A Decade and a Half Worth of Reading

I like to read. Reading for pleasure is one of my favorite pastimes. I recently realized that I have been reading for a little over 15 out of the 21 years of my life. But I don't remember enjoying reading until I was immersed into the fantastic world of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

That's right. I am one of those people. The people who love Harry Potter. I did attend Mid-night releases of books, and even was the 5th person to receive the 7th book at the Borders at Turkey Creek. However, I am not one of those people who freak out about it being real, or even really incorporate the books into my daily life, minus a few bits of trivia I throw out every now and then.

But I do love the Harry Potter Books. Mostly, I believe, because of what I learned from them.

When I was at Sacred Heart Cathedral School, my friend Nick introduced me to the first two books in the Harry Potter series. After finishing, I was eager for more stories. However, the third book in the series had yet to be released. So I dove head first into other worlds filled with action, adventure, love, tribulations, and anything else I could imagine. Literally the world was just a page turn away.

I believe that it was at this moment that changed my life for the better. Since being introduced to the Harry Potter books I have read hundreds (I only wish I was able to count) of books in a vast array of subjects. From the fantasy world of Harry Potter, to the Romantic Period of the Edmond Dantes in The Counte of Monte Cristo, to the political thrillers of Dan Brown and Tom Clancy.

People do not read for pleasure enough anymore. Sure, those who always have continue to turn the pages and search for new authors. But the younger generation, my generation, doesn't. They are too focused on instant gratification that they would be unable to wait 150 pages for the plot to make its first twist. They don't have the time to re-read chapters in order to understand one line better.

My evidence of all this rambling about young people my age: Emory & Henry College's sophomore English requirement, Great Books. Required for all students, this course includes works such as Hamlet, The Odyssey, Dante's Inferno, and several other classics of literature. I guarantee that for half of my class, these books were the first books they had read since grade school (actually these people didn't even read the books, Sparknotes.com did).

What will happen if people stop reading great novels? Or even crappy novels that we can lose ourselves in? I don't even want to know.

So stop reading this garbage from a rambling idiot, and go read a book.