“The book has to call out…”
May 12th, 2008 by Ashok
I found this blog post interesting for its mention of books “calling” out to readers.
I personally believe this is true, and that some deep instinct guides some of us to pick out certain books over others–I’m not talking about a supernatural ‘force’, mind you! Merely an intuition based on our present state of mind, past experience, various factors too complex to explain, but if you’ve ever experienced this kind of ‘calling’, you can’t deny its existence. Some of the best books I’ve ever read, I discovered this way. It’s the reason why I avoid bestsellers like the plague–even literary novels that are allegedly great literature but happen to be the hottest selling titles of the moment–and ignore the herd instinct that drives people to read books by ‘brand name’ authors, no matter how good those authors may be. If and when I do read the occasional such book, it’s usually years after its flash of fame and only if it ‘calls’ out to me; in short, I place instinct and personal judgement over media hype and critical acclaim always.
There’s also an old and powerful belief that the Ramayana ‘calls’ out to certain readers, and repels others. And that the epic mirrors your own state of mind at the time you read it, which is why some people are shocked when they reread the epic years later and find it evokes totally different reactions from the previous time. Like any great and ancient work, it becomes a slate on which we write our own interpretation, imposing it over all previous interpretations (but often merely repeating them) in a constant palimpsestic process that continues over generations and eons.
Those are some of my thoughts on reading this simple but charming blog post…
Originally posted by a reader named Nix from Mumbai on a blog alp-viram.
‘Books padha karo, it’s a very good habit’…I’m sure every one of us has heard this phrase thrust in our faces (maybe in varied languages) hundreds of times. I’m not going to deny or try to contradict the truth in that. But yes, I am going to try to bring to light the fact that it’s easier said than done (among other random comments I’m going to make).
I do believe that a lot depends on the childhood phase of our lives. You can’t expect someone who has never read any book other than what the curriculum prescribes to suddenly grab a book and become an ardent reader. It takes grooming, developing taste, identifying the genre that you enjoy the most, etc etc. It should not be a one day, one week, one month or a year stint; you have to keep at it. You have to, like I mentioned earlier develop the habit, groom yourself.
From what I have noticed, I believe there are 3 kinds of readers. First, those who enjoy reading in their free time. Then there are those who I like to call ‘compulsive readers’. These are the ones who HAVE TO read everyday. They take special efforts to find time to read something or the other. They are the ones that are truly very passionate. There are also those readers who read only the ‘best sellers’ or maybe just one series or author. Well I didn’t find them worthy enough to dedicate a category to them. There is also another kind of readers, but frankly I haven’t come across many who belong ‘purely’ to this category. These are the ones that randomly walk into a bookstore, look around the store, spend over a couple of hours looking for a book, not knowing what they’re looking for, and might even walk out of the store without picking up anything. They can’t read any book, unless that book ‘calls out’ to them. Its not that they have to find the book interesting…no no no…the book has to call out to them, the reader has to identify a bond with the book. They can’t read a book even if a hundred people tell them that a certain book is worth a read unless they identify the bond.
I know most of you are going to think ‘what nonsense’ or ‘its just an excuse to not read’…but those who have felt this bond, those who have experienced this feeling will know what I’m talking about.
In any case, I strongly believe reading should be developed as a habit. And I don’t mean comics or magazines. I mean reading ‘sound literary substance’. Maybe it is because I am very passionate about languages, be it English or Hindi. While we’re at the topic of books, and reading ‘sound literary’ books…I would like to recommend ‘the Ramayana’ series by Ashok Banker and if any of you fancy a good Hindi read, there is a collection of short storied callled ‘gadhyanjali’ (yes, all you ICSE students…our old text book). Happy reading!!!
