Reaching for the best of 2009
On December 31, my friend texted me a list of his favourite works in
2009. With short stories and poems in both Sinhala and English it was
altogether 12. To me it seemed big and fresh. No one I ever knew has
done it before, (I heard Kushvanth Singh still has that habit, but the
thing is I don't know him personally). It's an awesome job, I commented
while wishing him a happy new year.
He said it was very hard to shortlist the works. Of course it should
be, since I know he is such an fanatic reader. He reads 200 when I
manage to read only 100. So I lag behind him in the reading battle.
Anyway I asked him to note down every work he comes across, as a new
year resolution. Then it will be easier to have a top ten. Perhaps after
a decade we can scan number ones of each year and check his reader's
evolution.
Why, you would ask I know, should we fritter time away on such a
thing? What do you gain out of that? That's what I'm going to spell out.
Like writing, reading is also an art. You should learn how to read too.
Because only reading lets you review - re-view.
I am sure most of you campaign for reading, without actually caring
about absolutely anything. Because we are not really into constructive
reading as yet. I mentioned about Goodreads.com sometime back in these
columns. If you can't put finger on it, that's a place where you can
list books and rate them. Someone of you may ask me, once again, what's
the use of listing down and rating the books you have read.
In fact a friend bowled that question my way. Then I had to ask him
what's the benefit he gets whiling away in Facebook with a 900-friends
list. My friend logged into Goodreads on my request, and he has got 200
friends while he has been good enough to enter 10 books he read. He must
have read more than 10 books although he whiles away a lot on FB, I know
for certain. Oh, am I becoming cynical now?
Suppose you are on a journey, and you pass some significant places.
You just glance at them but do not take them seriously. Some day in
future when someone talk about it, you can say 'yes... I have seen
it...'. But how many of you can describe the way you have seen it, at
least whether you liked it or not.
Isn't it same with books? Except for those textbooks and the type, we
don't read novels or any other books of fact in a review fashion. We
borrow / buy, read them and put them aside. We think it's waste of time
taking them down. That time should have been used on another book. But
reading without reviewing hardly benefits, I have seen. I have done that
error. When I see the title I remember I have seen them, but can't
exactly remember how I felt about it. So is it of any use if I can't
recollect how I liked that. Writing down matters here, doesn't it?
When you thumb the list, you may feel like reading some books you
have read and maybe given only one star. It can be a lapse of few months
or even a few twelvemonths and you will give it five stars. Because your
thinking evolves with time. They mature not only upon time, but on
proper reading too.
I see it in another perspective. Your reading gives away your
personality. A reading list, or more preferably the 'favourite list' is
a good guideline to build up a new friendship. My friend and I have
conflicts of interests when it comes to reading. My five-star books have
only got one-stars from him, and vice versa. He was talking so high of a
book which I didn't like very much. But the way he interpreted the
theme, I felt like reading it once again. I read the work in fact and
found it very interesting. Conflicts of interests, so to say, ultimately
changes your reader's judgment. Amazing, isn't it?
I was sharing my thoughts on having a list to my friend over the
phone on his parents' account. He sounded enthusiastic. So was I. He
said he would buy a page-a-day diary to write down everything he reads,
watches and listens. I wonder if he gets time for that, but maybe I have
convinced the fact that it is really worthwhile.
On December 31, my friend, younger though he is, taught me a lesson.
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