See
that alliteration in the title up there? You see it? Yeah, I know. You’re
impressed. Anyways, the other day I was scrolling through Facebook and a
picture caught my eye. Since I’m a massive super geek, I like a few pages on
the book of faces that have to do with reading and being a bookworm, etc. Nerdy
stuff like that. Anyway, the picture was very simple, just a quote from Oscar
Wilde, the author of The Importance of
Being Earnest (among other things).
Now,
Earnest is currently the only piece
of Mr. Wilde’s I've been exposed to thus far in my seventeen years, but I am a
one of those people who is obsessed with quotes and I've seen a lot of his
quotes that really speak to me, including this one. When we read, we are being
influenced. In his book On Writing,
Stephen King declared reading as a type of telepathy—the author is at their
desk, writing to you the reader in the future and you are having a meeting of
the minds across time and space. It’s pretty cool when you think about it. But
our reading choices say a lot about us. If you spot somebody reading a copy of Crime and Punishment just out in every
day life (not including school) you’re probably going to assume that that
person is really smart and probably knows it. Just like the clothes we wear,
the books we are seen with say a lot about our personality to the world. While
many people understand this fact, they don’t seem to truly grasp how much
reading influences you and your way of thinking. Like Mr. Wilde says, “It is
what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you
can’t help it.”
Let’s face it.
No matter how much we like reading, we've all moaned about at leas one book
school has forced us to read for English class. While we need these works of
literature to be exposed to great writing, to be in ‘the club’, and other
Cartyisms, it is just as important to read outside of class. The book you
choose to read in your free time tells you that you are willing to sacrifice
precious time and brain power to experience that story. The thoughts, choices,
and actions of a character or author influence us as much as real people do.
When somebody hangs out with a certain group of people, don’t you notice how
that individual’s mannerisms and even beliefs start to change, even if it’s not
on purpose? We've all seen this happen. Characters in stories are just like
real people; they talk, they have flaws, they make mistakes, and they have
ideals and beliefs just like people in real life do. That’s why it’s important
to choose wisely when you visit a book store or library. The characters in
between those pages are real, because they have the power to change you, which
is a power that shouldn't be taken lightly.
