on reading [unedited]
unedited musings after reading Neil Gaiman's superb lecture on the power of reading and libraries
Today I came across this great article from The Guardian that summarizes a lecture given by Neil Gailman on “Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming”.
The excerpt below left a profound impact on me.
“I believe we have an obligation to read for pleasure, in private and in public places. If we read for pleasure, if others see us reading, then we learn, we exercise our imaginations. We show others that reading is a good thing.
We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future.
We have an obligation to read aloud to our children. To read them things they enjoy. To read to them stories we are already tired of. To do the voices, to make it interesting, and not to stop reading to them just because they learn to read to themselves. Use reading-aloud time as bonding time, as time when no phones are being checked, when the distractions of the world are put aside.
We have an obligation to use the language. To push ourselves: to find out what words mean and how to deploy them, to communicate clearly, to say what we mean. We must not to attempt to freeze language, or to pretend it is a dead thing that must be revered, but we should use it as a living thing, that flows, that borrows words, that allows meanings and pronunciations to change with time.”
I think about how my childhood is surrounded by book and libraries.
Growing up, my father, a lawyer with a deep love for writing, surrounded himself with a wealth of literary gems. His bookshelves became my personal retreat, a place where I would lose track of time as I delved into the world of stories of Nguyen Nhat Anh and To Hoai, plus the translation of classic novels like those of How the Steel was Tempered and Count Monte Cristo. Those moments of exploration ignited my passion for reading and self education.
In primary school, we had something called “Library Hour” in our weekly curriculum, where the teachers blocked around 1.5 hour once a week getting us to freely explore the school library. I remember I and my friends would stay at the Manga section the longest, devouring Detective Conan and Than Dong Dat Viet series. I would also enjoy atlases and encyclopedias; those encyclopedias were huge and heavy, and so so informative!
And in high school, to prepare for the National Excellent Student Selection Exam for Literature, the teacher would have us read a bunch of international literary classics. And I remember getting a bunch of them from the Book Festival (“Ngày Hội Sách“) of my city for a great price, and almost devoured all of them during the summer. I didn’t end up getting selected for the National team, but I had really enjoyed the reading, not only for exam preparation but also for pleasure.
Each one of these books I read was all formative to my young mind. Like Neil Gaiman passionately argues, reading for pleasure not only ignites our imaginations but also demonstrates to others the joy and value of literature. I hope our future children can inherit not only that wonderful joy, but also a world where everyone is a reader, thinker and dreamer.
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This post is part of a 7-day writing challenge of Mở’s Writing On The Net Alumni Community! Let’s see if I can write consistently :”)
#wotnalumni
See you soon!
Anh.