The Value Of Literature

Intro

Though my passion for cinema is immense, recently I’ve put down my love of film and renewed my interest in books and comics. I’ve had some novels on my shelf, wasting away as they waited for me to gain interest, and this past summer I finally decided to satisfy their patience. I tried to finish everything I had at my fingertips and spent a lot of evenings and nights wrapped up in worlds of fantasy and absurdity. From all this reading, I think I became a bit of a better thinker, possibly a better person, and by reading free of obligation and assignments, I found out a lot of things about the medium. I think a lot of people have bad tidings about reading because they were forced to read in school rather than being able to explore the books available to them. Likewise, the books schools often make kids read are the same old novels people have been reading for decades, which don’t appeal to most young people and have a hard time getting their message across to those who can’t understand slang from a few decades and even centuries ago. Because of these conditions reading has been labeled as boring, confusing, and hard, but in reality literature can be a joy if you know what you like. Books are able to offer things that other art forms cannot, and in this essay I want to explain the positive traits literature has, and why if you don’t read often, you should consider finding something that catches your attention and giving it a try.

Immersion

Probably the most important thing that literature offers more so than other forms of art is immersion. A movie can be enthralling because of its visual aspects, but the screen almost acts as a border between you and the story. You can view everything and be invested in it, but you’ll never be more than an outsider and a bystander. Video games can give you control and interactivity, but HUD elements and camera perspectives still decrease how wrapped up in a game you can truly be. Even with VR the weight of a headset and the feel of plastic controllers is always there to remind you of reality and take you out of the moment. But a book provides an extreme amount of immersion that couldn’t be achieved elsewhere. And that’s because it doesn’t rely on technology or tricks to envelop the person using it, but rather it utilizes the raw power of imagination. When you’re consuming any other form of fiction, you’re always aware of it. But if you sit down at your desk, with a little lamp, and take your time reading a book, you can truly lose yourself in its plot. When you imagine every scene as it's described to you, you’re allowed more freedom in how every setting and character looks, allowing you more ownership over the work and more of a connection with it. I’ve sat with books for hours before, blowing past the pages while I take in the depth of every sentence and the weight of every scene. Reading books is like pouring yourself into another universe, and living in all that it has to offer. Other mediums can be full and enthralling, but few capture and deliver all aspects of a narrative in such an intimate way.

Detail

Another strength books have which contributes to immersion is detail. The more detailed a story, the more one can wrap themselves in the world and truly connect with a novel. If written well, a novel can be so vivid that one can breath its air through their nose, and taste its foods on their tongue. With almost no restrictions on time, space and money, books can pack their pages with character descriptions, historical facts, interesting lore details, and whatever else the author wants. Tolkein was very famous for taking this liberty to its limits (and infamous for boring the hell out of me in middle school). Though when done properly, details create an expansive world full of intrigue and life. While pictures and film can show you what a place actually looks like, and sound can add to the realism and spectacle, a description of a place from someone who has lived there, or a detailed recount of an afternoon routine can tell you so much more about something than just witnessing it. Writing paragraphs of description give a world texture that goes beyond what you can see. A city might look pretty on the surface, but its corruption may lay within the word of its residents more than its physical condition. Space may be vast and empty, but that emptiness may have more character when described by a woman moving away from home or a traveler finding himself in the vast cosmos. A beast might look formidable from its thick, scaly skin, but maybe there’s a reason why it lashes out. Maybe it has a checkered history that the hero will never know, but that the author may divulge to the reader, giving the battle that ensues an entirely different context. Through the power of description, the author makes their novel truly three-dimensional; they bring their creation to life in your mind and offer an experience beyond what a flat screen or intangible music could hold. This is why books, more so than any other forms of media, are truly gateways to other planets and dimensions.

Characters

While part of the beauty of film is that it has to be creative in revealing character details, writers have the upper hand by being able to explain every little quirk and flaw about their characters in almost any way they see fit. With the ability to describe emotion and agony in depth, an author can also show the reader the many sides of one character without worrying about time constraints and unnatural dialogue. Through a first person perspective, one can be inside a character's mind and share their experience with them. Likewise, a third person perspective allows the reader to dip into the minds of multiple characters, allowing for multiple perspectives and great emotional complexity throughout the story. With the ability to be anywhere and focus on anyone, the question becomes less about what can be shown, and more about what should be shown. So much power over the narrative lets the author shape our perspective on every character in ways that can greatly improve the story being told. Maybe we get to focus on the main character as they fight waves of enemies, maybe we’re sitting in the villain's lair, watching them fall apart as the main character thwarts them, maybe we’re in the head of the goon fighting the protagonist, who’s in too deep and scared for his life. Every angle starts to form a picture of who the people of this world are, and in this immense creative freedom, the characters of a book are not just words on a page, they truly become human in ones mind.

Physical Attachment

My final reason as to why literature still holds value, even with how much technology and art has advanced, is because of the physical nature of it. Books are sacred. They can be paperback or hardcover, the font and cut of paper depend on the version you buy and impact the experience you have with the work. They might be wrapped in plastic or paper, and the finish might be smooth and glossy or rough and firm. They get wet and dirty, the pages get bent, and as you read you have to change the way you hold it. When you’re done there’s a line down the spine from bending the front half, and your name might be written on the inside cover in case you ever lose it. Books aren’t just objects, they’re companions. They’re the physical manifestation of someone's hopes, dreams, thoughts and beliefs, as well as their effort, time and talent. The entire experience happens solely within the object itself, and because of that, the reader begins to form a bond between not just the fiction on the pages, but the pages themselves. It’s intimate, it’s passionate; it’s what's most special about literature. There can be intimacy between oneself and other forms of art, but nothing else can be lived with the same way a book can be.

Outro

Ultimately I have to admit, reading isn’t for everyone. As fruitful as it is, it can be alienating and hard to find novels that suit your interests. If you legitimately cannot get with traditional books, then I think the writing of some comics is strong enough to consider them worthy pieces of literature. More important than any other reason I’ve listed, reading is just fun. And not just in a nerdy “reading is fun-damental” kind of way. It is genuinely an entertaining activity, one that is a great and healthy way to pass the time, so however you have fun with it is up to you. At the end of the day books are like any other form of entertainment, all you have to do is find your niche and explore it. From there you can find enjoyment in getting a hardcover for Christmas, and smile as you take that first whiff of the ink and paper. And in those little moments of happiness, when you truly experience the joy of books, is the real value of literature.