Hudson: Open a book, open your mind

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By Kirsten Hudson

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Sometimes, after too many hours of studying, all I want is to cure my pounding head with some sort of mindless dribble; luckily for me, the TV or computer is only a click away. We can entertain ourselves so easily today. Yet in those off hours when our heads aren’t pounding from ridiculous amounts of studying and we can entertain ourselves in more useful ways, we still choose the mind-numbing activities. So I ask, what happened to the good old-fashioned book?

Recently, I went to see the movie “Becoming Jane”, which is a fictional biography of the 18th Century novelist, Jane Austen. Yes, it was a chick flick, so there was a lack of men, but more noticeable was the lack of young people. My friends and I were the only ones there under the age of 40. In fact, I’ve never seen so much grey hair in one place before (other than Hometown Buffet on senior discount night, that is). I think this incident shows that either old folks have a serious fetish for Jane Austen, or more truthfully, that young people just don’t read anymore.

As college students, even with reading constantly forced upon us, most of us read only what is required, or not at all. I honestly cannot understand how anyone can get through a class without reading the text, but I know it’s common to do so. There’s not a large enough number to count how many times I have heard my friends and other students complain about having to read for a class. We’re in college, and if you haven’t noticed, reading is how you learn. It makes you intelligent. Why pay $800 for books if you’re not going to read them?

If reading for class is a rarity, then reading for pleasure is practically nonexistent. It seems as if we try to find every possible way to get out of reading “the hard way.” Like Cliff’s Notes and audio books. Audio books are not reading. Audio books are an excuse for those who don’t want to put forth the mental effort to concentrate on one activity for 20 minutes.

Then, there’s the ever-present “I just don’t like to read.” Okay, I can understand some people not liking to read. I don’t like to dissect things. But, if we have an entire generation saying they don’t like to read, there is a problem. And that problem is that we prefer to glaze over in front of a TV rather than put forth the effort to read a book.

According to an Associated Press/Ipsos poll, conducted in August 2007, 25 percent of Americans adults haven’t read one book in the past year. Reading anything is good, so long as you’re reading, be it magazines, newspapers, the back of the cereal box or whatever. But don’t forget the merits of the good ol’ book. Personally, I recommend Ms. Austen.

Hudson is a Wichita sophomore in journalism and business.

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