Friday, September 01, 2006

Sharing Nugget #20

#20: Reading can be Therapeutic

Before recently, my ratio of fiction to non-fiction books is 1 to 100.

I never saw the need to read them.

Then I found a book, “Lord of the flies”, lying on my sister’s table. I picked it up and glance at the synopsis. Whoa! The plot is screaming with potential. I found out in a while that it is written by a Nobel Prize for Literature Winner, William Golding.

Now that I have more time to myself, (and my wife – whom I have met for dinner almost every evening), I decided to read a few classics. I have tons of non-fiction heavy reads – enough to fill 2 big cupboards - but precious few fiction books.

So I trotted the book stores looking for a good read.

And behold, I found a literature classic, “The old man and the sea”. It is only 99 pages long. I was mesmerized by it. I felt good in the company of a genius; and was humbled by the mastery of story telling. Its harder to write a short story than a long one. I couldn’t put it down.

I begin to understand the merits of reading across genres. After working through heavy current affairs books and papers for years, this introduction to fiction writing came as a fresh breeze.

The style of describing the atmosphere and bringing out the details makes it worthwhile to dedicate time to read - instead of just watching a movie. Ernest Hemingway’s “Old man and the sea” is extraordinarily rich in details, thoughts and the emotions. Respect.

I will find more fiction gems to read. (My modules require me to read non-fiction anyway – so I still have a balanced diet).

I have discovered that reading does not have to be tedious and heavy.

Reading can be therapeutic.

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