The Reading Habit: the what and how of it all

Reading is good. But what to read? And how to read. Because there is so much to read.

The Bookworm - Carl Spitzweg 

What to read comes more easily to some. In some families, most enjoy reading. So each new member gets the habit.  Seeing adults reading for pleasure, the child imitates them even before learning to read, even holding a book, upside down, perhaps. In some families, if at all there are books, no one touches them. They are for show. But even these collectors of books are rare. Beyond books bought to pass an exam, there may be no other form of literature in the house. Some households have religious books but even in this scenario, few are those who actually read the scriptures. 

Not all those who merely collect books but rarely read them are unworthy cases. There is the famous Tsundoku and most of this set that I have met have merit. Somehow, just owning the right books makes a difference. However, most of the benefits of that mode can more easily and beneficially be obtained in another manner. 

Identify, first, what people say are good books to read. This is easy today: Type best books to read in the box on your search engine page and you will get many suggestions. Most will repeat certain books. Thus, you will soon see which books many say need to be read in a lifetime. 

But can you read so many books? 

Reading will never become a habit where reading speed is low. Here is a way to test your speed: Free Reading Speed Test. 

Once your eyes are trained to spend time with words, the brain automatically kicks into gear in time to make sense of what you read. And soon your eyes will pick out what is important in text as you skim over pages like the bird diving in and out the flower to extract honey. You will note that people who love reading do not find it difficult to consume books and, in no time, finish one and hunger for another.

Often, what stops people from reading in the first place is the question: why should I read? In fact, in many regions of the world, most families are illiterate and poor. In such a situation, it appears normal to consider reading a waste of time that should be spent doing something useful. Alas, such a consideration does not take into account the fact that books tell you all you need to know about almost anything. Reading provides you with all kinds of information about the world. Good books are like libraries or encyclopedias and give you a glimpse of the most important thoughts in the world. 

And, if you learn to love books, you are never really alone. What is more, reading makes you a more interesting person.

If you need a nudge, try Writer Rites on Facebook where I have curated some literary gems. You can also find such a feed on my Twitter account.   

Happy Reading, friends! 

Down the Rabbit Hole - Alice's First Adventure in Wonderland

Stories that I read early in life have walked me through thick and thin. Providing many useful messages to future selves. One of those tales is called Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 

I hope to walk you through the story from my perspective. We begin by going Down the Rabbit Hole

A little girl sitting beside her sister on a river bank sees a white rabbit hurrying past. That sounds quite natural but the rabbit has a waistcoat and is consulting his watch!

Illustration by John Tenniel

Alice follows the rabbit and falls down a rabbit hole. The fall seems to last forever - the feeling we have when we are about to drop off to sleep. In fact, I suppose we are to assume that little Alice has drowsed off in the pleasant heat of the day. And all that follows is but a dream. This is a good tactic to draw us into the story, to make us suspend belief so that we can expect almost anything. 

And the adventures that Alice has when she falls down the rabbit hole are absurd and beyond all belief. 

Before she reaches the bottom, she sees things on either side of the tunnel she's tumbling down: maps and bottles and bookshelves too. Though the fall is long, Alice talks to herself - a habit I'm sure many of us do to while away the time. Or has the habit gone since we talk on the phone to others all day long?

Upon landing she is faced with many passages and many doors. Which to choose? Is this not what we perpetually face?

Of course, in the marvellous insanity of the story, she finds a key! And so do we though there are few humble enough to confess to that serendipity in life.

Sure enough, Alice also finds a hidden door that the key opens. 

AnnaliseArt

Inside, she finds a Drink Me bottle. 

Illustration by John Tenniel

And that makes her very small. Which makes her rather sad as she can't reach things. But then she also finds an Eat Me cake - what will it do?

To find out, wait for my take on Chapter 2: The Pool of Tears ...

  

James Hadley Chase - Hardly Chased Today

 I cannot remember which I first read: a Raymond Chandler or a James Hadley Chase. Both write racy thrillers. However, while Chandler has received significant literary attention, posterity has not pursued Chase.  All I can proffer from memory is that, while Raymond Chandler had exquisite constructions which live on in the mind, the James Hadley Chase novels have not left much lingering.

Except for one story. It was in my early undergraduate years that I finally found my sort of friend. I lost touch with her after she left town to pursue studies in a big city. And I never quite found that kind of friendship later. But it was she who told me about Miss Shumway Waves Her Wand.

Naturally, a story about a bandit who becomes a sausage because of a curse and who is then eaten by a dog which then turns into a talking pooch is bound to fascinate. Well, let's admit that I have a taste for humour, for one thing. And, for another, whacky wit is irresistible to me. But it's not really everyone's cup of tea.  Most prefer the sensational tales of money hungry men and women and the bitter ends they meet.

That is what Chase basically offers (aside from the abovementioned sausage story). 

But who is Chase, you ask. Now, that is a charming story!

Like today's Lee Child, Chase was British. Like Child, Chase wrote about American gangsters. But how he came to do it is yet another fascinating tale. A salesman for books, Chase discovered that a particular novel was so well borrowed at the local library that it was always off the shelves. This gem was The Postman Always Rings Twice.

So Chase decided to pen some purple prose on his own and thus was born No Orchids for Miss Blandish. 

No Orchids for Miss Blandish (film) poster - Fair Use

And then he churned out one pot boiler after the other. Some were made into films but no one seems to rave about those. 

His novels were devoured around the world - India had or still has faithful fans. However, the Americans were not at all amused that a Brit made money out of their lurid lives. Oddly, the French have a fancy for Chase, it is reported. Which brings us to the similar phenomena with Harlan Coben. Whatever the je-ne-sais-quoi of a Hadley Chase, we must admit that the French have good taste.

At the end of the day, the proof is in the pudding. So why not nibble at a James Hadley Chase today? I bet you won't be able to stop till you devour the book and that you might not stop till you've munched through any Chase that you can find.