Unlike many of my classmates, I did not like reading when I was young. I did feel excited whenever I have the chance to buy new storybooks, or receive them from either my parents or my teachers. I would browse through the books, read the first few chapters, but most of the time, I would not finish reading the book. I lose my interest in them quickly, but I thought that one of the reasons is because I was a slow reader (I still am).
I remember there was once when my primary school form teacher gave me Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach as a reward for performing well in class. I thought that it would be just another book that I would read a while, and then chuck it aside. But I was wrong. I loved reading the book. Perhaps because of the personal note which the teacher wrote in the book, that storybook was especially precious to me. Gradually, I started reading more of Roald Dahl’s books and continued to be enchanted by his writing. I also enjoyed reading Russell Lee’s horror stories and began adding them to my humble collection of books. Thinking back, I find it quite amusing because as much as I enjoy reading these horror stories, I would also be afraid of being alone in the washroom because of what I have read.
When I was in secondary school and junior college, I liked reading romance novels. As I was busy with school commitment, reading was still not my favourite pastime. However, I took a liking to studying Literature. I like how the subject enables me to see the world from different perspectives. It is one of the subjects which never bore me. Even when we were asked to read the seemingly profound and boring Shakespeare’s works, I still found them interesting. I began to realise that reading is not just about the words on the page. Reading is an activity which allows me to go beyond the text itself as I get to develop my own interpretations of texts.
When I entered university and majored in English Literature, I was exposed to a variety of authors and works. The list of readings to be done was always never-ending. I always had to read as fast as I could just to ensure that I can finish reading the novel in time for class. However, I did seek enjoyment from all the texts that I have done, although sometimes I really do wish that I could have more time to digest and understand those novels which are more difficult. Reading became part of my life, and most of the time, I find myself being able to complete the entire novel—which is something that I thought would never happen to me due to my childhood experiences of reading. I find myself really enjoying reading Singapore Literature, Toni Morrison’s novels, feminist novels, as well as texts that deal with colonial/ postcolonial issues.
I won’t dare to say that I am an avid reader, because I am still more interested in other activities like drawing, dancing, watching plays, et cetera. Reading is still not at the top of my list of things that I want to do. However, I dare say that reading has already become part of my life. Now that I have graduated from the university and am not required to speed read through many novels, I miss the feeling of doing so. I miss holding on to a book and just immersing myself into this ‘new’ world portrayed by the novel. It may seem weird that as an English major, I do not love reading. But I always tell people that I love Literature because it allows me to see the beauty of the world, and also because I like to think—although now I realised that after many years of Literature, I tend to be more cynical and deconstruct everything ;p
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