Why I read

 I have always reserved massive respect for writers of books. I can’t help but marvel at the thought of sitting down to write over 500 pages of pure genius work. When I was a kid I used to think that books/newspapers were written by computers. You just tell it to write on a certain topic and it just churns out the pages. Thereafter you open the big box (CRT) and viola! There sits a book with even the hard cover. The name of the computer was usually the author. I used to think that the biggest computer in Kenya was KIE, hehehe. Don’t snort at my early childhood thinking because you know naught about where I was brought up.

I never got the opportunity to read a lot when I was in primary school. I learnt to read English very late. I think it was in upper primary. My primary school had no arrangement to cultivate the reading culture. The only noteworthy books I read were the Moses series (remember Mukibi school for sons of African gentlemen?) and the adventures of that kaboy who used to slay giants like pop corns. Borrowing a story book from a neighbour was an uphill task and the time you spent with it was regulated.

In high school we were introduced to set books. This is the stage that made most people hate reading big books. Personally Kiswahili books used to make me prefer Wanjiruing to reading them. Those who read walenisi can verify that. I think the dude had a ambition of directing a movie comprising ideas from Star trek, avatar and inception. Putting it on Swahili took it to a new level. Though English books were better (a man of the people with its sexcapades) the thought of reading a book to for exams sucked off the joy of reading.

When I was older I met the foreign writers of fiction. I think this is the stage that built the little reading passion that I have. Books by Hardly chase, Sheldon, Grisham, Dan brown and others used to grace my days. I can’t forget Jackie Collins, that lady can really describe a sex scene *looks away*. Unfortunately this never lasted for long because the age of movies and series just took over.

Ladies and gentlemen movies are the prime reason why people never read as much as they are supposed to. It is said that you are supposed to read over 10,000 books before death catches up with you (really?). Movies are shallow as compared to novels. I read angels & demons then I watched the movie. SMH. They just did a big injustice to the book. Same as Harry Potter. While movies concentrate on showing flashy cars, guns and nude women with a stupid script, novels paint all the events in vivid mental pictures through powerful descriptions. Other people prefer listening to radio to reading (classic 105 in the morning? you are free to kill me now!)

Not all books qualify as good. Kenyan writers are letting us down. Very few Kenyan books are worth reading. The western African writers have stolen the thunder. Just ask any Kenyan to name five African writers he/she knows and western African names will pop up before Ngugi wa Thiong’o. I think contemporary Kenyan writers should step up. Somebody like Biko Zulu. His writings are just brilliant.

I was reading this Media madness blog post and it just hit me that I was letting myself down in the area of reading. Somebody commented that if you want to hide something from an African, just put it in writing. Going by our reading culture, it might be so true. It is recorded that the founders of reading and writing are the Egyptians (thanks to uncle Google). In fact the Greek sent their guys to study in Egypt. Afterwards lights went off (KPLC style) and the Dark Continent went into slumber. Yes there is no time for reading. People are always busy. The only free time is when I am stuck in a traffic jam. My girlfriend needs time. Those are the excuses we are busy giving. There is always time for watching an episode of your favourite series every night. There is a wide variety of books to choose from. If you aint a fan of fiction there exists motivational, financial, health, etc books. There are also religious books, especially those written by Ellen G. White with powerful messages.

Reading should be encouraged during the early age of kids. Just look around. Those kids with a strong command of English probably used to read a lot of story books when they were kids. Or used to be beaten up to read something. My experience in writing this blog has taught me that I would not be finding it this hard if I had read enough during my early years. Reading equips one with life skills and wide knowledge. It will make you relevant all the time. Guys, you will be superman before that chick you fancy. You will be chomoaing stories from all over.

I read Newspapers, magazines, and mostly blogs as much as I can but I feel more should be done. The problem is that people write blogs but nobody bothers to read them. Others like reading only pictures all through a magazine.  Kenya should cultivate the culture of reading as much as possible if we expect us to move forward. It all starts with you and me beginning it and thereafter passing it to our young ones.

 

Boombox playlist:

Just can’t get enough – Black Eyed Peas.