Books are read for various reasons – to pass one’s leisure time, to acquire knowledge, to extract information. Books are also read to acquire immense pleasure from the act of reading itself. The value of reading is understood only when books are read to be enjoyed, enlightened and refreshed.
Books can be our most cherished possessions and our trust- worthy companions provided, we choose the right kind of books for our reading. A young mind can be shaped and given the right direction in life by cultivation of the habit of reading.
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Noble thoughts, and high ideals, can be acquired from many good books. Teachers, elders and even well-read friends can help us make a selection of what books to read and what books to avoid.
In Lewis Carols Alice in Wonderland, we find Alice entering an entirely new world through the rabbit hole. In a similar manner, we, too, can discover and explore new places, new fields, new horizons by cultivating this habit of reading. Books are means through which we can recreate the world around us and analyse it with renewed vigour. In today’s competitive world nothing is as true as this saying: “Self-help is the best help” — and reading is the first step in educating and helping one’s even self.
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Reading makes us conscious and global citizens. In this age of globalization remaining confined to one’s own world & environment will limit one’s possibilities. But through books written by acclaimed writers we can cross geographical and cultural boundaries and become a part of the “global village”.
The classic works of Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan, Dostoevsky, Leo Tolostoy, V.S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, etc., are just few names among many which are read and appreciated all over the world irrespective of race and gender.
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Apart from literary works people especially students should develop the habit of reading newspapers, journals, magazines, etc. That will ensure our being up-to-date with whatever is happening all over the world and the progress made in various fields.
We can keep ourselves abreast of new trends in fields of science, technology and education. Perhaps, these values of reading made the famous English writer C.E.M. Joad say “Books are the chief carriers of civilization.”
Reading has a tremendous entertainment value. Apart from novels, there are many valuable books on history, biography, philosophy, religion, travel and scientific fictions which we ought to read for education as well as pleasure. An interesting book or an impressive article can lighten our burdened minds and tensioned hearts.
Reading poetry and reading them aloud will increase our imagination and develop in us an understanding and appreciation of beauty. Reading is also an important means of public opinion which is one of the pillars of democracy. It promotes political consciousness and popular awareness among the masses by enabling them to contribute their share in the governance of the country.
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Real taste for reading is an inestimable possessions even more cherishable than a king’s treasures. With the expansion of various spheres of activities, man is becoming busier, thus, getting very less time to purpose reading. Nevertheless, this is a habit that everyone, should acquire, no matter how busy they are, because the values of reading are immense. Life is to be lived once, why not make the best use of it by acquiring this habit!