When somebody I've just met asks me what my hobbies are, I almost always list reading as one of them. Later on, I realize that even though I've read quiet a lot in the past, lately I haven't had time to catch up on my reading. Maybe, all the books I've read lately don't seem to be able to recreate the same magic or whatever else the reason, I never have found a recent book that had me as gripped as the Harry Potter series or made me want a Mr.Darcy.
Most of the books I've read recently, have characters ripped off from classics or predictable story lines (or both!). So much so, that I could actually read the back cover and tell you the story. I remember reading Famous Five, Secret Seven and The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton and actually being transported to the fantasy land he'd created. Detective series like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were also equally captivating. I could even pick up one now and not get bored. Then came the phase of classics, where I was introduced to all the elements of a perfect melodrama. Shakespeare with his smart word play, Jane Austen with her powerful female protagonists, the three Bronte sisters with their tragic lives are a few among my favorites. J.K. Rowling wove her way into the hearts of millions of readers with her books on an orphaned wizard boy - Harry Potter and his war against evil. The books were(and are) such a rage that, there were many spinoffs - online and offline. Among Indian authors, there weren't a lot of books I liked reading owing to poor grammar and predictable Bollywood-type storyline. Chetan Bhagat, Ravinder Singh were among the few authors whose novels I actually did manage to complete.
An author can probably fool his audience into buying his/her book that is utter bubblegum trash with effective marketing and P.R. strategies. But what the world (and the author) doesn't understand is that we communicate via storytelling. How well-read we are definitely affects the extent of our imagination and creativity. Let me put it this way, a child who has read quality books (or has been read to, in childhood) is far more capable of communicating effectively and thinking creatively as compared to a child who has spent his childhood in front of a T.V.
I, personally, believe that well-told stories could change the way we look at things. That's why today, with extra focus on "THINKING OUT-OF-THE-BOX", having effective storytellers becomes more relevant. What are your views on this? Do leave your comments below :)
- Divya
Most of the books I've read recently, have characters ripped off from classics or predictable story lines (or both!). So much so, that I could actually read the back cover and tell you the story. I remember reading Famous Five, Secret Seven and The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton and actually being transported to the fantasy land he'd created. Detective series like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were also equally captivating. I could even pick up one now and not get bored. Then came the phase of classics, where I was introduced to all the elements of a perfect melodrama. Shakespeare with his smart word play, Jane Austen with her powerful female protagonists, the three Bronte sisters with their tragic lives are a few among my favorites. J.K. Rowling wove her way into the hearts of millions of readers with her books on an orphaned wizard boy - Harry Potter and his war against evil. The books were(and are) such a rage that, there were many spinoffs - online and offline. Among Indian authors, there weren't a lot of books I liked reading owing to poor grammar and predictable Bollywood-type storyline. Chetan Bhagat, Ravinder Singh were among the few authors whose novels I actually did manage to complete.
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| Image Courtesy : Google |
An author can probably fool his audience into buying his/her book that is utter bubblegum trash with effective marketing and P.R. strategies. But what the world (and the author) doesn't understand is that we communicate via storytelling. How well-read we are definitely affects the extent of our imagination and creativity. Let me put it this way, a child who has read quality books (or has been read to, in childhood) is far more capable of communicating effectively and thinking creatively as compared to a child who has spent his childhood in front of a T.V.
I, personally, believe that well-told stories could change the way we look at things. That's why today, with extra focus on "THINKING OUT-OF-THE-BOX", having effective storytellers becomes more relevant. What are your views on this? Do leave your comments below :)
- Divya
