Goodbye books. Hello Netflix. Literature is dying all around us, and I don’t just mean sci-fi or vampire fiction. The epidemic has reached e-books, fiction as a whole, non-fiction, comics; the list goes on. Ten years ago, to be a Sunday Times Bestseller you needed to have sold about 800,000 copies. Now you need less than 80,000. Now you could blame the education system or the rise of film and TV for this fall, and you wouldn’t be wrong. But there’s another glaring problem: laziness.
Why read something when you can have it read out to you? Why spend time imagining what a character looks like when you can find out in the film adaptation? Who needs to buy a book for £7 when it’s right in front of you on Netflix? I’ll happily admit that I watch too much TV (Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Boardwalk Empire, they just keep piling up!) but I will always make time for a book. Trainspotting is sitting next to me right now. It turns out I’m in the minority though. 80% of adults in the UK don’t even read a book a year. ONE BOOK IN 365 DAYS.
If you’re one of those, why don’t you? And don’t use the ‘I don’t like books’ excuse. You just haven’t found the right one! Reading increases your brain power, memory muscles, creativity, and decreases your chances of getting Alzheimer’s. That’s just a few of the advantages. Sorry guys but watching the Big Bang Theory doesn’t quite manage that.
On to the other problems: the big box in your living room. Firstly, yeah TV is easier, yeah it’s more colourful and faster. But, no it’s not more exciting. If you’ve ever read The Shining, you’ll understand books can be thrillers too. Next problem. The education system. The powers at be seem determined to bleed all creativity and imagination out of children before they reach the age of 16. Reading isn’t for fun according to them, it’s to pass your SATs, GCSE’s, and A Levels. So of course people stop reading as soon as they can! They’ve been taught to hate it! So, dear people of the educational system, I get you need to know maths and all that, but innovation and creativity are key, not just in the arts, but in everything we do.
The good thing is, it isn’t too late for books! Start reading again! Here are a few that are completely different from each other and all equally brilliant, so if you want to pick up a story again, try one of these.
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman.
This fantastical comedy adventure is about a man who falls through the cracks into London Below. This is a book that you can read over and over again but never get bored of.
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe.
A powerful tale of the colonisation of a tribe in Nigeria. Despite its focus on one man, Okonkwo, Achebe succeeds in reclaiming the identity of those whose story was told by the victorious Europe for hundreds of years.
The Miniaturist, Jesse Burton.
This book deserved all the critical acclaim it got when it was first released. The story, set in Amsterdam, has so many different stories and threads to it it’s amazing Burton managed to keep it as short as it is. It’s beautiful and powerful, and well worth trying out.
Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami.
An incredible story about two people that can’t stay away from each other, but can’t stay together. It drops you straight into their lives and you become so emotionally involved you find you’ve spent an entire day reading and you’re into the last few pages, but you don’t want it to end.
The Road, Cormac McCarthy.
One of the greatest contemporary novels to date, this is the story of a man and his son in a post-apocalyptic America. It’s a new style of writing, storytelling, and will change your perspective on life without you even realising it.
Edited Katie Randall
Sources:
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http://emertainmentmonthly.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/91fJxgs69QL._SL1500_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71qLnZuj5SL.jpg
https://iansadler.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/neverwhere-book-cover.jpg
http://the-artifice.com/is-the-novel-dead-2/