October 30, 2010 @ 11:53 PM
Books really are powerful things. I never realised how powerful, how compelling, how totally important reading was till now to me. They're like my refuge from the troubles of this world, the things I turn to whenever things aren't going smoothly. People change, things change, the world around us changes, but books never change. Perhaps it's the predictability of them that attracts me, or perhaps it's the utter unpredictability within all the predictable boundaries. I mean, basically every book is about good vs. bad, be it within yourself, society, or whatever. But authors somehow come up with a million different ways to portray it, a million different ideas, a billion different characters, distinctly unique and characteristic of a seemingly different struggle that you never get bored of them, never stop reading their stories. And yet, they're about the same thing, the never dying theme of good and bad, of heroes and villians, of angels and demons, of light and darkness. Always the same thing, yet people never get sick of it. Why? It reflects human nature and character. And each person enjoys different books, preferences yes, but I also believe that it's also about how well a person relates to a character in the book, his or her situation, cos when you're able to understand and empathize, then the story will become truely real to you. Yeah, some people say that it's stupid to live in another world of people that are remotely unconnected to you and aren't real anyway, that there's no point in escaping from reality. But why not? Why confine ourselves to the happiness and sorrows of our little world when there can be far more possibilities to discover within books? They say that books are a source of knowledge, perhaps that is true, but I personally think that books are more of a pathway to a different world, a place for exploration and conquest and discovery. But then again, isn't that knowledge in itself? And for me, so what if people think that my obsession with books is just strange, is mad, is unhealthy and whatever. For me, books are the key to happiness, and since that is my utmost goal for myself and my life, why listen to the crowd and take away my own freedom and happiness?
Reading isn't my life, but it's what gives my life meaning.
