For the Love of Books

Over on Sharing the Brain, the blog of one of my Querytracker friend's crit group they are discussing book banning and challenged books, so I thought I would chime in here with my own comments on the subject. I have loved books for as long as I can remember, and though there are probably always going to be books that parents don't want their kids to read, I think it is a huge mistake to put up a big sign that says "THESE BOOKS ARE BANNED!!!" Everyone remembers being a kid, and if you think back you will remember that if you were to see such a sign, the first thing you would want to do is read those books. Rational, logical discussion with a child about what you as a parent consider to be age-appropriate reading material is the best course of action. They are going to get their hands on whatever they want. You should know that. However, if they know why we don't want them reading those sorts of things, and we give them the power to make the right decision, then maybe they will surprise us and actually make that decision.

I spoke a little bit about Richard Brautigan on Sharing the Brain, but I wanted to mention it here as well. "The Hawkline Monster" was one of the weirdest, most wonderful books I ever read when I was younger. It was full of vivid sexual imagery, and probably not appropriate for me at that age, but it's surreal settings and bizarre characters gave me an appreciation for what can be accomplished in the written word. If anyone goes out and reads this and decides that it is crap, that's your opinion, but for me it was very influential. I got detention for that book, too. My teacher saw me reading it one day and took it off my stack of books that I had piled on the sidewalk while I waited for the bus. She took it home and read it over the weekend, and then told the principal on Monday. My parents got a call, and I got in trouble, but, thankfully, I didn't stop reading. I was reading Stephen King when I was that age as well, and though some would say that his work is not appropriate for younger readers, I would say that I turned out well enough in spite of his influence.

What bothers me, and frankly scares me a little, is that people are no longer reading! This in unfathomable to me. In a National Endowment for the Arts report it was said that only 57% of Americans read a book in 2002. A book! One! That doesn't just make me sad, it makes me ill. For those of us that are avid readers and those that aspire to be writers, the thought that people aren't reading is appalling. Books are one of the simple joys that are fading, and if at some point in my lifetime the written word, printed on paper and bound between covers, dies out as a media, the I will know that we have lost our way. Many have pointed to immorality, the disintegrating family, and fading religious convictions as a reason for the decline in American culture, but I say it is the death of reading. If there is one thing that I am proud of in my writing endeavors, it is that it got my wife Laurie interested in reading. She is a bright, intelligent person who just never had time for books, but then I finished my first novel and she read it for me. Then she read the Harry Potter series, and has been reading non-stop since. And that gives me hope. Maybe if one person can find their way back to the joy of books, then maybe a whole lot of others can too.