My love for reading started out not so much as a hobby, but that I did not have a choice other than to get started with my mum's purchase of the Peter and Jane series by Ladybird books. The reading through the levels (13 levels of 4 books each), increases with difficulty and words, and I remember always wanting to go backwards because it was so much easier at the start. Peter and Jane's stories of adventures kept me hooked though, those along with the series of kids' encyclopedias my mum purchased, kept my interest in wanting to read more.
The genre I was interested in while I was in primary school revolved around adventure and mystery. I read series of books such as short stories by Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, The Babysitter's Club, Goosebumps. As I grew older, the genre stuck. I learnt of Francine Pascals' Fearless series, but there was pretty much where it ended, aside from Harry Potter that continued through university. As I moved into upper secondary where I took Pure Literature as a subject, my interest took a turn. While I did Romeo and Juliet and I'm King of the Castle as texts in school, outside of it, I turned to fiction by authors such as John Grisham (although in retrospect, I might not have understood it all). Later on in Junior College, the reading I did was more studies-related. I read more news articles to help with my General Paper, while I read fiction or books with a more philosophical nature to help out with Literature.
It was not until university where I majored in Literature that my reading list expanded again, but my interests also became more specific. I also felt the life experiences I was going through, along with the places I traveled to, made and continue to make the difference. Out of the different critical reading we did, I enjoyed doing a psychological reading on texts - which is how I came to appreciate Heart of Darkness by Conrad, so much. I started to enjoy Contemporary Literature very much - authors such as Gabriel Marquez and Jeanette Wintterson were completely fresh to me and I enjoyed the way they toy with language so much. I also enjoy Utopian Literature as well as post-war American Literature. Authors such as Huxley, Atwood and Delillo continue to inspire me.
Reading grew from something I had to do, to a hobby and then a lifestyle for me. I am fortunate to have parents who place so much emphasis on reading and the language, that had it not been for the push at the start, I wonder how far along I would have come with reading. I hope to be able to inspire my students to read, knowing that not all of them are are fortunate as I am, to be able to afford books whenever they want.
No comments:
Post a Comment