The library has always been a huge part of my reading
experience ever since I was old enough to appreciate picture books and simple
stories. My first memory of library visits is taking out piles of books from
the children’s section with my sister while my mother reads the cooking or
baking books nearby. Reading
back then was at first something to help me pass time, before it became a hobby
and soon, a passion. When I read, my mind shifts gear and after a long,
stressful week, a book could be a good distraction. As I grow older, I realized
that books could also provide us with a
vicarious experience of people’s lives, as it introduces us to the emotions and
thoughts of others, even if those characters are the product of an author’s
wild imagination. In this respect, I feel that reading could help to expand our
own experiences and it is also through reading that we can taste the life
experiences of those who live in lands that are distant, cultures that are
distinct or in generations that are now extinct.
As a child, I remembered reading a large number of books
from the Little Miss and Mr Men series by Roger Hargreaves as I absolutely
loved the colourful illustrations and the adorable characters. There were more
than a hundred characters from the series but some of my favourites include Little
Miss Sunshine, Little Miss Trouble and Little Miss Giggles. I soon began to
read books from Enid Blyton, Jacqueline Wilson and Roald Dahl too, and I
particularly love Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory, the BFG, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda. Of course, who could forget
the fairy tales and happily-ever-afters from the magical world of Disney? I
love reading the stories of the Disney’s princesses as I was quite mesmerized
by how a pumpkin could turn into a coach or how animals like fishes could talk
then. I soon learnt that those stories are the hyper-romanticized versions of
the original ones by Han Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. Frankly, I
felt quite cheated and refused to read fairy tales for quite a while after that,
especially when I realized that the original versions did not have the happy
endings that I initially thought they had. But despite the unhappy endings, those
stories of adventure, fantasy and fairy tales continue to fascinate me greatly
although I soon dabbled into the horror genre with Russell Lee’s True Singapore Ghost Stories, which took
up, a significant portion of my time during my upper primary years.
When I entered my teenage years, I begin to read romance
novels which have some elements of thriller or crime in it like the 1800-MISSING-WHERE-R-U series from Meg
Cabot. At the same time, my love for princesses and tales of royalty continues
and I soon read The Princess Diaries
series written by the same author as well as the fictional historical romance
books by Barbara Cartland, which ignited my interest towards the history of England and Russia . In fact, such books was the
start of my love for … well, love stories and the romance genre as I soon find
myself reading the works of Danielle Steele, Nora Roberts and Cameron Dokey to
name a few. Of course, how can I forget Nicholas Sparks and I vividly
remembered crying after reading A Walk to
Remember. These love stories of emotional intimacy certainly offered a much
welcomed retreat from the mundane world of trigonometry or chemical formulas and
the fact that there are readers who read love stories in a world where staying
‘connected’ means communicating via SMS or Friendster back then led me to
believe that the world is not that cynical after all. The legends and myths of
the ancient world also interest me greatly and the stories from ancient Greece and Egypt especially, captivated me the
most. The morning ritual of reading magazines from Asian Geographic imposed by my school also provided me with sufficient dosage about the myths, legends and
traditions of the countries closer to home. It soon dawned on me that these
myths and legends are not only good literature with a comprehensive usage of
literary devices like symbolism and metaphors, but it also help readers to
understand the ideas that shape different cultures as well as be the thread
that connects the identity of the long gone past to the present, and possibly
the future too.
I didn’t read as much as I would love to during my junior
college days as the workload was overwhelming and I was particularly drowned in
the sea of all the economics essays that my economics lecturers made me do.
Naturally, I hated that subject but on the bright side, I took history and
English literature and the compulsory literature texts like Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
somehow managed to provide me with a tinge of comfort. I went on to read Emma, Persuasion and Mansfield Park
After entering NIE, I was introduced to many literary works
from all over the world, some from authors which I have never heard of. Despite
that, stories like Bartleby, the
Scrivener by Herman Melville, Jane
Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald became instant favourites to me for the
themes and issues that they conveyed. The history modules that I took
throughout the four years also constituted of readings about key historical
events like the French Revolution, the World Wars, Holocaust or the fall of the
Ottoman Empire and I particularly like Jackson
Spielvogel’s books on them. The long breaks after each semester also gave me an
opportunity to check out some books that have been the talk of the town and see
for myself, what all the hype was about. So while I regret reading the Fifty
Shades trilogy, the Perks of being a Wallflower or the Life of Pi on the other
hand proved to be amazing reads to me.
That said, it would seem that many of us go through our
every day lives on autopilot. We are assailed from every direction with so many
pressures thrown unto us that we become almost numb. This could partly be the
reason why I choose to read books from various genres (preferably those with happy endings actually) whenever I could as it gives me a chance to feel, to
remind me that we are human after all, and there is a beautiful, exciting world
out there, waiting to be discovered under all the hectic schedules, school or
work demands and what-nots.
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