At some point or another, someone has likely tried to convince you to read a book – or books in general – by telling you that, by reading books, your life will somehow be transformed. Educational institutions in particular have often taken up a similar narrative, emphasizing the mystical power of books to change the life of the reader. My favorite writer, Ernest Hemingway, once said that, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” Publisher and writer William Feather once said that, “Books open your mind, broaden your mind, and strengthen you as nothing else can.” We’re often guided into thinking that books change lives in desirable ways.
As motivating as quotes like these can seem, they’re not very effective at convincing many people to read. Not because people don’t want the benefits books supposedly offer, but because they assign to books capabilities that are exaggerated almost beyond the point of believability. Books will not be your friend. Go to campus events, and you’ll be more likely to find a good friend. Reading a book will never make it “easier” to read books more consistently. Sure, reading will help you familiarize yourself with vocabulary, but it will always be a task more difficult than listening to music, streaming a podcast, watching television, or playing a video game. It’s time to leave behind the message that books will transform your life. They won’t! Only your reflections about experiences in the real world can transform you or make you a different person.
Reading isn’t magic—it’s reflection. Even though he exaggerates, William Feather was right to say that reading broadens your mind. When you read, as novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafón said, you look into a mirror and see in books “what you already have inside of you.” How could this be so, you might ask, when you have no knowledge of Alexander the Great or whatever the content of the book you’re reading is? It is so because it is only the minor goal of reading to gain the exact information that a book presents. The primary goal of reading is to interpret the information presented by exercising the brain’s thoughts, perceptions, and understanding. Reading would be pointless if it could only give us the information in the book. Without committing to interpretation and applying the information to ourselves and our understanding, we would have absolutely nothing to do with the information, like a computer that reads an expression without any instruction. You make the book meaningful, not the other way around.
Reading is undeniably important, and I wouldn’t dare say otherwise. Literacy can help us understand almost anything. We have even given the title of “literacy” to the measure of understanding about almost anything: an internship might inquire as to your level of financial literacy, for example. But, especially as online courses and content flourish, it has become more difficult to think of these literacies or competencies as essentially tied to reading and books. A website or a video and a book seem entirely distinct. They are, this I won’t deny, but it’s important to consider the breadth of the term “book.” To learn more about how “book” applies to many more forms of information than just codices, see Amaranth Borsuk’s keyword essay, “Book,” in the third edition of “Keywords for American Cultural Studies.”
Don’t give up on reading. It can be really boring and frustrating, and for that reason it can seem logical to conclude that, if reading is magically transformative, a book’s magic just isn’t meant for you. Do not get down in this way—there is no book magic for anyone. Reading, like going to the gym or maintaining a good diet, is all about committing to a habit, and habits are far from magic. They require commitment and attention, no matter how long they’ve been held. Try committing to a book this spring or summer, and reflect on whether you enjoy it. In this reflection—and not in book magic—you will find a path towards transformation.
Junior Charlie Burns is the Editorials Editor. His email is cburns1@fandm.edu.