My perception on reading, to a considerable extent, mirrors the earliest lesson I learned about writing. I fancy thinking about reading and writing from this viewpoint because it proves itself to be true – that reading, as writing, is telepathy.
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We are born into stories. Stories of why the lizard nods its head, why the tortoise travels with a broken shell, how the old man returned rain to a village. As we grow, the stories morph. We learn early that our forefathers once traded humans for mirrors. This disgusts us. We think, what happened to them, why were they so deceived?
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Emotions. Buried in our DNA are tiny dots linked together in a system called emotions. We do not admit this to ourselves, we shrug a shoulder as though we are not moved, but when we slip into our privacy, we let go and become subdued under the weight of emotions. It is why the story of our forefathers annoy us so. Because, though we mock the narrative in class since it’s history, the story bugs us. This happens because we have emotions. And it is for this cause that books are neither time nor space bound.
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This is what reading does to us. Telepathy. When we dissolve texts – stories, fiction, nonfiction, articles, business writings, faith-based works – our minds are quickened. Images form within us. We transcend space and structure, collide with thoughts of a host of other humans like and unlike us.
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The work of a reader is not unlike that of a writer. The latter takes a thought, an idea, a story, and bends into words, fully aware his job is only half done. The reader dissolves a print of story, throws his head back, and tries to extract the writer’s thought. One thrives solely on the other to complete the process. Telepathy.
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Here’s what my book apps look like presently. The first image is PocketBook, an awesome app for reading EPUB, PDF, and a couple of other formats. I discovered Lithium this past weekend. Yet to try it, but the interface (pic 2) says it’d be worth a try. Image three is @oyinbraithwaite My Sister the Serial Killer, my brother’s copy. I’ve read the soft copy. I just might read the hardcover again.
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2019 ends in a few days. Are you reading? What are you reading??
PS. This post originally appeared on the author’s Instagram page @the_mike_emmanuel
