There is no doubt that university makes us better readers. It provides us with the skillset to analyze texts more efficiently and to become better critics in general. However, considering the quick pace at which we are expected to finish readings at the university level, one might argue that we actually miss out on the entire literary experience. Students are rarely told to read slowly and just enjoy the text for our own pleasure. Furthermore, once we finally manage to get through our seemingly never-ending list of readings, many students cringe at the prospect of cracking open a book for fun. So, is pleasure reading a dying art?
As a humanities student, one of the things I look forward to most about breaks from school is the opportunity to finally read for my own enjoyment. As much as I enjoy several of my assigned readings, what I really enjoy is being able to read a novel at my own pace, without the stress of an upcoming assignment or a test on its content weighing over me the entire time.
Perhaps the overwhelming pressure to complete our readings and assignments for a strict deadline can be blamed for taking the joy out of reading. Or maybe, after having dissected a novel or text for weeks, it seems impossible to enjoy literature ever again because it is so intellectually draining. It is unfortunate that so many university students often associate the act of reading with stress and school-related anxiety.
This shouldn’t always be the case. To me, the most wonderful thing about reading is that there is a book for everything, no matter how diverse or obscure your interests are. The concept of reading is conventionally associated with sitting down to read an entire novel. However, as far as I’m concerned, anything that consists of words on a page counts.
In this day and age, online magazines and blogging platforms have become increasingly popular among younger generations. Although digital media are often not considered literature, their accessibility and topical nature are very appealing to young people. What a lot of us fail to recognise is that almost everyone indulges in this form of pleasure reading on a daily basis.
Further, many people tend to discount the value of contemporary novels that modern society can actually connect with, in favour of reading the classics or the critically acclaimed. For many, this can suck the pleasure out of reading. The pressure to read what is considered to be “good literature” makes reading seem much more pretentious than it has to be.
Although as students we may feel frustrated about the high volume we are expected to read week after week, it is important that we remember academic reading is not the only valid type of reading. The joy of reading is not necessarily a dying art; it has simply evolved to fit in with the fast-paced, online era that we live in. I do, however, believe that there is still something to be said for the feeling of turning over the pages of an exciting new novel. I think that a lot of students who claim to dislike reading simply hate the intensive university environment in which they are required to read and analyze texts that are not necessarily appealing in the first place. That being said, I simply do not think it is fair to reject other less recognized or acclaimed forms of writing as acceptable subjects of pleasure reading.
