Last year at this time I was writing about “blockbuster season”—the coming of the big summer movies and what we can do to make the most of them. This summer’s offerings are more anticipated than last summer’s with such films as Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and Fantastic Four 2 having many of us counting the days to opening weekends. But as I write this column it occurs to me I’ve been writing for the Lookout on cultural issues (mostly movies) for over a year without once talking about books—and I’m an English teacher! It’s time to give reading its due. Let me start with why books matter.

Pleasure

We shouldn’t underestimate the pleasure reading gives us. It begins with holding a new book (or a very old one) in your hands, cracking the cover, looking at the pictures, the dust jacket summary, and the contents page.

Just walking with a book in hand makes you feel smarter, like you’re doing something important. On-line or e-books don’t cut it for most of us. We have to have the book in our hands, lap, or on the desk, a pen or pencil nearby so we can mark meaningful passages.

When we start the story, the rest of the world vanishes for a while and we go on a journey that delights. Sometimes the pleasure is in experiencing a new place, sometimes it’s the anticipation of what’s going to happen next, and sometimes it’s figuring out “whodunit.” God gives us many pleasures. Among them, I think, are books.

Patience

Of course movie stories delight us too—movies share many positive qualities with books. There are some ways, however, in which the two are opposite. One thing books can do that movies can’t is teach us patience. To commit to reading a book is to commit to hours of page turning. It means putting a halt to whatever else we’re doing in life and focusing on the story. We have to be patient to get through a book, or else we give up on it. In the fast paced world of modern technology and mass media, books stubbornly demand time and attention.

This is why many people don’t read or can’t read well. As big a fan as I am of movies and television, I have to admit they rob us of patience simply by being what they are. Even at their best, movies and television affect our ability to patiently work through stories, difficult puzzles, even problems in life. They provide quick closure to the conflicts they present. They stimulate us at a rapid pace.

People raised in the television age are less patient than their parents, less able to wait for the rewards of book stories. People raised in the digital age are even less patient. Without rapid and constant stimulation, they become bored. It is hard for today’s children to read books, not because they’re bad readers, but because they’re bored readers. Still, there are few better solutions to their impatience or ours than the discipline of reading a book. Most of us say we never have time to read, which is all the more reason we need to make time for it.

Think about it in these terms: the Bible is a Christian’s source for truth and should be central to life. Do you enjoy reading it, or is it a chore? Have you taken the time to read the Bible all the way through?

We need to make time for ourselves to read the Bible and many other books, and we need to make time for our children to be readers as well. Electronic media don’t have to make our kids stupid and impatient. The other day my wife, daughter, and I learned about Borneo by watching a Discovery channel show. But if television makes our kids less patient, we need to help them develop the patience for reading by making it as important in their lives as movies or computers. Small children need less television, and they need to have their parents read to them. For older children (as well as adults) try planning hours every day or at least every week when the house is unplugged: no music, no TV, no computer. A bad habit I’m trying to get over is turning on the TV to surf channels. If my weekly shows aren’t on, I need to leave the TV off. I try to make myself read a little bit every day, and I always carry a book with me in case I’m stuck somewhere (like a doctor’s office) and can use the time to read.

Out of the 10 reasons I was going to list as to why books are good for us, I’ve managed only to list two: patience and pleasure. But that’s okay. Maybe talking about books ought to require several articles . . . and a little patience. |L

Dr. Charlie Starr teaches English, Humanities, and Film at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky.

OTHER COLUMNS:
November 8, 2009 - Why I believe in God
October 25, 2009 - Commuting in days of evil
October 11, 2009 - Poets and don’t know it
September 27, 2009 - How Hollywood proves abortion is wrong
September 13, 2009 - Significance
August 30, 2009 - Dance alternatives
August 16, 2009 - Gluttons for gossip
August 2, 2009 - Truth from Twilight
July 19, 2009 - Visitor-friendly churches
July 5, 2009 - The Shack
June 21, 2009 - When forgiveness fails
June 7, 2009 - Re-imagining Education (Part Six)
May 24, 2009 - We are not alone
May 3, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part five)
April 26, 2009 - Conviction
April 12, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part four)
March 29, 2009 - An evangelistic proposal
March 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part three)
March 1, 2009 - He makes me sick
February 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (Part Two)
February 1, 2009 - Spiritual insecurity
January 18, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part one)
January 4, 2009 - Church and politics
December 21, 2008 - Heaven’s music
December 7, 2008 - The church and marriage
November 23, 2008 - God and the president
November 9, 2008 - A time for courage
October 26, 2008 - Likes and dislikes: the Prince Caspian movie
October 12, 2008 - What’s that noise?
September 28, 2008 - Modesty matters (part two)
September 14, 2008 - All it takes is some TLC
August 31, 2008 - Modesty matters (part one)
August 17, 2008 - What would you fight for?
August 3, 2008 - Staying through the credits
July 20, 2008 - Honor to whom honor
July 6, 2008 - Tyler Perry and the movies you’re missing
June 22, 2008 - The peaceable kingdom
May 25, 2008 - Another generation grew up
May 25, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part two)
May 11, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part one)
April 27, 2008 - What is truth?
April 13, 2008 - And the geek shall inherit the earth
March 30, 2008 - A charactered God
March 16, 2008 - The college choice (part two)
March 2, 2008 - Good news can be hard to hear
February 17, 2008 - The college choice (part one)
February 5, 2008 - Ten suggestions for a godly standard of living
January 20, 2008 - Expelled: that “Bueller” guy’s pro-God movie
January 6, 2008 - Choosing a lifestyle
December 23, 2007 - Teachable TV?
December 9, 2007 - Owners or stewards?
November 25, 2007 - Christians teaching Christians to change TV and film
November 11, 2007 - My money is God’s business
October 28, 2007 - Navigating under the radar
October 14, 2007 - The things God values
September 30, 2007 - Movie moments
September 16, 2007 - God’s economics
September 2, 2007 - The best books to read
August 19, 2007 - There’s a rat in ‘separate’
August 5, 2007 - The art of reading
July 22, 2007 - Atheist chic
July 8, 2007 - Why books matter: the sequel
June 3, 2007 - The non-impact of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
May 27, 2007 - The universal gospel
May 13, 2007 - Loving Muslims through culture
April 29, 2007 - Hope
April 15, 2007 - God in the dark
April 1, 2007 - The gospel goes to the movies
March 18, 2007 - What the Bible movies can teach us
March 4, 2007 - What will you hurt for?
February 18, 2007 - Why Heroes . . .
February 4, 2007 - Give peace a chance
January 21, 2007 - When fairy tales are true
January 7, 2007 - WYSIWYG lives
December 31, 2006 - What’s coming next?
December 17, 2006 - Mercy, mercy
December 3, 2006 - Proof of evolution!
November 19, 2006 - Hungering for God
November 5, 2006 - Violence and government, war and peace
October 22, 2006 - The mighty meek
October 8, 2006 - The Battlestar and the Bible
September 24, 2006 - Soap for the soul
September 10, 2006 - Right vs. cool
August 27, 2006 - The painful truth
August 13, 2006 - More Lies Hollywood Tells
July 30, 2006 - Christian counter culture
July 16, 2006 - The lies Hollywood tells