Reading
 Reading
doesn’t always make a perfect man, I mentioned last year during this eve
in this column.
Just like days meant for father, mother and lovers, we have one whole
month for literature, and the following month for reading. They are
September and October, in case you have forgotten it. I don’t quite see
a difference between literature and reading. Apart from some hardcore
academic analysis, I don’t think this has a sensible difference.
For me literature is basically reading and writing, so to mean,
studying. It seems like we make a good noise about literature for the
whole September, and start reading only in October. At least one month
should be commendable, when we don’t read throughout the year, you would
say - I wouldn’t agree more with that.
Whether they read or not, our elders feel it is their duty to force
us to read. Some teachers and parents would not even mind what kind of
material we read through. They just want us to read, and that will do.
True enough, reading any kind of material enhances our power of
expression as well as literacy. But now things slowly take a different
shape. I came across a Sinhala book written by someone who holds an MA
in Sinhala. I would not mention the author’s name, because the book is
horribly full of mistakes. I was flabbergasted to the bone! I mean this
is someone who read Sinhala for her Masters!
 The
author didn’t seem to have a slightest clue on what subject and verb
agreement means. And her latest faux pas is a supplementary book on a
newly-arrived school subject. She plays the god, and let us hope god
save our poor pupils and students.
That’s not all. I have seen many English books published in parts of
here and India have mistakes in bulks. Yet they sell well without being
criticized or revised. I wonder what our grammar puritans are doing. Are
they bribed into keep mum, or what?
Our elders wanted us to read because they liked us to have a first
hand experience of ‘good grammar’. But I am afraid if modern parents
could ever take after that. A book exhibition means good news in the
offing, but we have many things to worry now - things are not quite all
right.
We buy any kind of books without having a second glance. Many books
are not innocent as they used to be decades back. They promote violence
and carnal desires without limits. And it does a very little to enhance
your language command too.
This again depends on the genre that sells best. Unofficial reports
claim translations rank first (well, put textbooks aside, they are
forced-purchases). For that reason, I have seen translations of books
like Harry Potter in bulks. But I would like to see more Sinhala books
in English.
This is another story, too sad. Most of the English translations are
full of bombastic errors and translators do not seem to be familiar with
language style or anything. They just lay down some formal style they
had learnt somewhere else. No one will ever digest their unconvincing
writings. I just checked the editorial team of such a translation: none
of the whole team has ever written a single article in English.
With all these around me, Paulo Coelho’s translators take me quite by
surprise. They are fast translators, yet the language is melodiously -
and astonishingly - simple.
Sales may show a positive trend this time in the book business. But
no one can be pretty happy that our reading level has gone up. To hope
something like that, we should get our authors to write down with
responsibility.
Well we have just arrived in September. So please be cautious in
picking the books in exhibition. I know you are going to spend
hard-earned money, so don’t just throw my caution to the wind!
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