Books and the art of writing have been around for centuries. People can read for many different reasons. Students read because they are forced to by their teachers and for analysis. Children and adults read for their own enjoyment and pleasure. Books can take a person to an entirely different place. The place could be a different time, centuries ago, or it could be a geographical place such as the Andes or the desert. Books can teach people many different ideals, values, facts, beliefs and many other things. I even believe books can teach you almost everything you wanted to know, granted, nothing beats the real experience, but books are sometimes just as close to the real thing. Love, culture, knowledge, and everyday life can all be learned from opening a book.
Nicolas Sparks is a romantic author that women and girls a like love to read. His books are so moving that they have been made into movies, and his book/movie The Notebook is now considered a classic love story. Women and men can both learn a thing or two from Mr. Sparks. Women are able to see how they should be treated by men, and that they deserve the best and should not settle for anything less. Men, on the other hand, can learn many different ways to be romantic from the books and movies by Nicolas Sparks. They can learn how to treat women right, and want women sometimes want, and what they like to hear. My roommates and I have decided that Nicolas Sparks should hold a conference for all boys and men to teach them how to be sweet and romantic. The boys should then have to read all of his books and watch his movies to reinforce the ideas. His books teach about all the different kinds of love there are, but that people should stick with their true love no matter what, this is what his books have taught me.
As Americans, we like to think we are open-minded and non-judgmental, but we all know that that is not exactly the case. We are sometimes skeptical of other cultures and sometimes, we completely disregard their beliefs. I have learned that we should not be so quick to judge; we should instead try and find out more about different cultures. A simple, and usually entertaining way to do that, is by reading books. Two of my favorite books of all time are The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Both are novels set in the Middle East, recounting tales of the lives of people who live there. I learned quite a bit about the world they live in. I had never truly thought about their culture until I read the books. I had been persuaded by the media initially that all Muslims were terrorists and the country was run by the Taliban. But, due to further reading, I have found that this is not necessarily the case. I have grown to understand and appreciate their different culture and I feel as if I am less likely to judge now. Reading has expanded my views on the world and I now better understand the culture.
Another thing that I have learned from reading is that knowledge and wisdom, do not necessarily come from books. A favorite movie of mine is Slumdog Millionaire. After watching the movie I found out it was a book and I went to the library, checked it out and read it. I am glad that I did. It is also one of my favorite novels. It taught me some about the Indian culture, but it taught me more about knowledge. For a long time, I had thought that being smart meant that you had graduated high school, went to college, earned some degrees and bam, you were smart. But, Slumdog Millionaire (aka Q&A) taught me otherwise. Book smarts, cannot always keep food on the table when you are out of a job, it cannot always help you repair a leaky sink or change the oil in your car, but common sense can. In the book the main character Ram Mohammad Thomas wins India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the catch? Ram never made it past high school. All of his wisdom and knowledge he gathered from everyday life, from informal education. He becomes one of the richest men by paying attention to things that happened to him. This book taught me that though being book smart is a great task, common sense can also help you in your future.
As I stated earlier, books can transport people into different places. Books can open your eyes to past events, current events, and the everyday, normal lives of all different kinds of people. When I was younger my favorite books were The Magic Tree House books. The books were about two kids traveling in time to complete a mission, but while they were there they learned many different facts about the world they had been transported into. The books ranged from Ancient Egypt, Revolutionary War, Middle Ages, and many other places and time periods. These books taught me many facts about the past and how people use to go about their everyday lives. The books have also created in me a love of travel and exploration. If I had not read the series, I would not have the extra sense of adventure and interest in many different time periods and cultures. The Magic Tree House books are the source as to why I love to read and travel.
Books open many different doors to walk through and explore. They open your imagination and help you develop a greater understanding of the world in which we live in now, the world in which was before us, and sometimes the world in which might come. No matter what types of books people read, they can always learn something every time they crack the spine, turn the pages, and begin to delve themselves into a whole new world. These are just a few of the things that I have learned from books.
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