I grew up in a family with lots of books, Dad being and English professor, Mom a librarian. I have a small house with bookshelves in every room except the bathroom. It’s an addiction of mine. Currently working through the works of Louise Erdrich and other indigenous writers. Of course I was raised long before computers were popular—‘50’s and ‘60’s. People who don’t read don’t know what they’re missing: escaping from present reality into the past, into the future, into the imagination, into what makes or made some of our well-known folks (RBG,Lewis, for example) tick. I still have the copies of my mother’s Now We Are Six, my copies of the Pooh books with my crayon marks there, Mom’s copy of Alice in Wonderland; my third copies of Tolkien’s trilogy and over 2 bookcases of sci-fi. Reading is both a pleasure and an escape, and if you have young ones, reading to them can be an exercise of bonding with them they aren’t going to forget. If you have to hold a computer in your hands, there are many books online. To me, and I agree that in this I may seem old-fashioned (an old hippie), books are an escape, information, a learning tool, humor and more. And in these days, some good fantasy and escapism is needed!
I loved reading growing up - loved the local library, just a few blocks from my home. No matter where I was, I could escape into the pages and world of a book and be free for a few moments. Seeing the books by authors I enjoyed growing up face censorship - removal from libraries - makes me sad. And yes, kids still read - maybe not as much, and in many cases, not entire texts - but there are still kids who read, and for whom the library is a place of connection for a world beyond.
„For many, books are the escape hatch.“ For me too. And besides, I could immerse myself in worlds that I would never have been able to visit in real life. Additionally, books are a great help in avoiding narrow-mindedness.
This is a great article!!!
I grew up in a family with lots of books, Dad being and English professor, Mom a librarian. I have a small house with bookshelves in every room except the bathroom. It’s an addiction of mine. Currently working through the works of Louise Erdrich and other indigenous writers. Of course I was raised long before computers were popular—‘50’s and ‘60’s. People who don’t read don’t know what they’re missing: escaping from present reality into the past, into the future, into the imagination, into what makes or made some of our well-known folks (RBG,Lewis, for example) tick. I still have the copies of my mother’s Now We Are Six, my copies of the Pooh books with my crayon marks there, Mom’s copy of Alice in Wonderland; my third copies of Tolkien’s trilogy and over 2 bookcases of sci-fi. Reading is both a pleasure and an escape, and if you have young ones, reading to them can be an exercise of bonding with them they aren’t going to forget. If you have to hold a computer in your hands, there are many books online. To me, and I agree that in this I may seem old-fashioned (an old hippie), books are an escape, information, a learning tool, humor and more. And in these days, some good fantasy and escapism is needed!
Yes. This slow movement away from reading and books is certainly sad.
I loved reading growing up - loved the local library, just a few blocks from my home. No matter where I was, I could escape into the pages and world of a book and be free for a few moments. Seeing the books by authors I enjoyed growing up face censorship - removal from libraries - makes me sad. And yes, kids still read - maybe not as much, and in many cases, not entire texts - but there are still kids who read, and for whom the library is a place of connection for a world beyond.
„For many, books are the escape hatch.“ For me too. And besides, I could immerse myself in worlds that I would never have been able to visit in real life. Additionally, books are a great help in avoiding narrow-mindedness.