ideals in some of the inspirational works of Paulo Coelho; we understand life through the words of the Prophet Kahlil Gibran. We read a part of our lives in some of the stories because great literary pieces talk about universal experiences of love, hate, boredom, hope or hate. Theytell you of your own experience. Some of which you read comfort you, inspire you, educate you and entertain you. They sometimes move you to tears or exhilirate your feelings or give you some inspired thoughts. You dream with the authors, you travel with them and they allow you to join them in their wonderful journeys.
