“How come you seem so experienced, Janani?”
It was a casual question posed by my friend. But it got me seriously thinking. How is it that I could behave in a manner that makes people feel that I am ‘experienced’?
I am only an adolescent of 14 years. Experience is something that a person gains through the years of his/her lifetime. After we leave our mortal bodies, Experience is what will retain in our souls.
An experienced man would always be rich, even without money. Experience is not something that can be bought but rather earned. After a long time of pondering, I got the answer.
Empathy and Books
Books are an integral part of my life. Since I am not very social, I am mostly self-indulged, and books help me pass my time.
On the other hand, Empathy is an emotion in which one puts another’s life in his shoes and tries to solve it in their way. They attempt to share the feelings that the other person felt and act accordingly (This is a simplified version, not exact).
Apart from improving my mindset when I read books also helped me improve my English language for example in word learning letter sounds recall can become stronger and faster, and I find words that express my feeling better.
Plus improving the reading speed and forming complex sentences, all of this is possible because when you read words it highly helps to learn words.
Absolutely, it is true. A reader is said to “live a thousand lives.” When you read a certain book or narrative, you begin to live it and begin to place yourself in the character’s position.
You become enamored with the characters and forget about the outside world. You can relate to them, experience their joy and agony, cry when they’re hurt, and rejoice when they succeed. You come to realize the value of life.
Being a voracious reader myself, I can affirm that this is among the loveliest emotions imaginable.
Books help you in many ways when it comes to reading and writing
Then how did they give me ‘experience’? Let’s take an example.
Recently, I read the Divergent series. As I read, I pictured everything in my head. I became the protagonist and tried to live her life.
I imagined her reactions when she heard something sad, happy, or irritating. In my mind, I became young Beatrice (alias Tris). I tried to reason with the decisions she took, sometimes I agree with her, sometimes I don’t. That gave me an ‘experience’ of making decisions.
If, in the future, I come across a time when I have to take the same decision- I know what to do. I felt her sorrows, her pains. Whatever happened in those books, it felt like it had happened to me too, giving me a wonderful experience.
More than my school, it is these books that teach me about the subject of Life, which is one of the biggest reasons I love books and a good book is worth reading. If you take the above example (of Allegiant), I found a few quotations that struck me hard.
Like this one (on page 371& 372 of Allegiant) here Tris (One of my favorite authors) beautifully describes what love is:
“… I thought of how strong I have become, how secure I feel with the person I am now, and how all along the way he (Tobias) told me that I am brave, I am respected, being loved, and worth loving. I used to think that when people fell in love, they just landed where they landed with no choice afterward. And maybe that’s true of beginnings, but not now… I fell in love with him. But I don’t just stay with him by default as if there is no one available. Every day when I wake up, even if we fight or lie or disappoint each other, I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.”
Some others are the last two quotes of Tobias (alias Four) in the very last of Allegiant which show how loss can be painful.
In his very own words:
“I know that life damages each one of us in every way possible, but we learn to mend each other”.
In the very book, Tris dies, devastating us, but the author gave us a point. Whatever happens, happens. We can’t change it. Even though it hurts, it is true.
But this is just one of the great books that taught me life morals and also techniques and a better way to write as in use high-frequency words. Divergent taught me that it is okay to be different. The Hunger Games taught me that we should stand up against injustice.
The Fault in our Stars taught me that we should make the most out of life. The Maze Runner taught me that sometimes our very own brains may endanger life and Bridge to Terabithia taught me that when we lose something, we should move on and take the good things with us.
Sometimes, reading a book makes you feel like an odd religious zealot who is sure that the world will never be repaired unless and until all living people read the book.
I feel precisely the same way about the book.
They had cancer; I don’t, but their lives were far happier than mine despite having everything. The Fault in Our Stars sounds to me more like The Fault in the Circuit Building, but it has a deep meaning and portrays a deep love.
You see, you demand everything about yourself and get it, but you miss out on the chance to have a radiant smile. I actually don’t know what I wrote, but I just wrote it from the heart, and the thing about the heart is that it begs to be told!
It’s a fantastic book! I don’t usually cry when reading, but this story did. Stunning work of literature!
The most astounding aspect of this book is how straightforwardly it is written. Simple words only; no high-fi vocabulary. But it will force you to think carefully. Simply read these paragraphs to experience it.
I have just named a few. There are thousands more.
Well, I have lived through a few dystopian worlds: Survived 2 Hunger Games, found myself Divergent (I really am!), had an incredible journey searching for a ‘Paper Town‘, Had a friend called Alaska, survived Cancer……
I wonder if I could put it on my resume! Happy Reading, folks!
Last Updated on by Steffy Michael