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Thursday 27 September 2012

Novels in Today's Society

The art of reading is dying out. People would rather flick through a trashy magazine than pick up a book or a kindle and read a good story. To be honest, I do like a quick look in those stupid magazines myself, but the interest I find in them is similar to slowing down the car to see if anyone died in the car crash on the side of the road. Personally I find this grotesque interest to be abhorrent, but nearly everyone does it. It all stems back to the roman times, when people used to go to the Circus Maximus to watch people die on the race track and be torn into pieces by lions. 

Unfortunately, we are humans, and this is human nature. Now that murder for entertainment is illegal, people have turned to watching celebrities being torn apart by the press for the smallest problem. Of course this would be absolutely fine, except that it is such a waste of time! We shouldn't give a crap about other people's fashion sense or hairstyle. It's just not worth it!

Instead we should be using our brains. With every interesting story we read, with every illustrative word, our minds learn something. People who read a lot of books are usually more intelligent, and it opens a lot of doors when you have an extensive vocabulary. Sometimes a craze catches on and everyone reads a certain book, but this happens maybe once every few years. Society needs to read all the time. Rather than watching soaps and chat shows on the television, do something meaningful and read a book instead!

Reading is an art; it shows you have a deeper comprehension of the world and its languages. Any story will help you learn a little something, whether a different culture, the extent of an author's imagination or a window into the past. In addition, the thought of a fictional tale sets your creative cogs turning. Some people have a very small imagination, but even just viewing a piece of art, a novel, a painting, a song... These all help to inspire your imagination.

I first started reading books at the age of five, and I still remember my first 'proper' book, the Borrowers by Mary Norton. Since then I've read so many I can't even begin to count them, but I know I've read every novel at home and most of the school library books! Nowadays I wake up in the middle of the night a couple of times, thinking that things I've dreamed are real. Sometimes in the mornings I walk around confused because I think that what I dreamed actually happened, and this occurs a lot more than I'm proud of!

I'm not trying to say that imagination is a nuisance. That's not my aim. I love creativity actually because I can  think of pretty inventive ideas for not handing in my homework or forgetting a duty... The fact is that most employers look for someone with a big imagination, not a dreamer who will stare out of the window all day, but someone overflowing with ideas who can help the company to flourish. This is the ultimate ideal that you should be aiming for. 

In our secular society where all we care about is money and the employment ladder, isn't this perfect for helping you achieve your goal? Therefore my advice to you is to close the magazine, turn off the television,  and find a book. There are billions out there, and all of them will help you to become a more interesting and educated person. 

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