It is our belief that bookworms are born, not made. You know who we mean. The kid who sneaks in a paragraph when Mom’s back is turned. The child who devises an elaborate under-the-covers flashlight system because when it comes to sleep versus finishing a chapter, well, sleep isn’t all that important. The one who, despite her parents’ vehement arguments to the contrary, believes that reading outside is playing.
Rather than looking for inauspicious news, why not build upon the auspicious trends?
True bookworms are rare. If you are unfortunate enough to live with one, we’re sorry. All we can do is assure you that there’s nothing that can be done. There is no twelve-step program to cure reading addiction. You can try to take away the books. It’s a waste of your time and energy, but we won’t stop your fruitless endeavor. You’ll learn. Those stacks of books are a book lover’s security blanket. They are important.
More common are the casual readers. They might pick up a novel every now and then — they certainly pack a few when traveling. They might skim the newspaper when given a chance. They’ll certainly devour People while at the dentist’s office because there are certain time-honored traditions one doesn’t mess with.
Then there’s this whole weird strata of what we’re starting to call constant readers. All day long, they’re absorbing words, reacting to words, and ever responding to words. Many of those words, you probably don’t consider worthy of the name “sentence”. Most, you will argue, are not really read. They’re something else, but not read. And the responses to the words are not writing. They’re something else, but not writing.
Reading and writing are something else entirely, you say. You know this because you know this.
If you work in an office, try a little experiment. While pretending that you’re “stretching your legs”, wander around and glance at your co-workers’ computer monitors. Some, you will quickly see, are engaged in work, as your boss defines the terms. Many, you will notice, are engaged in displaying web pages filled with news articles and other text-based information. Most of it will likely be non-fiction, sure.
Studies come and go. Some say reading is increasing among this demographic or that. Others say it’s the end of the reading world as we know (and the non-readers feel fine). The truth is somewhere in that area commonly known as gray. Teenage girls have been devouring novels since time immemorial*. They’re continuing to do so. Teenage boys, who understands the mind of the teenage male? We do not, but we have seen them hanging out in the bookstore on Saturday afternoons. Presumably some of them are there to check out the books.
There is a generation growing up reading and writing and flying under the radar of the establishment. It’s like they’re developing all these skills and nobody is noticing. Maybe it’s because those who would normally notice are busy decrying the decline of reading in America. Maybe it would be better to notice that there’s a whole lot of reading (and writing) going on. Maybe it would be cool if all these youthful hijinks were channeled into even more wholesome activities. Think of how lovely it would be if the kids who read blog postings and text messages and online news and other information were given fiction that comes to them?
Keep ’em off the streets, it would.
There is a time for hand-wringing and a time for action. Rather than looking for inauspicious news, why not build upon the auspicious trends? Kids today are reading and writing. They’re doing what you’re asking; now it’s time for the grown-ups, those worried souls, to put on their thinking caps and figure out how to take these activities to the next level. “If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountain…”
* – Not really true. Humanity very clearly recalls the first instance of a novel. It’s been a teenage girl thing ever since.
9 responses so far ↓
SusanGable // May 10, 2007 at 7:24 am
“There is no twelve-step program to cure reading addiction.”
Susan G., A True BookWorm from Way Back
Mark Long // May 10, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Once of the saddest things my wife and I saw at a bookstore recently was a woman walking up to her young daughter, who was sitting in a chair engrossed in reading a book, to impatiently say, “C’mon already. You can’t have your nose stuck in a book your whole life!”
Brian Hadd // May 10, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Blogging calls up me, Kassia and other booklovers–can we bring “casual readers” here? How?
The Hood Company
Dan Brown // May 10, 2007 at 5:44 pm
If they get you while you’re young, there is no cure. You’ll be addicted to a good piece of literature for the rest of your life.
(Yes, i too was one of those kids who devised a torch system to read under the covers 🙂 )
Christine Whitlock // May 11, 2007 at 11:44 am
“You can try to take away the books. It’s a waste of your time and energy, but we won’t stop your fruitless endeavor. You’ll learn.”
Too true. That’s when bookworms start reading ingredients labels on medicine bottles, or the backs of cereal boxes. Desperate readers will even read the French portion of the directions for their hair-care products.
You’re right, though. Teens ARE reading, more than ever, and not just blogs and texts. They’re reading Harry Potter and some of the best young adult fiction is being gobbled up. But the media hates painting teenagers in a positive light, and it’s way more fun to point to video games and say, “WOE! Kids today! They sit inside and play video games and become violent miscreants instead!”
Kassia Krozser // May 11, 2007 at 9:45 pm
I am delighted when fellow bookworms show up. It’s like solidarity. For the record, I am indeed all of the examples cited in my lead. The only place I cannot read — much to my everlasting regret — is the car. I am always the driver because being the passenger without something to read is near-impossible.
You can have your nose stuck in a book your entire life. As long as there are no obstacles in front of you, it’s all good. I should note that by reading , I do not always mean a physical book. Some of our fellow humans come from a gene pool that still subscribes to the oral story tradition. Fans of books-on-tape (CD, MP3?) are related to the original fans of the story.
How to bring in the casual reader? Give them something that captures their imagination. Tell a story, remember that the story is not always what you think. Be relevant. Be, most of all, readable and interesting.
It’s all quite simple!
As for the one who suggests that desperate readers read the French portion of the hair-care products, well, some of us took beginning French for six years in a row. We need to pretend we learned something. It’s not like we’re trying to fake our way through the German instructions!
J.S. Peyton // May 15, 2007 at 10:01 am
“How to bring in the casual reader? Give them something that captures their imagination. Tell a story, remember that the story is not always what you think. Be relevant. Be, most of all, readable and interesting.”
So true! I’m a lifelong bookworm myself (my mother still recalls how unlike other children who liked to hang in the toy section when they went to the store, I liked to loiter in the book section, but children’s books, of course : ). But I always tell those tragic people who say, “I don’t like to read” or “I don’t like to read a lot” one simple thing: “You just haven’t read the right book.” There’s a book (more than one most certainly) for everyone; you just have to find it.
Christine Whitlock // May 17, 2007 at 1:21 pm
“As for the one who suggests that desperate readers read the French portion of the hair-care products, well, some of us took beginning French for six years in a row. We need to pretend we learned something. It’s not like we’re trying to fake our way through the German instructions!”
I’m utterly guilty of faking my way through the French sections…I took Italian in high school and college.
booktwo.org Notebook » Stop Press for May 16th through May 23rd // May 23, 2007 at 5:34 pm
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