[This is the enhanced version of a comment I made on
Kushalrani Gulab's HT blog post 'A new leaf' (16-Apr-09).]
I am head over heels in love with books. I find that different kinds of books appeal to one at different stages in life and also at different times of day depending on mood! For instance, I found history books (esp. textbooks) a pain in the neck when in school, but now go for them like mad. So much so, I read up the whole ‘War and Peace’ (which I used to find unreadable upto college), admittedly over a period of months while travelling, just for the historical references put in an interesting way. Have been intending to take up 'Freedom at Midnight' again, but haven't yet found the sliver of time.
Book snobbery may be something more put on than dictated by actual tastes. I read Hindi, Bangla & of course English books sometimes all in the course of a day, at different times. And I go through English classics of 18th century (Thomas Hardy is a favourite - the searing passions of 'Mayor of Casterbridge', the mix of humour & emotion in 'Far From the Madding Crowd'...) with as much voraciousness as a Harry Potter (I know all seven titles by heart, just as my 8-year old son does) or an ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’, ‘Art of War’ with as much interest as an Arthur C. Clark sci-fi (esp. the Rama series), or a Chetan Bhagat or other chick-lit (currently reading 'Almost Married' & 'BPO Sutra', and have put 'The Last Flamingoes of Bombay' on my queue in the online library). And this still leaves aside the whole of business literature like Peter Drucker. So, all books are only that, books - it’s your takeaway from them that matters.
It does sometimes gall to see the total lack of interest in most youngsters today towards reading (some of my nieces are an exception) but, hey, it maybe because they have other means. Like, we were all conditioned to think that books were our only source of information and solace, so we turn to them like trusted advisors. But today’s youngsters have so many other avenues, primarily TV but also video games (yes, they are reputed to improve motor skills) and other interactive playing devices with stories built in, and some such stories may even come with educational cues or ’shiksha’ built in. So, to each his/her own.
But yes, books have to be readable (after all, they’re supposed to be read, or at least seen if it’s on an e-book reader!). I would prefer a Malcolm Gladwell any day (even if I don’t agree with half his conclusions) rathen than a scholarly researched tome.
I am head over heels in love with books. I find that different kinds of books appeal to one at different stages in life and also at different times of day depending on mood! For instance, I found history books (esp. textbooks) a pain in the neck when in school, but now go for them like mad. So much so, I read up the whole ‘War and Peace’ (which I used to find unreadable upto college), admittedly over a period of months while travelling, just for the historical references put in an interesting way. Have been intending to take up 'Freedom at Midnight' again, but haven't yet found the sliver of time.
Book snobbery may be something more put on than dictated by actual tastes. I read Hindi, Bangla & of course English books sometimes all in the course of a day, at different times. And I go through English classics of 18th century (Thomas Hardy is a favourite - the searing passions of 'Mayor of Casterbridge', the mix of humour & emotion in 'Far From the Madding Crowd'...) with as much voraciousness as a Harry Potter (I know all seven titles by heart, just as my 8-year old son does) or an ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’, ‘Art of War’ with as much interest as an Arthur C. Clark sci-fi (esp. the Rama series), or a Chetan Bhagat or other chick-lit (currently reading 'Almost Married' & 'BPO Sutra', and have put 'The Last Flamingoes of Bombay' on my queue in the online library). And this still leaves aside the whole of business literature like Peter Drucker. So, all books are only that, books - it’s your takeaway from them that matters.
It does sometimes gall to see the total lack of interest in most youngsters today towards reading (some of my nieces are an exception) but, hey, it maybe because they have other means. Like, we were all conditioned to think that books were our only source of information and solace, so we turn to them like trusted advisors. But today’s youngsters have so many other avenues, primarily TV but also video games (yes, they are reputed to improve motor skills) and other interactive playing devices with stories built in, and some such stories may even come with educational cues or ’shiksha’ built in. So, to each his/her own.
But yes, books have to be readable (after all, they’re supposed to be read, or at least seen if it’s on an e-book reader!). I would prefer a Malcolm Gladwell any day (even if I don’t agree with half his conclusions) rathen than a scholarly researched tome.
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