aurora in LITERATURE

Reading doesn't turn people on as much as it used to. I think that reading a good book lacks the enthuse of watching a new film or listening to your favourite song, and is a real shame. Many of us see reading as a chore, like doing the washing up- you don't want to do it but you know you have to; however reading doesn't have to be like this, in fact it isn't like this at all. The 21st century has numbed and diluted the world of the page turner into one of the phone scroller, but I strongly believe if people found the right books, again and again, ones that they want to read instead of watching Kim Kardashian talk about a whole lot of nothing, books would regain their sex appeal. 

I have always read reams and reams from a young age. I remember when I was 6, waking up at 5am and having to abide by the 'not before 8' with regards to going downstairs to watch Tom and Jerry (what a show). I was given a Roald Dahl collection and would see how far I could get through it before the golden hour arrived. To this day I can remember how real everything seemed in my head- the fleshy peach, the warts on the witches' noses, and the draft that whispered around Charlie Bucket's bedroom. It is the vivaciousness of a child's imagination that we need to rekindle, that people need to win back in order to really want to read again. Reading for me is a cinematic experience, it really is like watching TV in my head, and more people deserve this to widen their minds and broaden their creative capability. 

Here are some books that will put the cinema in your mind.




1) THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH Walter Tevis 
(IYL: sci fi, adventure, but also a study into what makes us human, the human condition)

My best friend and I are both as 'booky' as each other, and so we always buy 1p versions of our favourite books off of Amazon to give to one another to read. This was one she gave me, and is probably the best one that she has ever given me. The book itself is not long, only 130 odd pages or so, and one of the most interesting and thought provoking pieces of literature you will ever read. It is predominantly a science fiction novel written in 1963 about Thomas Newton, an alien who 'falls to earth'. He arrives in a lifeboat, and quickly adapts to the surroundings. You soon realise as a reader that he has this master plan, this goal to carry out, and is what fuels his mission on Earth. 

This may sound like a nerd fest, decked out with aliens and spaceships, but it could not be further from it. It is an exploration into the study of the human condition- what makes us human? why are we who we are? 

I don't want to say too much about it without giving any of it away as it's just too good not to read. This is essential reading for anyone who breathes. 

 2. THE HANDMAID'S TALE Margaret Atwood (IYL: 1984, Brave New World)

It is an unspoken rule that the things you study at school, you hate. Photosynthesis? Never learnt the equation, still hate it. Fractions? Divorced c.2012. However, an anomaly of this is a book I studied for my A Level English coursework, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. 

Set in the future in a place known as Gilead, the world is unrecognisable. Amidst a completely different lay of the land in every sense, women are viewed only as means of reproduction. The novel is narrated by Offred, a woman who is testament to the time. We see through her eyes the possibilities and capabilities that we can have, as Atwood said herself that everything in the book has happened in reality, a disturbing thought when reading the novel.

This is a book that will not only make you feel extremely lucky not to be living in Gilead, but a book that will make you think about what is meaningful, and what is not. You will not want to be disturbed from page 1.




3) LOLITA Vladimir Nabokov (IYL: Lana Del Rey, American Beauty)

'Hey Lolita, heeeeey, Hey Lolita, heeeeey' drawls Lana in her song 'Lolita'. I had been listening to the song about 2 years before I read the book, and the two work so satisfyingly together. The book centres around Humbert Humbert, a 37/38 year old man who becomes infatuated with his stepdaughter, Dolores Haze, who is 12 years old. It became a controversial work of literature due to its delicate subject matter, but I think this adds to its appeal. The book makes you feel like you shouldn't be reading it which makes it even more enticing. 

Although it sounds like a superficial twisted piece of nothing, it is wholly engaging and so so captivating, it really does feel like you're Humbert's scribe writing down his thoughts, as it is written so conversationally, it's like he's your messed up Uncle who you can't help but love.

If you like a bit of quirk in a classic great read, hurry up and read it.