George R. R. Martin, author of the “Game of Thrones” series, wrote: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one.”
I am not entirely sure why, but at some point within the last couple of generations, reading has gone out of style and is no longer viewed as cool hobby.
In all fairness, every once in a while, someone will secretly admit to being a bibliophile; however, the bulk of young people today only read when it is required, which is a shame because there is appealing than having a book in hand. Classic literature gathers dust on library shelves because people do not want to read and I just do not understand why. Furthermore, when someone actually picks up a book, it seems that it is always a popular, mostly pornographic, novel that they loaded onto their Kindle for free.
Maybe I find this so confusing because I have an undying desire to discuss what I have read until I am able to get all of my pent up feelings out, and to actually have someone understand it. There is nothing I find more attractive in a guy than him being well read. If only guys like this were easier to find. It’s not just about knowing a good story or two, or even being able to understand why half of my paycheck goes to Powell’s Books, it is about what reading can say about a person.
A person that reads is often patient, which is a much appreciated virtue.
In the age of technology, people are used to instant gratification and most well written novels will not deliver that. Gratification only comes to readers after carefully reading hundreds of pages, an act in itself that should be gratifying. Nobody should have to justify their hobbies, but there is something about a guy whose only passion lies in “pwning noobs,” that is ragingly unattractive.
On the other hand, a guy that can fit in a chapter or two of Kurt Vonnegut during their day, between gaining XP points, is definitely a guy that is worth leveling up with. Reading should not be a rarity, but rather an expected characteristic. In the days before television, it seems that everyone that could read, read.
Book clubs were not just an excuse for middle aged mothers to get day-drunk on wine. Over the years, the majority of people have lost the appreciation for words, which is another reason why when someone is enthralled in a literary journey, that they are nearly irresistible. So, for those of us that are bibliophile-philes, we must troll bookstores in search of hotties and occasionally make obscure references to our favorite George Orwell novel, until we find someone that also thinks reading is sexy.
Paige Jurgensen / Columnist
Alyssa Townsend can be reached at [email protected].
