A Great Opportunity

by Wys So

In fact, I don’t like reading books at all. Not just dislike, but I hate reading books. I have been used to watching television shows, movies, sometimes newspapers, but rarely books. I always have this conception in my mind that reading books is a tedious thing to do. At that time I firmly believe that books are dead, while movies are not. The characters in the films can move, they can express their thoughts and feelings directly to us. But for the books we still have to search for the meaning of difficult words, and analyze the text carefully, which is such a hassle task to do compare to watching films. As a result, I don’t buy books; I buy DVDs.

It may sound astonishing that the first English book I’ve finished reading completely is “The Catcher in The Rye”, a major requirement in my high school 3rd year English class, and my first Filipino book is “El Filibusterismo” (I didn’t even finish the latter part of “Noli Me Tangere”). And thus here comes my problems in college: Readings and readings everywhere. During my first year in college I was so depressed reading those articles and searching for the words. The readings are traumatizing my life. They didn’t even do me any favors in my life, maybe just my grades. No matter how fascinating and touching the article is, I will sooner or later forget about it anyway. Reading for me is about understanding and applying what the texts want to convey to us. And that’s all.

So I am really glad when I realized from our class that reading is such a great opportunity for us to improve our life and being. What I didn’t figure out before is that lies beyond the texts are infinitely many possibilities that can lead us to concrete action, that will bring us nearer to the “true life” we desire. Books actually show us modes of being in this world (outside of our own world), and how limited our thinking and knowledge are. Each of them gives us a chance to reflect upon our present state of living, thus give us a room for improvement. I also realized that merely understanding the texts is not enough for them to affect you, we must reflect upon the texts, think critically, and be open to them, for them to change, renew, and make an impact on our life --- In short, for them to recreate us.

Arthur Rimbaud, his poetry, and his life make me learned that poetry is indeed an amazing thing. It is a way for people to express their existence through their languages. It’s like philosophy in a sense that it leads us to the answer of our fundamental questions.

Sadly, I still haven’t read a book that really strikes me. But I think the articles that I’ve read in this philosophy class do somehow make impacts on me, and have changed my perceptions on many things.