Wednesday 24 October 2012

Something to Say: Reading, Real Horrorshow

Once upon a time...
When I was little, my aunt used to read me stories before I went to sleep every night. I grew up with Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl and Lyra Silvertongue and Sally Lockhart and Sabriel and Sephy Hadley and Eragon and Lestat de Lioncourt and Richard Sharpe and Alex; defeating all manner of evil magicians and banishing the undead and casting spells and being cruel to be kind and drinking milk with knives in it - real horrorshow, like. What I'm trying to say is that I am an avid reader, and can lose myself in a book for hours.

Roar!
 In my personal experience, reading cures a multitude of ills. Not only does it offer escape, but also a way to advance in the physical (first) world. Reading helps to develop language and vocabulary and concentration and imagination. It can inspire and excite, or offer a quiet refuge. It can calm. Many a time, when miserable, I have turned to the pages of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire - my copy of which is now very well-thumbed, the spine beautifully lined.  Just the first few lines serve to soften my temper. 

The cause the Concerned Bloggers' Association is championing this month is reading. I guess that, in today's society, it's easy for reading to slip down the priority list. Everything is 4chan and Facebook and the Disney Channel - and Second Life! -, the here-and-now generation who can update their statuses whilst tweeting whilst playing Grand Theft Auto on the Xbox and uploading a game stream live to Youtube. They wait for everything to come out on film - they don't necessarily want to sit down and read a book.

...magic!
That's a blanket statement - there are plenty of children and young adults about today who like to read. I know this. But having grown up with two younger brothers who are so typical of the here-and-now generation I described, I know that there are plenty who do not make the time to read a book. I appreciate that such isn't always their fault - or anybody's fault - and some people just don't take to reading. And that's fine - but you can never get away from it completely.

But that's why reading is so important. Now, more than ever, a book can offer a slower pace, a bit of space, and a chance to appreciate and enjoy the language we spit out every day without even thinking about it.

The End.
So read anything. Novels. Short stories. Manga. Poetry. Limericks. Newspapers. Blogs. Journals. Essays. Research papers. Emails. Cereal packets. Signs in streets and bus shelters and on the side of buses and taxis and, I don't know, buildings. It doesn't matter what you read so long as you read something, take in those words, see them in action.

 This Public Service Announcement was brought to you by the Concerned Bloggers' Association. If you would like to become involved, please contact Marleen Vaughan for more information. 
(I'm sure she'll take her head out of her comic to answer you :))

Thank you to Salix Southpaw for posing for my photo. So much fun <3 (and some singed eyebrows, but who needs eyebrows?!)

6 comments:

  1. I have to admit I used to read far more than I do now, but I am enjoying Game of Thrones!
    Youngest brother has finished his last book and tells me I owe him one, I don't know which one I think it may be the latest Rick Rhiordan, but I await his update before I purchase on his behalf...I love that he is now reading as you do. Now we just to get the middle one in on the act and we will be laughing....

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  2. Good, I'm glad. And ha ha, I owe him one, too, so let me know which other he wants next? One at a time, lol.

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  3. Love, love, love this blog of yours Kitti! This has to be by far one of my favourite posts you've written so far! Couldn't agree with you more <3

    P.s The pics look awesome, love the angle you went for with the Salix one <3

    Always a pleasure, much fun! ^.^

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  4. I WILL take my head out of the comic to answer ANY question anyone has - you silly goose! hehehe OXOXOXO

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  5. Aww Marls, I know! I just wanted to put a link into my post for your comic post! Comics are not something I know much about. I read the Hellsing manga, lol, and that's about it! And I looooove Batman. So.

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