I DREAM OF going blind someday. It’s been one of my lifelong fantasies. I have several personal reasons for wishing this but those would remain a secret for now. I’m sharing this dream though so you’d understand why this particular book now holds a special place in my heart. It changed me in a huge way. In fact, I now owe my newly reshaped goals in life to this unlikely story of a blind traveler.
You know that quote: “You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.” Well that is exactly what I feel right now. 
A Sense of the World by Jason Roberts (My secondhand trade paperback copy)
James Holman was known simply as “The Blind Traveler” in his time. A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler is technically the first book about him. If not for the efforts of the author, Jason Roberts, the modern world would have never known his inspiring story. A story of the admirable determination of a blind man who dreamed of circumnavigating the world while traversing its most uncharted territories.
Continue reading…
Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged A Sense of the World, biography, blindness, book review, James Holman, Jason Roberts, nonfiction, The Blind Traveler |
I am a slow reader. That’s a very hard truth to swallow for someone like me who just loves to read. This sad fact only makes my TBR (to-be-read) pile of books grow exponentially over the years.
When I was a small kid, I saw a TV commercial that showed a man reading a book by simply leafing through its pages. I didn’t want to believe it then because I thought it couldn’t be possible. Turns out, he’s actually the world’s fastest reader. Later, I heard of people who claimed to read pages in just seconds! The ever curious me naturally resolved to learn more about this cool thing they called “speed reading”.
In 1999, I bought the book Super Reading Secrets by Howard Stephen Berg – acclaimed as the world’s fastest speed reader. Wait, is there even a slow speed reader? 
My worn out copy of Super Reading Secrets
I thought I had already lost my copy of this book. But just a few weeks ago, I found it shelved together with my old and dusty grade school books. After 10 years, I’m now rediscovering the techniques I once dreamed of mastering so I could brag about it in elementary school. 
I was really excited to learn the tricks described in this book. But at the back of my mind, I was repeatedly asking myself if I really wanted this. I was thinking that speed reading is something you cautiously unlock much like the third eye. I thought once I learned speed reading then I could never go back to reading normally again. Well of course, I later realized that my worries were unfounded and well… farfetched. Hey! How should I know? I was barely an adolescent back then.
Surprisingly, the book is not all gimmick. It actually has some well-grounded recommendations designed to improve not just reading speed but also comprehension skills. The topics are constructed like a self-learning program with several hands-on exercises you can practice to gauge yourself. It’s readers belonging in the academe who will benefit most from the techniques here.
Ironically, I never finished reading this speed reading book. I think the program does work if you have the time and determination to earnestly follow it. However, I don’t think I will ever want to learn true speed reading again.
Continue reading…
Posted in Editorials | Tagged reading, speed reading |
Right now, I feel like if I had a magic lamp, I’ll make just one wish. I wish I could forget all of these reading stuff and be just like everyone else.
Spend hours in front of the TV. Play Facebook games all day. Watch all the viral YouTube videos everyone’s been laughing about. Have no problems walking inside a bookstore, completely oblivious to the great books on display. Or be just a normal guy with normal likes (sports, FHM) and dislikes (soap operas, Twilight).
Would life be easier for me, then? Maybe. I’ll probably spend more time with other people and less time alone by myself. I would not be going to bookstores unless I need to buy a pen. Surely, I would not be using the computer at this hour because I’ll be outdoors more often with more friends too. But then, that wouldn’t be the real me anymore. As much as I love dance music, I also love the quite peace of the night. And it would be really sad to miss out on great stories like Harry Potter, The Little Prince and A Sense of the World. Most likely, I wouldn’t even be able to write an article like this. I pretty much owe my vocabulary skills to the books I’ve read. So yeah, I think I would be less intelligent too.
So no, I’m taking back my wishes. (Haven’t rubbed the lamp yet.)
Here really are my 3 wishes for the genie:
- I wish there was more time for reading. A Time Turner would be really nice to have.
- I wish I had the money to buy all the books I want to read. Then I can also buy all the hardback, limited, anniversary, special and boxed editions of my favorite series. I’ll be able to share more books too!
- I wish more people would read. Then books will be talked about in public just as much as movies and celebrities. And as a bonus, I think the world will be a better place too.
Sorry if this seems to be just me ranting. I just felt I needed to write this out because I’m experiencing yet another one of those moments when I’m just disappointed of who I am as a person. Being too different especially for a guy really has a lot of social and psychological disadvantages, in my opinion. I just need to remind myself (again) that I should thank God for He gave me the gift of love for reading.
If you can think of other positive things one can get for reading a lot, especially for guys, please share it below. God knows I need all the encouragement I can get right now.
Posted in Editorials | Tagged A Sense of the World, books, Harry Potter, lists, personal, reading, The Little Prince, Twilight |
Checkout a book from the library and (assuming that the library is old or doesn’t have a computerized system yet) it will have a card attached to the back cover revealing to you all the people that previously borrowed it. Imagine your delight when you see the name of an old friend listed there! Contrary to popular belief, reading is not a solitary pursuit. And traditional books can actually connect people in much deeper ways than its much-touted electronic counterpart.
In most used books, there are scribbles in the margins of the pages telling us the thoughts of the previous reader. Yes, some of these may not even be related to the book’s content but, nonetheless, are still a joy to read. Then there are the book signing events and all the hoopla surrounding first editions. Oftentimes, it’s the little things like this which make a paper book worth even more than its original value.
Each book printed on paper is effectively a piece of literary history. Once a paper book is read, it becomes its own unique edition of the original. Thus, going through a library or a used books store is not merely a matter of browsing through stuff made of paper. You’re actually in a room filled with a portion of human history! The seemingly trivial act of finding a book is an experience in itself that cannot be replicated by ebookstores. You are like an archaelogist digging through caves (read: bookcases) hoping to find something that will provide you enlightenment or inspiration.
Ebooks, on the other hand, are nothing more than just bits and bytes saved on magnetic discs. They are all made of the same stuff making them rather difficult to alter for you to leave a lasting mark on them. Ebooks simply don’t offer the same kind of archival attribute paper books have. And there’s absolutely no way for you to personalize an ebook.
Paper books may have been made using dead trees, but the memory, provenance or history collected in their existence are not dead.
Can your ebooks do this or give you these kind of experiences?
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This is yet another piece against the ongoing trend of disillusioned folks thinking that the paper book industry is going the way of the dodo due to the advent of ebooks and e-readers. I say, paper books are here to stay! We might have electronic gadgets capable of reading ebooks but I firmly believe that a dedicated gadget for reading won’t be the future. Heck, even Steve Jobs thinks so.
Posted in Editorials | Tagged books, ebooks, library, reading |
Teehee. 
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