According to some research, to give someone a book as a gift has become rare nowadays. I understand that some of the reading aficionados decide not to give books because they believe that this kind of choice is something very personal, but what gift is not personal? Each box of chocolate, each bottle of perfume, each piece of lingerie or even electronic games have passed through the emotive selection process, then why does a book do not deserve to make the list of presents?
There are those who say that a book is expensive, but the truth is that those who really want to read will always find a way: borrowing, reading at libraries, etc… They read, read and read until they feel sleepy, since sleeping can be considered as the only reading enemy, and not money.
I believe that the disinterest for the reading nowadays is given for the lack of will. As a matter of fact, there are no excuses. It is easier to watch TV than reading and thinking, but this is nothing new. The great mass watches an episode of a thirty minutes Sitcom, laughing for nothing, when they could be laughing at a comic chapter of a lighter book. I am not against television, quite on the contrary, I believe that everything is important in life: television, fast and macrobiotic food, alcohol, concerns, leisure and so on, but what defines the quality of life are not the exaggeration, but balance.
Back to books, I have been frequently reading about non-conventional publishing houses, e-books, blogs, which are alternative ways of bringing the mass back to reading and I am loving it. The traditional international publishing market is worried about the lack of reading situation with a good reason.
What more surprises me, is that only through a book a person is the owner of his or her visions, and yet nobody cares. At work, at school, in a relationship, we are always led indirectly – also a leader, who is obliged to bring many things in consideration for being able to take his or her decisions. But when two persons read from the same book for instance, the character of a gorgeous brunette in a red dress and golden sandals will be different in the minds of each one of them.
Freedom is something difficult to reach, even to understand, but through a book the freedom of thought can be experienced in all its complexity.
There are thousands of reasons for reading a book, but for me personally, the biggest reason is the liberty of visualization – and this does not have a price tag.
Luciana B. Veit
Tags: book, coisas, comida, chronicles, e books, enemy, freedom, book, matter of fact, supermarket, woman, pessoa, publishing houses, life, visions
