From a good old book lover

The Hyderabad Book Fair is returning this year and will be held on December 17, 2014 by the Hyderabad Book Fare Society. On this occasion, we take a look at what lies in those forgotten pages. The warmth of a cup of coffee and the wafting smell of a freshly minted book are memories of the past.

Customers of bookshops and members of libraries are dwindling in numbers as modern gadgets and forms of communication have rendered books obsolete. At a time when the gist of any amount of information is crammed in lines and pictures, which in turn elicit responses in likes and retweets, books seem to have little to say to a generation with a 140-character attention span. So has the good old book gone for good?

J.K Rowling, the woman who gifted back an entire generation of Britain and USA the habit of reading, once said, if you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book. But not many of us give a bound experience of the learned a chance. At a time when great VFX in movies have hijacked our imagination, not many of even the elderly seem to let a book exercise their grey cells. So why even read anymore?

The advice ‘Reading sparks your imagination’ has been reused so much without any following evidence that it has now lost its relevance. On the surface level, endless rows of words without any aid of a picture seem drab when compared to a movie that readily provides a visual treat. Little do we know that nascent imagination is far more powerful than what is painted on celluloid after being passed through filters of making and editing.

What originated in the writer’s mind is therefore in the process dialed down. To experience it at its best, one can only be a reader. The endless rows may seem to be going nowhere. But a dose of patience and perseverance is all you need to bring your imagination to life.

So do we follow the existing book groups and start with a random suggestion? This has marred more readers than make. Very few actually read the books they praise. Corner a connoisseur or two and he would willingly admit in private. A good book is always simple to understand and says a lot without throwing big words at you. Don’t be fooled by sparkling covers or pretentious prefaces. These wonders often start quietly. But don’t turn them down as books even today give movies a run for their money.

Case in point is the Harry Potter series. Never before JK Rowling had the world witnessed kids queuing up merely for a book. What started off as the tale of a special boy with magical powers soon transpired into lessons of life woven intricately in a deeply engrossing plot.

People who previously grazed casually through prefaces and gist of books were suddenly found digging into hundreds of pages relentlessly. Hollywood benefited from the voracious appetite of readers and fed it further with a series of potter films that did little to impress the ones now hooked to reading. The new Game of Throne series has sent its followers into a tizzy. Book covers, launches and films are being extravagantly planned to lure the readers, who want to witness every version of the story possible.

If fantasy is not your flavour, try P.G Wodehouse for a good laugh and some witty humor. Ones like ‘The Help’ by Kathryn Stockett, ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ by Nelle Harper Lee or ‘Wild’ by Cheryl Strayed will inspire you and push you to look beyond your society, culture and limitations.

Several well known writers and enthusiasts have released their lists of greatest books to read. Try them without being taken aback by the volume and you will know what we secret book lovers are talking about. Most readers are disappointed with films made on books for a reason. The power of the word and the magic of imagination can never be shown to the eye; they can only pass from mind to mind with little loss of information. So go ahead and grab a book.

By:Mythili Sankara