Rewind to December 26th, 2012. 'The Snowmen' is airing and it looks like a fantastic episode from the trailer, plus Ian McKellen is voicing that giant snow globe, and if you don't know who that guy is then you've clearly been living under a rock. Plus Jenna Coleman's in it and we're desperately hoping Oswin isn't dead. So I finish dinner in under ten minutes, jump out of my seat and intently watch the last bit of that weird show before Doctor Who finally appears. Once the adverts start trying to convince us to watch some new show that looks completely boring, I'm joined by my mum, aunt, restless 3 yr-old brother who's going to make an awful racket, and my fellow-bookworm cousin, who's both super excited and terrified at the prospect of watching her very first Doctor Who episode since she was too little to remember anything except of how scary it was.
Watching a TV show with your family is both joyous and irritating, but it's all part of the fun. My aunt kept making little quips, my brother starting running in front of the TV, and my cousin could barely hear it, but we all greatly enjoyed ourselves and I figured I could always watch it again on ABC iview. Then, you know, rant about it on Goodreads later when I can finally think properly again.
Films and TV programs are sharing experiences. They were made collectively and they were watched collectively and they were talked about collectively and it's all a big circle of togetherness - like, there's always going to be someone to talk about the latest Sherlock episode with. More importantly, there's always going to someone who wants to, even if it's just a mindless babble of 'I CAN'T''s and 'OMG DID YOU SEE THE WAY WATSON LOOKED AT SHERLOCK IT BROKE MY HEART''s. (haha, see what I did there?).
Well, reading is different.
Sure, there are book discussions. But while Sherlock or Doctor Who or Frozen are watched with other people, that you kind of go on a journey together with - and reminding you that they also only go on for less than two hours, yes, that's a story completed in less than two hours - reading, however is a private experience that goes on for days.
Your journey is between you and the author and the fictional characters said author creates. It's up to you which character looks a lot like your favourite celebrity and what the background looks like and if the villain looks terrible or beautiful. You and you alone. Reading is what you do when you want to be left by yourself, or you're so engrossed with that story you can't put it down. And when it's finished you think about it for hours.
Yes, other people have read the book. And loved it. Do we care? Possibly. Do we want to talk about it? Also possibly. But people take it differently. Each story is different, even if it's the same book. We talk about how much we liked it but we don't often discuss a particular scene because a) we can barely remember it, b) we interpret it differently or c) you want to keep the whole thing to yourself.
Anyway, if it's not really a famous book, chances are you'll be hard-pressed to find someone else who has read it. So you're pretty much alone with your book. But that's okay. Because books are company in themselves. You connect with the characters in a way you never do when they're pixels on a screen, because you know what they're thinking and what they're going through (hello my poor misunderstood Frodo).
It's like keeping a secret with a best friend, really. A best friend who takes you on a journey where no one else can follow.
Sincerely,
Leyah (That really lazy person who hasn't updated in goodness know how long and will probably not update in goodness knows how long)
"A novel is a conversation between a reader and a writer."
- John Green.
Amazing! Truly an inspired piece of writing. Beautiful.
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