Reading is the art of listening to words. It is listening to words written on paper, a mobile screen, boards, or sounds while speaking. Decoding each word creates its own world to explore and experience. People have different opinions on the topic of reading. Each individual perceives it to be different from one another. For some, it is a gateway to imagination and creativity; for others, it is a form of escapism; for others, it is a means for developing a skill, while for a few, it is a space for introspection and growth. The words on the page come to life as we visualize the characters, settings, and events described by the author.
Here are some stories from strangers about their experience with reading:
“Reading for me is formally for the purpose of education and language,” said one person. Reading is a forced experience in life, where one is forced to read to understand topics and learn. It is a must-do for the purpose of education. but moving forward, the word reading took a different shape of its own in different minds.”
“Reading fantasy gives me a lot to imagine, a lot more to think on, and a lot more to vent my energy on,” said Amit, another colleague, whom I interviewed for this story. Fantasy was the genre that was preferred by most people during the course of interviews.
The opportunity to think beyond the boundaries of the present world and to imagine a world with magic, chants, and spells has its own unimaginable pleasure for the minds of readers. At a young age, Amit started his reading journey with J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter,’ which later moved on to Rick Riordan’s ‘Percy Jackson.’
Amit shared about how much of an obsessive reader he was of Harry Potter. The set of books he would never let go of, even in the midst of exams and work.
Rose talked about Leigh Bardugo’s ‘Six of Crows and Sarah J. Mass’s ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses.’ The feeling of transportation to different realms, immersed in rich, vivid imagery ignites the worlds of imagination. This is how she explained reading a book about an unknown world.
Young adult stories, which are later adapted into movies, are the next thing on the list that people prefer. John Green’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ Stephen Chbosky’s ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower,’ Jennifer Niven’s ‘All the Bright Places,’ and Five Feet Apart’ have topped the list.
When asked as to what they preferred, the movie or the book, most of them picked the movie, while a few chose the book. But the intriguing part of the question was formed when one replied, “I prefer both movies and the book; often I prefer to read the book first, then watch the movie, and later revisit the book again with the revealed images of the characters.”
Sometimes getting a face to imagine and relate the story gives way to incredible fan art.
There are many different reading genres that one can explore and enjoy. A few examples are non-fiction, literary fiction, mystery or thriller, romance, science fiction, historical fiction, young adult, contemporary fiction, horror, biographies, and autobiographies.
To conclude, one can safely say that reading is a form of art that profoundly affects people’s brains, hearts, and souls. It is seen as a skill that many people nurture and celebrate, adding worth and enhancing one’s own life and the one’s world of imagination.
