… with words.

Little bit of a backstory:

A friend of mine got a job this year that requires her to travel 2hours every morning and 2hours every night. Yes - shes mad, I know! But there has been a wonderful outcome to her painstaking journeys, she has finally come around to the idea of reading books! She’s the type of person who’s used to visually experiencing a story through film or illustration, so the thought of actually reading seemed tedious - until recently!

So another friend and I have been recommending some of our favourite pieces of literature and I think its fair to say - shes falling in love! Or at least learning to enjoy a story… CLOSE ENOUGH!

But it also got me pondering, why are some of us are so drawn to written work rather than images on screen? Don’t get me wrong I love both to death, and my list favourite movies stretches as far as my list of favourite books! But theres nothing like a book to take you into another world in a way that film can’t.

Now to the main part of this post…

What is it about a book?

I could probably ramble on for hours about how much I love books, but for now - we’ll stick to keeping it pretty simple..

When opening a new story, you experience something so incredibly personal that even if you read the same thing as the person sitting next to you, its still a completely individual adventure. A great story is so immersive you can sometimes forget that its all fiction, a bit of genius from the mind of the author. I’ll freely admit that I’ve cried over several books purely because of being so trapped in the pace, the emotions, the beautifully written details flowing from page to page and becoming obsessed with stories for weeks on end.

Its escapism in its simplest form. No frills, just a way out of reality for a couple of hours (perhaps longer if its a really good read). We (especially girls) love a fairytale, a way to believe for a little while that the impossible is possible, and this is one of the ways we get around it. It works so well because the story depends solely on you - the reader - continuing to read, your pacing, your thoughts, your imagination! Its a subconscious sense of power, whether you realise it or not. Yes, you may not have a say on how the story ends, but you are able to witness it unfold in however way you want. You can make a villain seem like a victim, a hero can become a self coward, you’re left to fall into your own interpretations and this is what makes reading novels so thrilling. The writer isn’t there hanging over you as you read, they completely disappear - yes, you can admire or scoff at their technique or grammar, but after a bit of time easing into a book, they’re forgotten until you come out of the other end. 

So, before I get too carried away - to wrap up… What is it about a book thats so beautiful? Its the fact that no matter what is happening in your life, theres an escape - even for a while - that has the potential of being so fantastical and wild that it could impact your life in a way you never really expect from reality.

Enough with the cheese.

Until next time, darlings!

- H.G

Its been a crazy couple of weeks… so my  posting has been less than satisfactory… I’M SORRY! This is becoming a habit.

So, I may be cheating with this post (as its actually something I posted on Reddit a little while back concerning HP) but I thought it was relevant and worth blogging here too!

To cement my status as geek - parents are proud, I’m sure - I will admit that one of my many favourite books includes… the Harry Potter series. I do love it so.

We were introduced to it in year.. 4 or 5 at school once upon a time, and well - here we are. It may have no impacted my life tremendously in a physical way, but its always been there growing up, and I think its wonderful that its still being read and watched by new generations after mine. Because of my slightly obsessive passion for reading and love of literature, I love it when a book holds so many readers in a way sometimes real life can’t mimic (except Twilight… never Twilight >=[). And so… here is my thank you to JK Rowling:

With the books and movies completed, and Pottermore just around the corner…

I just wanted to say a simple thank you to Ms. JK Rowling.

For the world she gave to us, and for all the heart and soul she has put into it.

For paving the way for us to fall in love with reading again.

For bringing more than just a story to us.

For uniting so many individuals through love for her characters.

For wonderful role models to admire and for passion that we feel in every sentence.

For teaching us myths and legends and words so beautiful and poetic.

For giving my generation something that we can be proud to say we grew up with.

For magic.

For showing us unquestionable friendship and loyalty.

For letting us roam free in her imagination.

For all the laughter, tears, heart wrenching emotions she plucked from our beings.

We will continue to read and reread Harry Potter because there is so much to be found and explored and analysed. We will introduce it to those younger than us, to see them fall in love with a world so detached from their own and see the smiles form on their faces when they understand what is so great about Quidditch or Hogwarts or Hermione Granger.

Thank you Ms. Rowling. Thank you for more than just a book, a story, an adventure. Thank you for sharing something so undeniably magical and bringing inspiration back into literature.

New book to read: Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Its the first book of a trilogy that is centred around the First World War, Russian Revolution and the struggle for votes for women.

This buy was a very spur of the moment thing as all my unread books are still back in the flat and I seem to be too lazy to go get them. So ended up browsing (in Sainsbury’s of all places) the book section and came across a few that caught my eye, this being one of them. I like history but I seem to always concentrate on the Tudor period or the Second World War when it comes to reading, documentaries, period dramas, historical fiction. So this is my way of stepping out of those confinements but not by too big a leap.

I’ll keep you posted, but I have a feeling this book will take a while… at 850 odd pages and me finding limited windows of time to read… it may take about a month of my time… hopefully not.. I still was to get through The Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as a number of other things! Academic research is still waiting in the wings too…

Reading time kids..

xx

I finished The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice last week. It was very good. Liked it alot but Rice seems to have this gift for making me fall in love with fictitious characters… its her writing, the detail, the love of art they all share, the flow of the story, the emotion.

Yes, I may sometimes get a little into my reading, but why not? I’m always saying that we can’t always live in the real world!

Now I need another place to escape. Something different. Possibly more human… possibly.

Recommendations are always appreciated!

x