The Big Bad Wolf and the Generation that Read
My grandfather does not stop harping on this for as long as I can remember, and I know one day I’m going to miss hearing it. But for what it’s worth, “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man” said Sir Francis Bacon.
Setting foot at SLEEC on the 27th for the premiere of Big Bad Wolf, certainly left me quite shook! People from all walks of life were standing, sitting and walking around reading. Talking about literature, arts, culture and about books.
The millennials rarely read. With technology coming in to play, all we see are kids on their phones, tabs and laptops. You hear them ranting about their Instagram likes, tumblr, Pinterest and sometimes Facebook. Facebook is also I would say is the last generation of millennials’ social media platform, we could say it’s the Instagram generation now.
However, the big bad wolf did prove, millennials still read. For that matter they still read hard copies of books other than the gossip sites or memes on the internet. Now, how’s that for a change.
Reading gives you insight on many things. Reading Newspapers would give you information on current affairs, opinions and on how writers are biased or how the world looks at certain things. It’s all a perspective. Educational articles, which gives facts, figures and perspective, provides direction, guidance and knowledge. Fiction enhances creativity, thinking out of the box and gives you the courage to pursue larger things in life, to know we aren’t limitless.
The sweet bliss of holding a hard copy of a book or newspapers are forgotten. Maybe not, seeing all the purchases at The Wolf got me speculating.
If you know anyone who doesn’t read, encourage them to read. Even if they’re mature enough, hand them hard copies to take a glance. Let them take their eyes off the screens. While gaining knowledge and perspective they’ll probably thank you later for saving their eyesight from the blue screen light damage to their eyes.
The top grossing books at The Big Bad Wolf were The Complete works of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan and books by Stephen King.
The Complete works of Sherlock Holmes is indeed golden. Even being fictional, Sir Doyle has woven the stories in such a way that a readers analytical skills develop. They learn to look at things in a different perspective. The interesting thing about Mr. Sherlock Holmes is his theory “The Science of Deduction”, this is what gives the fictional detective the edge over the police force detectives. It teaches you that the simple things matter and the things which we see as complex, actually makes a situation more predictable and easy to judge.
Percy Jackson is an interesting series about demi-god. Now for those who only read Newspapers wouldn’t know this species. Go read some fiction would you?
The Hunger Games while being very fictional, portrays a strong female lead who cares about her loved ones. While the fiction of the book is good for enjoying the story line does give good advice. Makes you think about society.
Stephen King’s book ‘IT’ was quite a hit by the adaption for the movie last year. It was also a remake of the 1990 movie. However, the book is ‘hit you in the crotch spit on your neck fantastic!’
Stephen King’s newest book ‘ The Outsider’ if my eyesight didn’t fool me was available at the book exhibition/sale. It was published just a month back!
On an ending note, reading is the old fashion hobby many don’t have anymore. But it is a ‘cool’ thing to do in this generation as nobody else pays much attention to this hobby. Start small, try reading anything you get your hands on. Labels on bottles? Maybe at least check the due date on products. Then move on to the bigger leagues of reading books and Newspapers. However so, reading maketh you a full man, kudos Sir Bacon.
It’s always good be a nerd than one of the herd, what you say!
Devuni Goonewardene