The festive Christmas week provides me reason to momentarily deviate from writing mainly commentaries on economic issues in this column. So, today, I pay attention to a topic that is unexpectedly different: On reading. (In this way, too, I send holiday greetings to my readers.)
“A nation of literates is not necessarily a nation of readers.” To some, the ultimate reward of leisure is peace of mind: restful use of time to enjoy. Reading is one such. A nation of readers is a nation of vigilant and knowledgeable literates. In our country, though the literacy rate is high, there are not enough readers among us.
Many know just exactly what I mean. The lack of readers among us shows easily when groups of persons are massed in public places. Imagine a scene such as when people are traveling and there is so much free time available for them, because waiting is a major part of the activity. We wait for plane check-ins, for bus and metro rides, for people we expect to meet. And then, we wait for hours traveling to reach our destination.
On such occasions, there is either much or little talk, food munching or sleep, or cellphone use or gaming, or, simply, blank expressions of bored people. It is a great rarity to see individuals focused on any reading material at all.
Similar settings in most developed countries produce a common thread: a substantial fraction of the people is oftentimes quietly engaged in their own activities – through reading. When people read, myriad minds function independently, with no one bothering any other.
As a country’s living standards improves, so grows the number of readers who comprise the nation. The quality of what they read improves as well. In these settings, literature flourishes. Writers and the arts abound and become more respected and, perhaps, they also become more prosperous, even rock stars or celebrities.
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“The choice of leisure space.” Most of us read because we have to learn. When we are young, we read mainly to learn. As we grow older, we might be wiser, and we read more to enjoy and relax. When time is our own, we use it for whatever comes to mind to make it worthwhile.
Reading is a habit of the mind. It cannot be forced on anyone. It is acquired practice resulting from freedom of choice .It is a personal indulgence. When one reads, it means the mind is occupied. It is a dual experience between the author chosen and one’s own attention span. Reading rewards its reader with the highest satisfaction because it comes from the exercise of free choice.
The point is, there are strong alternatives to the use of personal time or leisure. The modern world offers so many distractions to help one while away the time. We are susceptible to the trap of doing a lot of other things. We can listen to music, or better yet, play it. We can watch TV, or go to movies. Or simply search the internet endlessly. And then, of course, there is trivia.
“To each his own.” For me, reading is a great weapon for easing the mind, for relieving tension. When I read an entertaining book, I either learn something new or confirm some old beliefs. I like to read books of varying genre. The mood determines what pleases me at the moment.
Fiction literature is one great source of fun. This is more so if it is grounded in history. It should also be situated in actual places, countries, and institutions. Characters and great plots do not exist in empty space – they are linked with history and geography.
Just as a nation moves toward its destiny, persons to some extent determine their own destiny. An enriched life through reading benefits a nation, for a nation is a grouping of persons.
“My own reading path.” In public high school where I was educated, the only encounters I had with good literature involved assigned class work on George Eliot’s Silas Marner and Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Well-meaning school authorities drilled us on the study of Jose Rizal’s Noli and Fili in their Tagalog versions.
Though we admired Rizal the hero, in the hands of inadequate teachers, learning from his books was a personal torture. It would take many years later for me to fully comprehend the greatness of Rizal’s works as literature when I could read him on my own terms.
As a young undergraduate at the U.P., I developed an intense desire for more reading. The journey through literature was uncharted. Much of my reading was unstructured, guided to some extent by the list of books in the Modern Library series of Random House, the publisher of inexpensive classic works of literature.
Initially, the Main Library of the UP was my principal source of books for borrowing. Then, many more were supplied from the wider and fresher collections lent out by the Thomas Jefferson Library, then located at the Escolta in Manila.
These were the main procurers of my thirst for books during my undergraduate years. As I grew older, I also built a collection of books that I could afford to buy from my limited budget and earnings.
“Reading and re-reading.” Recently, in my advanced years, I have come to reread the old classics of my youth and I have also begun reading some of those books that I have missed.
The experience itself is surreal. It is almost like going back to old haunts, to your old emotional highs. Old memories are re-freshed , and sometimes, even old emotions. Reading the same book one more time many years later is an encounter between unchanging words in print by a person who has changed, who through the years has traveled the journey of life.
Rereading also puts new skills to test. To this extent, it also becomes more fun to learn more through new media. In my journey of self-improvement, I have managed to acquire a facility for a third, nay, a fourth language with which to understand the written word: the French language.
In my reading and rereading of the books from which I have learned so much, I also now read them in the French language (not without some struggle). Sometimes, the transcription of good passages in a new language improves understanding through a different light.
Happy New Year and good reading all year long!
My email is: gpsicat@gmail.com. Visit this site for more information, feedback and commentary: http://econ.upd.edu.ph/gpsicat/
