Hail to the Screen

I am going to write this blog about something not many of you will want to read about: BOOKS. Yes, I sound like an old boring English professor, but I am willing to take that risk! I knew I had to do something after I started using “lol” in real life...

TV, MySpace, Internet, comics, etc., all serve a purpose, all have their place in today’s world, but PLEASE don’t forget about books! I believe one of the best ways to “get in touch” with your creativity and expand your mind is by reading.

I realize the effect technology so often has on our brains: shortened attention spans, pointless distractions, commercial saturation (if that even makes sense) and LAZINESS! This makes it hard to pick up a novel with over 100 pages and just read. But, if you find the right one, I guarantee it will change your mind. In fact, it may change your LIFE (how melodramatic is that?)!

For example, when I was 15 or so, just reaching the age when you start to think about who you are, what you identify with and all the rest of that teenage BS, I read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Not only could I relate to it, I found comfort in the way it was written. I thought to myself, “someone out there knew where I was coming from.” I then went on to read Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, all by Salinger. Another book that changed my life around the same time was A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I had a pretty average perspective for a small town girl, but reading this book was a real eye-opener. The book is set in India during the Emergency from 1975–1977 and is INTENSE. I can officially say it changed my life.

Other books I’ve loved include The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell, about a boy living in northern England who has an odd childhood, documented in letters to (singer) Morrissey; On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a classic, especially as you reach your 20s; The Outsider by Albert Camus; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (also a great movie); and, of course, the Harry Potter series. I could write for ages about this but I feel I’ve done my part. I hope you, the reader of this magnificent creation, find it inspiring enough to perhaps log out, forget about your new friend request, and READ.

-Your English teacher and FASHION18 correspondent,
Louise Burns