We had an enjoyable visit from Barbara’s friend and her children recently. A ten year old boy was amazed at our many books. “Why do you have so many?” he asked. “Well, we like reading” I said. “Do you like reading?” I asked. His reply was an immediate and definite: a flat “No!” “Oh”, I said, “what do you like doing best then?” His response was equally quick and explicit: “Gaming”.
Sadly my young friend is not unusual. Younger generations are device savvy, or perhaps device slaves. Screens are their thing, their world. Their need for phones, tablets, computers, is as intense as mine for books. I feel sorry for them. Few ever use their device to access books. In any case, reading from a screen is infinitely less satisfying than a physical book.
As a ten year old I was addicted to books. It seems incredible that I haven’t mentioned this in previous posts. I did a piece about Winnie-the-Pooh (https://craig-marshall.net/hundred-acre-wood/), but I’ve never revealed my complete enslavement to literature in general. My love affair with stories began with wireless broadcasts in the early 1950s. My favourite was “Journey Into Space” with Jet Morgan, Doc Matthews, and Lemmy, defending Earth from the Martians. Then there were detective adventurers like Paul Temple and The Saint. Exciting stuff! The wireless was complimented by comics like the Eagle featuring Dan Dare and sidekick Digby battling the Mekon and his Treens from Venus. Luck of the Legion’s adventures in North Africa was another Eagle favourite. Then there was the Hotspur, with William Wilson the Wonder Athlete, performing all kinds of improbable achievements.
I enjoyed all this, but when I was about nine or so, we had a special lesson in school about libraries. We were encouraged to register for a local library ticket. So, I turned up at Grove Hill Public Library and began an adventure with books that still continues. I haunted that library, frustrated that at my age I could only borrow one book at a time. Some of my favourite authors were Robert Heinlein, Andre Norton, Arthur C. Clark, and James Blish — all science fiction writers (I was still in thrall to Jet Morgan and Dan Dare). A few years later I was in Acklam Hall Grammar School, which had a substantial library of its own. Each week we had a compulsory “Library Period”, a bore for most of my mates, but not for me! One fateful day it was almost the end of the session and I hadn’t found anything to borrow. In a panic I spotted a book with a peculiar title and grabbed it on chance, just before the bell. It was “The Hobbit”. I hadn’t had chance to check the content, but I’d got the thing and didn’t have anything else to read. I was quickly drawn in by Tolkien’s masterly prose and incredible imagination — and thus began a lifelong enjoyment of fantasy. This led me to his “Lord of the Rings”, The “Narnia” books by C.S. Lewis, “Winnie the Pooh” by A.A. Milne, and more. Though not just fantasy: Arthur Ransome’s “Swallows and Amazons” fuelled my teenage dreams of the outdoors and sailing. How I longed to be alongside them in my own boat! Yet it was many years before I sailed in the Lake District myself (it didn’t disappoint!). I discovered Rosemary Sutcliffe’s Roman Legions(remember “Eagle of the 9th” anyone?) and her King Arthur trilogy — compulsive reading. As I got older I developed a taste for “whodunnit” murder mysteries, especially “golden age” writers like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, Patricia Wentworth, Michael Innes — I’ve read the entire output of most of them. Then there’s Ellis Peters’ medieval monk, Cadfael: I’ve read the whole series. One of my favourite authors is James Herriot (“All Creatures Great and Small”), one of few writers who gets me to laugh out loud.
There’s hundreds more, but if you’re still reading, I’ve already indulged my reminiscence more than necessary. But you can’t understand me without knowing my passion for books; books have a lot to do with the person I am. The moral themes in them — triumph of good over evil in the end; ordinary people doing extraordinary things; being true and faithful; fairness, loyalty, commitment and trust — seeped into my soul and helped mould the person I am. Indeed, many stories reflect the Gospel of Jesus Christ anyway, especially children’s books. Of course, many books are the opposite: dark, negative, celebrating a depraved lifestyle, but we can avoid them. This is one reason I favour the “Golden Age” detective fiction (1920s and 30s), where the focus is on puzzle solving rather than gritty realism. The period was influenced by the trauma of World War I, leading authors to create a relatively safe, socially conservative setting, and avoid graphic depictions of violence,.
It’s certainly true that my love of reading is helpful with religious faith. A fluent reader has less difficulty with King James English in the Bible, or even 19th Century English in the Book of Mormon. As an older teenager I was obsessed with “Mormon Doctrine” by Bruce R. McConkie and read it from cover to cover, several times; also writers like Joseph Fielding Smith, Hugh Nibley, Neal Maxwell and others.
Let’s hope that, at least for some, adults as well as children, gaming will be replaced by good reading.
