Books you read when you were younger
What are some books you read when you were younger that made an impact on you? Even comics? I loved reading Calvin and Hobbes!
The idea that we have this tool, this form of expression in which we can connect with others on a deeper level is fascinating. Its in the stories that are told, the way in which characters flow out of a page and into your mind, where they can become real. When I first read "Crime and Punishment", I was thirteen years old. I remember imagining what Raskolnikov actually looked like. I pictured a handsome yet waifishly thin young man who carried the weight of the world in his face. He became real and I became entrenched in his story. That's the power that good writing has.
I've always held a deep appreciation for those gifted enough to make that connection. It's why I shower some of you AP'ers with praise, which is never hollow on my part. I truly admire the ways in which you use words to express yourselves and, consequently, allow me to get lost in your 'ideas' (some of you, hah)
Writers are not appreciated enough. In the grand cultural scheme, we have replaced them with politicians and porn stars. And if they are appreciated, it is solely for their commercial value and how well their books can translate into box office gold. We don't care for the stories, the mechanics of the language or the subleties of characters. We stopped appreciating writers in the exact same way that we stopped appreciating philosophers and teachers. But we forget that these people are our saving graces. Where would we be without the classics works of the greats from Dickens to Doestevsky. From the great poems of Rumi to the liberating works of Maya Angelou, it's always been about the evolution of the writing process and the celebration of those who reveled in it.
In this digital age, I feel like our attention spans can not tolerate a good story anymore. Like, I left 'Lord Of The Rings' because I couldn't bare to continue after the first few pages.We want instant gratification and we want it now. Most people would rather see the movie version than actually read the book it's based on. And everybody knows that the movie is never as good as the book. A good book requires a nightly commitment, one that many of us don't want to make. You see, a good book will make you think or analyze. A good author can take you to places you've never been before, thus forcing you to use your imagination. You know, imagination, that thing you abandoned as a child. At the very least, you might learn a thing or two. Hell, you might even be forced to reexamine a previously held belief. And nobody wants to do that because it's far too much work.
And so an appreciation for the brilliant writer gets lost in the mix of it all. That's how we get people like the Hiltons, both Paris and Perez, cracking Bestseller lists. What a damn shame. Anyway, I'm ranting! That wasn't the point to this topic....
So, what books did you read while growing up? Is there a specific book that has made an impact on you or pushed you to want to read more often? Literature you've connected with most? Changed a belief of yours?
Bloody hell. I've written a life story and still there's ten years to go before Iftar.
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Originally Posted by queen bee
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